have to bear in mind, Layla’s still a bit starstruck.”
Adam laughed, but I didn’t think he was mocking me. He struck me as so realistic and even modest about who he was. Charisma rolled off him in waves, effortlessly. He lived in the vortex, but he didn’t let it consume him.
“Layla?” Shane chided.
I’d done it again. I blinked my eyes a few times. “I’m sorry. It’s just a lot to process.”
“Take your time.” Adam kept on eating as if we were talking about the weather rather than me nearly professing a devotion that I’d spent half my life cultivating.
“She’s actually a cool fan,” said Shane. “Lars sent her out to check out our rehearsal, and she recorded everything without rushing the stage.”
“Do people do that?” I remembered thinking about doing that very thing.
Shane dragged a piece of chicken through the brown sauce. “They do at concerts.”
Micah blotted his lips with a napkin. “We used to be able to go out into the audience for part of the show, but it’s getting harder to do that.”
“For you, maybe.” Shane’s dig had a bitter tinge.
“You should send Rick out,” Adam joked.
Shane guffawed at that suggestion, and we all laughed. From what I’d gathered about Rick, he was the kind of musician who clocked in and performed proficiently but hadn’t signed up for the rock star life. And the rock star life had left him alone. I barely remembered he was a part of the band.
Adam turned to me, his dark eyes like pools of ink. I reminded myself not to fall in again. It wasn’t lust or love. Just plain-old circuits misfiring. I knew he was just a man, but I’d built him up to be a rock god, and my brain couldn’t make sense of it.
He cleared his throat. “You should come to our rehearsal. I mean, if you wanted to.”
I nearly fell off my stool. “Are you serious?”
“It’s a cool idea to release some behind-the-scenes stuff to the magazine. I could talk to Lars.”
Cue a volcanic eruption of fan babbling. “Oh, my God. I know Lars would say it was okay because he’s been talking about how he wanted to put up more fan-driven content to generate the kind of excitement that would bring more traffic.” I bit my lip to shut myself up.
Adam exchanged a glance with Shane. “What do you think?”
Shane put a hand on my shoulder that felt like he was saying, Mine, though I wasn’t sure if the message was intended for Adam or for me. I measured my breathing and tried again, slowly. Normal. “I mean, I’m sure he’d use it.”
Shane squeezed my shoulder. “Yeah, you should ask him. I think Layla’s going to be gushing about us in an upcoming blog. I can’t wait to read that.”
I flashed back to what I’d actually written. If Shane expected gushing, he wasn’t going to be disappointed.
Adam nodded. “What about your friend? The huge fan of ours? Maybe she’d like to do it.”
“Ash? She lives in Portland.” Not that I’d let anyone else take my place.
Shane narrowed an eye. “Your best friend lives in Portland?”
“She’s not really my best friend. We met online.”
He looked at me like I’d said we met on Mars but let it go. “Hmm. Do you think you know enough about Adam’s music to do it?”
I coughed. Was he joking? “I’ll be fine. Swear.”
“What about next Friday then?” Adam’s eyebrows rose, and I studied him for another moment. “Shane won’t miss you since he’ll be gone.”
Shane hugged me into his chest. “That’s exactly why I’ll miss her.”
“She could come with us,” offered Micah, and my composure began to seriously falter. “If she wants.”
I thought of Byron. I could get Friday off maybe. The weekend was mine, but an entire week to follow a single band? I doubted even Lars would find any benefit to that. “Maybe one day.”
Micah jumped up and saved me from further embarrassment by lighting the candles on the cake. As we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Jo, I took a snapshot in my mind of this amazing moment.
I had nobody to tell.
After Jo opened her presents and the party broke up, I excused myself to gather my belongings.
Upstairs, alone with my thoughts and my things, I appraised my situation. Was I making the right move? Jo would let me stay another night, but it was her birthday, and I was willing to bet she and Micah were eager to have some privacy. They weren’t shy about showing their affection