Page 66 of Wylder & the Rising Rockstar
With a nod from Luke, Wylder tapped out a beat, the rhythm echoing in her bones. A wave of calm washed over her the way it always did when the music flowed out of her. Luke came in on guitar just as she launched into the first verse.
In all of Wylder’s experience singing with other bands, and the few times she’d performed since she left her last band, she’d never sang lead before, not until her performance with Logan. She thought of herself as a drummer first, a songwriter second, and a backup vocalist last. As the spotlight fell on her, and she felt the lyrics and the music speaking to her, she decided she could get used to singing lead.
Luke’s voice accompanied hers on the chorus, and the crowd was momentarily stunned as they got their first look at the kind of performer Luke Cook really was.
The beat of their song coursed through her arms and up into her core. Luke stepped back from the front of the stage, and Wylder prepared to launch into the second verse, but another familiar voice beat her to it, one that had her heart kicking up a notch. He was here. He’d come.
Luke’s guitar faded into the background, and Wylder eased back on her cymbals, letting Logan’s pure, rich voice fill the theater. She couldn’t contain her huge smile as Logan made his way onto the stage to her left. With Luke on her right, they finished the second verse, and Wylder threw herself into her lead up to Luke’s guitar solo.
Logan’s eyes stayed focused on her, never glancing at the crowd or his brother. She knew he was feeling the nerves when he crept in close to her side.
As Luke took center stage, shredding on guitar like they’d never seen before, the crowd went wild cheering for him.
Wylder stood, kicking out her stool, and she and Logan took the last verse together, sharing her mic. She didn’t know if he just needed her to get through the performance, or if he’d actually forgiven her.
With the final beat of her drums and scream of guitar, the crowd lost their minds, surging to their feet, chanting something she couldn’t quite make out.
“What are they saying?” Wylder asked, standing with the boys to take a bow.
“I think they’re calling our names,” Luke said, grinning and waving to the crowd.
He was right, she could just make out sounds of her name and Logan’s and Luke’s.
“What’d I tell you, Logan? This is how it always should have been,” Luke shouted over the roar of the crowd.
“So, is this all part of your master plan?” Logan gripped Wylder’s hand, and the three of them took another bow together.
“He won’t tell you either?” Wylder asked.
“He’s been babbling for days. I just ignore him.”
Luke threw his arms around both of them. “Who needs country music or Nashville when the three of us together make the perfect rock band?” He took a dramatic sweeping bow just as the lights went down and the curtain fell.
19
“What changed your mind?” Wylder ran off the stage, clutching Logan’s hand.
“That was so epic!” Luke crowed, squeezing both their shoulders and hopping behind them like he’d never performed on stage before. “What a rush! It’s never like that after a solo concert.”
Logan shrugged, ignoring Luke’s enthusiasm. “My brother laid it out on the line for me. Told me I was letting the best thing that ever happened to me slip through my fingers.” Logan gripped her hand. “He’s seldom right, but he did have a point this time.”
“Dude, I’m always right.” Luke slapped him on the back. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not all I said.”
“Yeah.” Luke hung his head. “He told me everything you and your family truly did for him.”
“Yeah, what else did Luke tell you?” Wylder bumped into him shyly, wishing Luke would take a hint and go celebrate somewhere else.
“That I should hear you out. That you were only thinking of me, and I should get my giant head out of my rear before I lost the coolest girl in the world.”
“You said that?” Wylder turned to Luke.
“Don’t let it go to your head. If the three of us are going to do this band thing, I’m not going to be the third wheel the whole time.”
“And how are you going to manage that?” Logan asked, but he never took his eyes off Wylder.
“Wylder and I are buds now, so you’re going to have to share her. We’ll all write together when we’re feeling it. So, then no one gets jealous if me and Wylder write a song, or Logan and Wylder write a song, or if me and Logan write together. It’s all about the group dynamic.”
“He talks like it’s a done deal.” Logan’s mouth tilted up into a half smile.
