Page 89 of Rival Hearts

They all made various gestures of agreement.

“All right,” I said, my gaze shifting between them. “I’m going for it. Tonight, I’m laying it out there. No more misunderstandings.”

“Thank fucking God,” Trent said with a grin. “I was starting to think I needed to run a Communication 101 seminar for you two lemmings.”

“Fuck off.” I smiled to take the edge off the words. “Communication 101 with you as the professor?” I scoffed. “What textbook would you use?”

Trent pointed to the side of his head. “My superior brain.”

“Useless.” We grinned at each other. Our old comradery wasn’t always there, but when it appeared, I embraced the moment.

“So,” Emily said, running her finger down her list. “You’ll be on right after the group number. We’ll have to get Tyler to do an announcement at some point about the special performance or no one will know. It’s not in the program.”

The mention of the group performance brought forth a flood of memories. I’d spent hours helping Jim nail the footwork forthat number. We should have been dancing together. My throat closed at the memory, and I was reminded again of what the Sullivans were enduring right now, what Maggie was trying to endure alone.

“Where’s Tyler?” Emily looked around, blinking rapidly, a sheen across her eyes.

Had her mind gone to her father too?

“Helping Mia Malone,” Lila said with a flick of her hand. “Some sort of wardrobe malfunction.”

Grateful for the distraction, I cleared my throat. “Should I help?” I turned in the direction of the dressing rooms.

“No,” Lila said. “She needed something sewed. Tyler found a sewing kit and is doing the mending in her dressing room.”

“Oh, yeah,” I agreed. “I guess he’d be the best one to help.” If anyone could rectify a wardrobe malfunction with a standard emergency sewing kit, Tyler would be the guy. His creativity and ingenuity were truly amazing. All the costumes he’d cobbled together for tonight’s performances were like pieces of art.

Without the costume distraction, my previous idea returned, and I considered the wisdom of what I was about to propose. If Maggie couldn’t talk to me directly, I’d talk to her. “You guys think you can live stream the show and convince Maggie to watch?” I looked between Emily, Lila, and Trent. There would be people in the audience who’d post the concert to YouTube, but I didn’t want to take a chance she might not see it, might not know.

“I already told you she loves you, which is against best friend code. But she’s hurting. I think being with you makes the hurt less.” Lila took a deep breath. “If what you’re planning to do will embarrass her—”

“It might,” I said, running a hand along my chin and down my throat. “Not in a hurtful way, I promise. I need her to hear me, really hear me. Maybe having my words recorded will helpthem sink in. She can play them back as much as she needs.” Comfort and certainty in a video. Maggie needed time to sit with a decision or a dilemma, to let it process. Putting my feelings out there so publicly might give her the distance but also the repetition she needed to see I was offering her my heart. That if we both hadn’t been a little on the back foot, letting our past cloud the present, she’d already know she had it.

Truthfully, I’d give her anything she asked for.

Lila, Emily, and Trent exchanged glances.

“I’ll go over to Maggie’s toward the end of the show, if everyone can run this without me for the last hour or so,” Lila said.

“We’ll be fine.” Tyler stepped into the circle. I wondered how long he’d been listening.

“Oh, hey.” Emily smiled. “You get Ms. Malone all fixed up?”

Tyler gave a sheepish grin. “Something like that. She’s… uh… interesting.”

Mia was into the spectacle aspect of her performances. Probably a phase, but I’d heard from lots of industry people she could be a bit much—demanding, childish, crazy clauses in her riders, blunt bordering on rude. I’d never had a problem with her or the things she’d wanted for her album. I liked straightforward, direct people, and Mia, for someone who was only twenty, was good at cutting to the chase. Her mother was a slightly different story, and I sometimes wondered if Laura was the root of the ugly rumors.

“If Lila is going there, I need someone to film.” I glanced around.

“Filming,” Kelvin said, clapping me on the shoulder. “I love to direct people.”

Kelvin had reappeared from the basement with his boyfriend in tow. They must have managed to calm the mass of nervousmen before the curtains parted. “Think you can handle the pressure?”

“Of course.” He scanned the group, and he must have read their eagerness and uncertainty. “Wait. What am I filming?”

“Grady will fill you two in,” Emily said while she checked her watch. “The rest of us have things to get done before the curtain disappears in five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Lila squeaked. “Ahh. Panic! This is what panic feels like.” Her heels clacked across the floor as she strutted away with Emily. Tyler, Kelvin, and his boyfriend followed, chatting as they made their way to their places.

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