Page 1 of Love is a Lyric
1
Ben
Ben Evans never believed in fate, not until the music.
Not until he met someone who understood him so completely and spoke to a deeper part of his soul. Okay, maybe not literally. Quinn Hayes wasn’t the kind of girl who’d speak profound, world-changing words.
She’d write them, sing them.
And now?
“I really think you need to take your shirt off on stage.”
Ben closed his eyes. They’d had this argument before. Many times. “Quinn…”
“Don’t give me that sigh, Benjamin Evans.” She patted the side of his face before turning back to the mirror in her dressing room. She leaned forward to apply another coat of pink lipstick. “Everything I do is for us.” Her eyes narrowed as they found his in the mirror. “You know that, right?”
He did. Along with their friend Connor, they formed the pieces of the bandFate. Ironic, he’d always thought. Maybe the three of them were supposed to find each other their senior year of high school.
They’d played to sparse crowds for years before a song Quinn wrote took off on YouTube and more than one label came calling. That was six years ago. At twenty-three, he’d been ready to call it quits.
Now, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to Quinn’s cheek. “I get that you’re trying to excite the fans, babe, but can we do it without my chest?” She was always trying to exploit his looks, their looks together. Scandalous photo shoots, sexy dance moves. And now this.
He put his hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. “Why do I get the feeling I’m working harder at this than you? It’s easy to climb to the top, Ben. Not so easy to stay there.”
Their climb had been easy, he’d admit that. Once Quinn discovered her talent for songwriting, everyone else discovered it too. But this wasn’t a new argument. “We’re all doing our best.”
“Whatever, Ben. Let’s just get ready to sing my songs.”
Every time she said something like that, his gut twisted. Yes, Quinn wrote their lyrics, but Ben put them to music. Together, they made magic. It was why he’d taken their friendship to something more all those years ago. Her words called out to his notes, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle they’d never known wasn’t whole.
“Are you ready to rock?” Connor, the final piece ofFate, burst through the door with his signature pre-concert phrase. It was cheesy, but they loved him for it. He served as the tension breaker whenever Ben and Quinn fought.
Ben shook his head with a laugh as Connor shot him a grin.
“What are you two doing?” He waggled his eyebrows. “There’s a whole concert out there, and it’s freaking awesome.”
“I have no idea.” Ben gave Quinn one more look. Some days, he didn’t know what he was doing anymore. The music still spoke to him… her lyrics tied them together, but he couldn’t help wondering if fate had been wrong. He followed Connor out into the bowels of the arena where they’d perform in less than an hour. The charity concert was the final piece of the never-ending world tour that was finally coming to a close. About time.
Connor led him to where they could see the stage without anyone catching sight of them, and they stopped to watch Drew Stone strut around the stage like he owned it. For tonight, Ben guessed he did. This was Drew’s event. He’d called in every favor to bring in a massive lineup that includedFate, even though Quinn had begged Ben to say no.
“Gotta admit,” Connor yelled. “The dude has pipes... and moves.”
Ben grimaced at that. He didn’t always see eye to eye with Drew. Drew had been in the music scene much longer than Ben, and as America’s golden boy, there was a cockiness to him. He danced as well as he sang, pulling out all the tricks Quinn wanted Ben to use to engage the audience. Shirt ripping. Hip shaking.
Connor elbowed Ben. “You and Quinn okay?”
Ben only shrugged.
A small smile played on Connor’s lips. “Remember back in high school when we heard her sing for the first time?”
Yeah, he remembered. They’d watched her in a school talent show and invited her to join their band. That was the same night they promised each other they wouldn’t fall for her. Because their band was about the music.
And that lasted for about five years, stopping the moment Ben heard the first song she’d written.
“I knew it would spell trouble.” Connor laughed. He’d never been mad Ben had broken their vow. And now, eleven years later, here they were. With Ben’s girlfriend demanding he strip during their show.
