Page 98 of Wild Stars

Matty speaks into his microphone.“You want control, huh?”he asks, his dark, gravelly voice causing a sea of screams to erupt.

I holler from the sidelines.

“What do you think, Hailee?Think we should give themcontrol?”

Hailee nods, grinning as she speaks into her microphone.“Oh, fuck yeah!”she replies and the crowd screams again.

Matty strums the chords on his guitar, looks at her, and then stops.

“You know...I could use a little back up, though.”He nods to Hailee.

“Hmmm, you might be onto something,” she chirps, flashing him with a grin.“Like, what if we had akillerbassist.”Her eyes sparkle with evil intent.

“Oh no,” I say to myself as Richie stands straighter.

“Yeah, and maybe akillerguitarist to back up my vocals.”

The crowd screams.

“Yeah, I think we have somekillermusicians who could help us out.”Hailee smiles before heading into the wings, and Matty turns to look at me, smirking like the absolute asshole he is.

“What do you say,Dare?You got any more juice?”His grin is wicked, and I shake my head.

Fucking hell.I’m going to make him pay for this later.

And I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it, too.

I don’t think twice about strolling out on stage.After all, it’s where I’ve always felt the most comfortable.

And sharing a stage with the man I love...well, that’s just a fucking bonus.

A stagehand hands me a mic clip as Hailee pulls my brother on stage.

It takes both of us all of two minutes to get our instruments and sound packs, and get in place.

I stand behind Matty, my gaze catching his as he nods.

“Knock ‘em dead, wild star.”

“Yes, sir,” I reply as I strum out the beginning chords ofControl, finally feeling like all my dreams have finally come true.

EPILOGUE

Three WeeksLater

Dare

“You hear back yetabout the song?”Matty asks, carrying down my bags from my tour bus, loading them onto the luggage racks for the hotel.

“No, not yet, but I did just submit it yesterday,” I remind him.

He shrugs.“Still, I think if they don’t like it, you should release it on your own.Put it on your YouTube or something.”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow as I sling my backpack over my shoulder.

“Maybe.But I’m not worried about it.I know it’s good.Becausewewrote it.”

Matty lets out a sigh.“I told you, you didn’t have to credit me.It’syoursong.”

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