And luckily, I already knew what I was going to say.

  I stuck my hand out and grinned at her. “Then it’s a good thing you’ve got a deal, Taylor. When do we start?”

  She began talking again, laying out plan after plan for what she wanted me to do, and I prayed that Anna was listening and taking mental notes. Getting it all organized so she could tell me about it later. I hoped Taylor also had it all written down somewhere so she could email it to me.

  Because I’d already stopped paying attention.

  I was too busy building a plan for how I was going to save Rivers Shine from himself, and worm my way back into his life while I was doing it.

  RIVERS

  My Sunshine Girl didn’t look like she was enjoying her breakfast very much.

  I watched as her face went from red-hot—she’d been looking at me like she was trying to shoot flames right at me before Taylor caught her—to pale, to... something that looked like it was carved from stone.

  Whatever Taylor was saying wasn’t sitting well with her, and I could see her expression reflected on Anna’s face. True, I didn’t know Anna as well and doubted she thought very much of me, but she was also Lila’s best friend. The girl who watched out for my girl. And she’d gone nearly as still and stony as Lila herself.

  Taylor’s face, on the other hand, was all business, and she was talking a mile a minute. She’d obviously gone to that meeting already knowing what she was going to say and how she was going to say it. She’d been prepared to do whatever it took to talk Lila and Anna into her newest scheme. And if I knew Taylor, she’d presented it so clearly that there was almost no argument to be made. Then, once she’d had her say, she’d put the cherry on the top.

  Lila and Anna were on this tour to try to win a contract, and Taylor had promised them one if Lila pretended to date me. The dating thing…

  Well, it was still going on, but it didn’t take a genius to guess that Taylor didn’t think it was going well. Lila and I had been in front of the cameras but I’d been having more and more trouble summoning a smile for those flashes, and before long our story was going to go from ‘young and in love’ to ‘she couldn’t fix what was wrong with him.’

  That didn’t suit Taylor’s plans at all.

  I was betting that the meeting they were having now had a whole lot to do with that problem, and whatever Taylor had come up with as a solution. And I was also betting that Taylor was letting them both know that the contract she’d promised them was now on the line unless Lila did exactly what she wanted.

  My eyes shot back to Lila and I took in the too-pale skin and eyes that had grown several sizes larger. Right. Taylor was definitely demanding more of her, then, and I could guess what that was, too. The girl was incredibly talented and beautiful and charming, and she was wasted if she was just standing around in the audience. Taylor had already marked her out for a contract, after only hearing her sing once, and she had to be telling her now that she wanted Lila and Anna up on stage more often, playing to the crowd and building their fan base. Earning that contract she’d been dangling in front of them.

  She was probably also telling them that she even knew when they could get on stage. Lila had performed with my band once before and the guys adored her. They’d immediately taken her under their wing and started treating her like the little sister none of them actually had. No leap to think Taylor was suggesting Lila and Anna play with The Authors when we were on stage. She might even be offering them time with Olivia and Connor and their band.

  She was almost inevitably telling them that I was a waste of time and could no longer throw around the weight I once had. That Lila would be better off forgetting about me. Maybe she was even pulling the whole fake dating scheme off the table, telling Lila that she had better things for her to do with her time.

  And if she was telling her that I was a waste of time and that Lila would be better off without me?

  Well, would she be so wrong?

  Hadn’t I been thinking the same thing about myself for the past week? For the past few years?

  For my entire life?

  The last week, of course, had been even worse. I couldn’t seem to get it together, couldn’t get myself back on track. My focus had left me and any momentum I’d had coming into this tour had flown right out the window. True, I’d had a flare of it for a bit, when Lila had first entered my life and I’d had a taste of hope for the first time in... well, ever.

  And then I’d come to my senses and pulled away. Given up on something that could have pulled me out of the hole, and sent myself right back into that darkness.

  The thing was, this wasn’t the first time I’d gone through something like this. There were too many spirals to count over the years, too many almost-made-it moments, and too many times when I’d intentionally turned back into the darkness.

  But this was the first time I could pinpoint the specific thing that had almost pulled me up, and then sent me spiraling back into the shadows.

  Lila Potter. I saw her talking to another guy and it broke me. I’d been flirting with labeling my feelings for her at that point and seeing her with someone else had hurt so badly, affected me so deeply, that I’d immediately shut down. It hadn’t been conscious or intentional. More like a defense mechanism. I’d realized how much I treasured her, even after only a week, and how much I’d suddenly come to depend on her. That smile. The laugh. The ability to eat nearly an entire pie by herself.

  I’d seen how much I’d opened up to her and realized how dangerous it was.

  Doubly dangerous for her. She was meant for the sun and I was a creature of the shadow. She’d been falling in love with me, and I was not the man for her. I would only hurt her, the way I’d hurt so many other people in my years. She couldn’t afford to have me in her life, but I didn’t think she’d ever see that—or go through with cutting me out.

