I was so not up to see Nightbird again. I should have told her about the night before, about how I'd walked away from Kit. We weren't a couple. We weren't anything. But if I explained, I'd start to cry and I'd cried enough over what could've been with him.
“You’ll see.” She grinned and I yanked backward to free my hand as Kit’s band manager, Tia, came into view. She was wearing pants and blouse that made her like more like the CEO of a bank than the manager of a rock band. But, whatever. She was tiny, but tough as nails and I respected that.
“Vi. Crystal. About damn time. You’re late.”
Late?
Vi shrugged. “Sorry. I tried.”
Tia looked me up and down, gave an approving nod, and used a security keycard to open the door directly behind her. I looked past her to see an empty hallway lined with doors. “What’s going on? Vi, I swear, if you're doing some weird publicity stunt, I'm going to kill you.”
Tia lifted her hands and scooted around behind us, ushering us through the door like a dog herding sheep. I felt like I was being handled, but I didn’t know what to do about it. And, in all honesty, deep down, my curiosity was at an all time high. “Go. Go. Go.”
Vi stepped into the corridor and I followed her. The music was loud here, too, but oddly muffled, the bass beat thumping through the walls and ceiling, muffled enough that I couldn’t make out which song the band was playing.
“Right. To the right.” Tia followed us and closed the door behind her, double-checked that it was locked, and lifted her chin to nod at a giant of a security guard I hadn’t noticed before. He stepped forward to stand in front of the door like we were prisoners here instead of guests.
Tia took off down the corridor, our heels a staccato burst of sound on the hard floor as Vi and I followed her.
“Vi,” I complained. “Look, let's just go to a bar or something.” And forget… everything.
She ignored me. Damn her.
It felt like we walked forever, the curved corridor stretching on in an endless loop, the end always just out of sight around the bend.
Tia walked to another closed door and used the electronic key on the security pad. When the door swung open, two large men stood on the other side. Tia greeted them and then turned, pointing in my direction. “Gentleman, this is Crystal. Can you please escort her to her place?”
One of the men held out his arm to indicate I should walk with him. What the hell was all this about?
With one last glance at Vi, whose face, for once, gave away nothing, I followed the man down the hall. Vi and Tia both fell into step behind me. With every step, the volume of the music increased to near painful levels.
Three more steps and we rounded a corner. The man opened a small door and nodded as I walked past him… onto the stage.
Holy. Shit.
With one gentle yet solid push, I stumbled out far enough that the entire audience could see me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the door close behind me. I was alone. Well, as alone as I could be standing just steps from Kit with a few thousand fans screaming at the stage.
God, he looked good wearing his usual rocker uniform of worn jeans and black t-shirt.
The giant screen behind the band flickered and changed as Kit signaled the band to stop playing. The twisting psychedelic colors faded and all at once I saw myself on that screen. Me. About twenty feet tall.
Kit held up his hand and the crowd quieted, waiting expectantly. Like they were in on a great big secret and collectively holding their breath.
Kit’s grin made my heart skip a beat but he didn’t look at me as he addressed the crowd. “You all remember that story I told you a few minutes ago?”
Screams ripped through the arena and my hands clenched and unclenched at my sides. What story?
Voices shouted randomly from the crowd.
Marry him!
Lucky bitch!
If you don’t want him, I’ll take him!
Don’t do it, Kit! I love you!
Before I could process, the band started playing our song softly, more like background music than a performance. Our song. The song we’d been listening to the first time we made love. The song he used to sing to me when I was lying naked in his arms. The song that still broke my heart every time I heard it on the radio. How did they know? Oh, god, Kit had told them. They knew. No, they were in on this.
Oh. My. God. What was he doing? I began to tremble. Kit loved to be on stage, showing off to thousands of fans. I didn't. I hated the spotlight.
Kit walked over and dropped to one knee at my feet. My mouth fell open.
“Crystal, I know you’re scared. I know this is crazy, but I love you. I don’t want to live another day without you. I can’t.”
The screaming escalated in the crowd, encouraging me to do everything from kiss him to kick him in the balls. Some, begged him not to do it. It was crazy. This moment was crazy.