Page 90 of Rival Hearts

Standing in front of the heavy curtain, Trent turned to me.

“I don’t need to hear I fucked up again,” I said, holding up my hand. My own version of panic was seeping into my gut. If I did this and she still rejected me, the performance would live on the internet forever. Not exactly an appealing thought. I really valued my privacy. Songwriting, rather than singing, had a lot of perks.

“Nah, I wasn’t going to say that. I mean, you did, but I don’t need to say it again.”

I gave him the side-eye and scratched the stubble emerging on my cheek.

“I’m proud of you,” Trent said. “Yeah, the rest of us did a lot. But you brought big names here tonight for the town, people who drew the sold-out crowd.” He stared at his feet and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “And when Jim died, you didn’t buckle. I thought you might. You carry Dad’s death differently than me, and it’s been pretty clear during the Small Town Saviors practices that Maggie’s dad meant a lot to you. I didn’t know how far you’d be set back.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and then cleared it, hoping my voice didn’t portray how much Trent’s words meant. “I’m trying. I’m really fucking trying.”

“It shows. She’s no fool. She’ll see it too.” He drew me into a hug before wandering to the side of the stage to talk to the first group of performers.

With a sigh, I followed his lead and grabbed the box of props to dish out to the dancers, a group of four men dressed as coal miners.

The show would open with a bang, and if I was lucky, it would finish with one too.

Two songs later, things were ticking along, and Trent was up for his solo performance. From the sidelines, I saw Emily straightening Trent’s bow tie on the other side of the stage, and then she snapped one of his suspenders. Lila and Emily had decided to make Trent a straitlaced nerd. The image was the opposite of the rough, tattooed bad boy most of the town believed him to be. Trent took his spot in the middle of the stage with a clipboard in his hand. He glanced over at Emily and flashed her something on the clipboard. Whatever was there made Emily burst into laughter. My brother had never been short on charm.

The curtains rolled back, and Trent pushed his glass-less frames up his nose and pretended to read through the clipboard. When the opening beat of “SexyBack”by Justin Timberlake hit, Trent dropped the clipboard and looked around as though he wasn’t sure who the song was talking about. Then, with a shrug, he peeled off a suspender, and the crowd went wild. The body rolls and the hip-hop dance moves followed in quick succession.

Kelvin had mentioned that Trent had gotten extra lessons from Amy, the dance coordinator I brought on board. I’dassumed that was a euphemism for Trent charming Amy into bed, but he’d definitely learned a thing or two.

On the other side of the stage, Emily and Lila stood in the wings, admiring their handiwork. Seeing them look so proud and happy was a nice change from how they’d both appeared the last couple of days. Would Maggie have stood beside them? Had the same pleased look on her face?

Trent was winning over the crowd with each hip thrust, each piece of discarded clothing. When Trent ripped off his tearaway pants, the sound of the crowd was deafening. I grinned. Were the citizens of Little Falls ready to welcome Trent back into the fold? Or were they just so rabid for a naked, ripped body they’d take anyone as long as he danced well and looked good? I hoped there were people in the crowd who scanned the organizing committee on their programs for the night and recognized Trent’s name as a founding member.

“What do you think?” Kelvin asked.

“Feeling pretty proud of my little brother right about now.”

“I hope you aren’t the only one.” Kelvin stared out at the crowd. “You nervous? Do you still get nervous?”

Nerves should’ve been fluttering in the pit of my stomach. The signs of an impending performance were almost always the same. Fluttering stomach, cold sweat down my back, a sinking feeling I’d fuck something up. But when I considered Kelvin’s question, I realized something. “I’m not nervous, actually. Doing this feels right.”

On stage, Trent was down to some tight, white boxer briefs. Had he gotten a spray tan? I rubbed my face at the thought.

As the song came to a close, Trent tossed his glasses across the stage and turned his back to the crowd. With his fingers in the waistband of his boxers at the back, he looked over his shoulder at the crowd.

Please let him remember we agreed there’d be no total nudity.

The final words of the song rang out and the lights cut out just as it appeared Trent was going to lose his last piece of clothing.

Thank God.

I breathed a sigh of relief while the crowd went wild with cries for an encore, and the curtains closed.

Joseph Goldtooth rushed around the stage gathering Trent’s discarded items.

“What’d you think?” Trent asked, ambling over to us.

“Those lessons paid off,” Kelvin said, grinning.

“She was an excellent teacher.” His answering grin told me he hadn’t been wrong about what the lessons had entailed.

“You definitely worked the crowd.”

“I got a little nervous.” Trent admitted, his smile fading. “I recognized a couple people right at the front. But then when they started cheering, I don’t know, I just went for it.”

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