  So I’d done it for her. I’d made sure she’d be safe and clean, and I meant to keep it that way.

  Sure, it was killing me. And I was sinking into the blackness. But I didn’t see any way around that. Was I worried that I was damaging The Global Authors’ chance at staying on the tour? Yes. I worried about my band mates—my best friends—every day, and knew that by damaging myself, I might also be damaging them.

  Which was why I’d been working on a plan. It wasn’t a good plan. It wasn’t something I’d even fleshed out yet, and I certainly hadn’t committed to it. I didn’t know if it would work. But it was starting to take up more space in my mind.

  And if I could pull it off, it would save not only my band, but Lila as well.

  I watched her turn toward me, her eyes narrowed in thought, and I caught her gaze and held it for a long, tense moment.

  When she nodded and turned away, I knew she’d already made up her mind. She was going to do whatever Taylor was asking her to do. She was going to play to the audience and get her fans. She was going to win her contract.

  I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly, feeling my heart break and then mend itself together again.

  And in that moment, I made up my mind. I didn’t know exactly what Lila was agreeing to, but I knew what my next steps were. She deserved everything. The fame, the fans, the contract. She deserved to be happy and successful. She deserved everything she’d set out on this tour to find.

  And I was going to make sure that happened.

  Even if it meant I had to leave the picture, myself.

  LILA

  The venue that night was freaking amazing.

  Look, I liked the small towns. I loved the little music halls and the random bars we’d been in at almost every place we stopped. I loved it even more when the audience was right there in front of the stage, able to interact with the bands as they played. Those were the sorts of places I’d played a million and one times back in Nashville, and though I wasn’t on the stage right now—this wasn’t, after all, a tour that actually featured me and Anna—I adored being in the audience for shows like that. You got to see the performers more closely, laugh with them when they messed up, and the whole thing was just...

  So personal.

  But tonight, we were in a bigger city and that meant a bigger venue. It meant a huge room with a bigger stage and—let’s face it—better soundproofing. The first band, The Leathers, had played their loudest, most raucous music and wound the audience up with their sound, and by the time The Authors got read to go on stage, everyone was jumping and screaming and ready for some more rock and roll. Anna and I weren’t out there with the crowd, though. Instead, we were backstage, helping the stagehands move everything around and get the instruments and music equipment set up. I was rushing around with Molly, the girl who served as The Authors’ head roadie, responding to her shouted questions as quickly as I could.

  “Where’s that fucking microphone Rivers likes so much?”

  I rifled quickly through the sound equipment, knowing exactly which one she was talking about. For some reason, Rivers liked the oldest, most dilapidated microphone on tour and we were always having to switch out the newer equipment to stuff that vibed with that old thing when he went onstage.

  It was ridiculous and sort of hilarious, and also a running joke with the crew.

  “No clue,” I said, coming to the end of the sound equipment and not finding it. “It’s not in here.”

  “Shit,” she cussed, the word completely at odds with her wide-eyed, curly haired look. Then again, I’d known the girl long enough now to realize that though she might look innocent, she was anything but.

  She was best friends with the band and evidently had been since they were kids. And she was the only one who could put them all in their place, no matter how ornery they were being. She was particularly good with the drummer, Noah, who was just as tough as he looked and smoked about thirteen packs of cigarettes a day. He seemed like the kind of guy who never, ever took advice from anyone, and dared anyone to call him out on it.

  Until Molly called him out on it. At which point he turned into a sulky little boy who’d do anything she told him to.

  Which was, of course, hilarious.

  She didn’t, though, have the same hold over Rivers, and I didn’t think she wanted to tell him that we didn’t have his microphone available.

  “What’s the problem here?” another voice suddenly asked.

  I turned and saw Taylor scooting through the backstage area, her hair coming down from her standard updo and her eyes bright and fiery.

  “We can’t find Rivers’ microphone,” Molly said, hustling to another pile of stuff. “And we all know how he’s going to react to that.”

  Taylor stared after Molly for a moment, her mouth open. “Then get him another one,” she said, acting like this was the simplest answer in the world. “Because they’re on in five minutes and we’ve got a very specific curfew tonight. We can’t push this show late. We don’t have time for Rivers to be spoiled.”

  I opened my mouth to respond to that—he was one of the most popular people here and surely we should go out of our way to make sure he had what he wanted when he was onstage—but then remembered the meeting I’d had with Taylor this morning.

  She’d said she was done catering to him. Done with his shit. Because he was losing his value with his attitude.

  She’d followed that up by telling me that it was my time to outshine him.

  I’d barely finished that thought when she turned to me, her face lighting up like she’d just had the best idea in the world. And I didn’t have to hear it to know that her bright idea was going to be something I didn’t necessarily like.

  “You know what?” she snapped. “Screw that. Send him onstage with what we can find, and tell him that he’s not going out there alone.”

  “What?” Molly and I asked at the same time.

