Page 104 of The Last Dance

28

Infusion

Henry

I’m standing on the sidewalk out front of the Crystal, waiting for her to finally get here. Claire is intentionally holding her up, causing her to be late, just like that time so long ago.

Ben and Claire agreed to give us this and meet up with us later. They’ll be at the show but not right with us. I don’t want to embarrass her, and I feel like this is one of those moments where it should be only her and me. Well, for the most part.

She laughs when she sees me. I glance at my watch, with a shake of my head. ‘What took you so long?’ I ask, her still a half a block from me.

‘Totally Claire’s fault this time. Or maybeyourfault?’

She’s on to me.

I laugh, shaking my head as if I had nothing to do with it. ‘Ready to interview your favorite guy ever?’

‘You have no idea.’ She grins with a sigh.

I pull open the door and she stops midway through, turning back to me. ‘Second favorite guy ever, actually.’

I can feel the goofy grin on my face. I nod towards the stairs inside, following her up to the ballroom, stopping in the doorway and looking in at the nearly empty room. We’re an hour early so she can do an interview with Brad and the band. At least that’s what she thinks.

When I feel her slip her hand into mine I glance over at her with a surprised smile. I lace my fingers through hers, closing my eyes for a second to calm my nerves, pulling her hand to my lips. I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to keep my cool through this.

‘There they are!’ Brad yells from the stage, waking me from my trance of finally touching her in a way that doesn’t feel wrong or secret. ‘You guys ready?’

Ambri pulls me with her, turning to face me and walking backwards with a grin on her face. ‘Let’s go see what exactly you’ve been up to, Mr Decker.’

I almost forgot she knows me so well. I shrug, pretending I haven’t really put myself on the line for this. I’ll either be humiliated or over the moon about what Brad and I have done.

‘Guys, this is Henry Decker, he does all our website work and even worked on the newest album cover.’ He introduces me as if I’ve never met any of them before. In reality, I’ve spent about every free moment I’ve had with them for the last week. ‘And this gorgeous lady next to him is Ambri Jennings, owner of Sound Bites, a new up-and-coming music and food promotion site.’

She smiles, turning to me as we walk towards the stage they’re standing on. ‘You worked on the cover?’

I nod. ‘I helped with a few things, actually.’

‘Where should we start?’ Brad asks, settling himself and his band on the ledge of the stage.

Ambri pulls her hand from mine, taking her phone from her pocket and handing it to me. ‘Can you film this?’

I nod, taking her phone and walking away from her as she takes a deep breath, probably settling the giddiness she’s feeling, before turning to Brad.

‘You guys have a new album coming out. How’d the creation of that go?’

I watch her through the screen on her phone. She’s so nervous but she’s thrilled at the same time. Her smile says it all. She’s absolutely beautiful.

‘We finished recording the final song this week. You know, it’s funny because every time we make an album I get a feeling about that one song that’ll really blow up and I think this time it’s going to be this late addition.’ Brad grins.

‘What do you think is so special about it?’ she asks.

‘The best songs portray real-life events. Those ones always have the most emotion. This is definitely one of those songs,’ one of his guitarists says.

‘Wow. So, you all think this song is the big hit of the album?’

The guys all nod.

‘Was it written for anyone in particular?’

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