The lights dimmed and I rolled my eyes as the tuxedo and sequin-clad audience clapped as if we were at a golf tournament. This party couldn’t be duller. I was sober. I had paid a fortune for crap I was never going to use, and I’d lost sight of Vienna Crawford. She probably had to leave early to get her husband tucked in bed.
I pulled my phone out to message the driver as the lights went out. I looked up as the spotlight made a bright white circle at the back of the stage.
It was all theatrics. Even in a small space like this, I could see the way it was choreographed. How Lexi would emerge and the fans would fall at her feet. Shit, there wasn’t much difference between this and running out of the tunnel on the Warriors’ field. The lights. The smoke. The intro music.
I saw this every week. The way the guys huddled together in the tunnel. The way the crowd roared before we took the field.
I felt my chest tighten for a second. I didn’t want to be anybody’s damn circus clown. This entire production reminded me that was exactly what I was. The Warriors were turning me into their own pop princess and I wasn’t going to play their game.
I turned to leave. I didn’t give a shit if Coach was mad I didn’t stay until the end. I had done enough for one night. I shoved my phone in my pocket just as the drums crescendoed and then there was silence, except for one clear note. One piercing note that ricocheted off the walls, and made everyone stare at the stage.
I stopped in my tracks and looked over my shoulder. The spotlight blurred her into a blaze of white, but slowly the lights evaporated like the smoke, and standing on stage was Lexi Wilde.
I didn’t know when it happened, but I pivoted and pushed past the people in front of me, taking my post on the side of the crowd again. I could see over everyone. One of the advantages of being six five.
And what I saw was like white fire. I couldn’t look away. I’d probably heard this song before. I’d heard all her songs, but I always turned the station. I didn’t know what she was singing about, or what the lyrics meant. But there was something in her voice. A pureness I heard without the instruments drowning her out. Without all the electronic manipulation.
And as stupid as it sounds, I thought I saw her look at me from the stage. She smiled with big innocent eyes as she leaned down to touch the hands of the kids they had lined up in the front row. But it was there. A look. Maybe a wink. Her sapphire eyes were shining in my direction.
She held the mic, walking down the stairs and made her rounds through the children. She stopped for hugs. She stopped to take selfies, the entire time singing her song, not missing a single solid beat.
I watched as she took the steps again and stood at the front of the stage. “Hello, Austin.” She waved.
The crowd clapped and I heard the kids making whooping sounds for her.
“Thank y’all for inviting me here tonight.” She grinned at the front row. “Because this is a special occasion. And I’m honored and blessed to be here with you to open the children’s wing of Austin’s Westwood Hospital.” She knew when to pause for the applause. “So, tonight this is a celebration. It’s a night to feel good about what we’ve done for these children, and for all of the children who are going to walk through those doors.” She pointed behind the crowd.
“So don’t be bashful. We have a lot to celebrate. And we still have a lot of funds to raise. Put your hands together and let’s get this party started.”
She began to clap and the crowd was in unison with her. I looked around at the spell she had cast over these people. They were happy. They fucking loved her.
And that’s when I realized there was a part about the football glitz I loved. The flood of adrenaline. The fans chanting my name. The cheerleaders screaming on the sidelines. It was fucking amazing. The rush of football. It was everything to me. And for a split second, Lexi Wilde looked at me and I felt it. I felt that same rush.
And I couldn’t move. I couldn’t turn away. The gentle sway of her hips and the way her eyes lit every time she turned toward my end of the stage captured my full attention. I was stuck. Stuck listening to something angelic in her voice. Stuck waiting for the next song to play.
I followed her legs and those sexy boots as she moved from one end of the small stage to the other. There was something fascinating about Lexi Wilde and I had to figure out what it was. Why I couldn’t turn away. Why I stared. Why I suddenly picked up my phone and needed to cancel my car.
6
Alexa
“Babe, that was beautiful. You were beautiful.” Jake met me at the back of the stage, handing me a bottle of water, and planted a kiss on my cheek. He looked almost as flush as I was.