  Taylor reached out and grabbed my arm, turning me and hustling me toward the stage. “Where’s your other half? Does she have her keyboard here? Because I’ve got an idea.”

  “My other half? Her keyboard?”

  I mean yeah, I knew exactly where Anna was. And I knew that she did in fact have her keyboard with her. It was stored with all the other musical equipment—and my guitar, which I kept with The Authors’ equipment and retrieved every night, just in case I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to write something.

  That didn’t mean I knew what Taylor was up to.

  “Where’s your guitar?” she asked, like she was following the same mental path I’d already walked.

  “Huh?” I asked, sounding just as gobsmacked as I felt.

  “Your guitar. Sam!” she shouted over her shoulder. “Get this girl’s guitar from the room in the back! The Fender, right?” That part was directed at me, but she didn’t pause when I didn’t answer. “And get the keyboard too! We’re going to need them both.”

  “We what?”

  She spun me to look at her, and I saw right then how she’d risen so quickly in the music industry and made a name for herself as someone who could quite literally magic her way right into what she wanted. “Stop asking questions, Lila, and get yourself together. You and Anna are going onstage. If Rivers doesn’t have the microphone he wants, I’ll give someone else time in front of the crowd. And for right now, that someone else is you.”

  She turned me back toward the stage and I had just enough time to see Anna in the wings on the other side of the stage, flirting with one of the other guys in the band, before my guitar was shoved into my hands and I found myself stumbling out onto the stage, courtesy of a healthy push from Taylor James.

  “Um, hi,” I said into the microphone in front of me.

  Anna, sitting to my right behind her keyboard, snorted at that and I sent her a narrow-eyed look.

  “Do you want to make the introductions?” I hissed.

  She sealed her lips and gave me a big-eyed look, leaving everything up to me, and I almost snarled at her. Anna was the more outgoing of the two of us and had always spoken for us before, and if we’d planned this we would have had her up here explaining why we were onstage with The Global Authors shuffling behind us and their lead singer missing.

  Instead, she was leaving it up to me. Like I wasn’t already in over my head.

  “Right, well I’m guessing you’re wondering who we are and what we’re doing up here when you’re expecting to see The Global Authors,” I continued.

  “Are you kidding?” a voice said. “I’m betting they know exactly who you are.”

  I glanced over to see Matt, the bassist for The Authors, leaning up to his microphone and grinning at me. I grinned back, unable to stop myself. Matt was almost as good-looking as Rivers, but where Rivers was dark and brooding, Matt was dark and yet sunny at the same time. Always laughing. Always cracking jokes.

  And lately, flirting with Anna any time he had a spare moment.

  I looked from him to her and lifted my brows, and noted the flush creeping quickly up from the neckline of her blouse.

  I laughed at that, and turned back to the audience. “Okay, so maybe you know exactly who I am, but I’m guessing you’re still wondering what I’m doing here. The truth is, our friend Rivers is having a bit of a... um... equipment issue backstage, and since he’s back there being distracted, some of the management thought Anna and I could come out here and entertain you for a bit. You all ready for some down-home Nashville-style country? Because that’s what we’re about to give you.”

  And at that, Anna and I launched into one of our best pieces—this part, at least, we’d discussed—and broke into song. This was a good one, a real love song but with a catchy, quick tempo, and before long the audience was stomping and clapping with us, their faces breaking into surprised grins. A moment later, a bass line broke in on the song and I glanced over, surprised. We didn’t have bass lines in our songs. They were written for guitar and keyboard only. But hearing the deeper, fuller sound was...

  Really good.

  Like, really good.

  Matt grinned at me again, his fingers working his bass, and I tipped my head. Then there were drums. And then another guitar. They weren’t doing anything spectacular—nothing complicated—but they were filling in the gaps in our melody with simple notes.

  Notes that worked.

  And oh my God, Global Authors were playing one of our songs. With us.

  My heart grew three sizes, making it feel like it was about to break, and I launched into the chorus with the biggest grin I’d ever worn.

  When another voice joined mine, I thought I might actually explode. I looked to my left and saw Rivers walking out on stage, his guitar swinging from his shoulders and his favorite microphone—I guessed—in front of him as he tried to harmonize with me. Difficult, considering he didn’t even know the words, and honestly I was surprised he was trying at all. This was the guy who’d barely talked to me in the last week and now he was faking the words to one of my songs so he could harmonize with me?

  My eyes met his and I felt a jolt go through me. All his focus was on me, the energy coming off him something nearly electric, and for a second my voice completely failed me. God, I wanted to run to him and jump into his arms. And I wanted to stand here and revel in the fact that he was actually looking at me. I wanted to shout at him for suddenly showing up like the entire last week hadn’t even happened.

  Then he lifted one brow, I realized I’d stopped singing, and I turned back to the crowd and jumped into it again. Moments later I was lost in the song once more, my fingers working the strings on my guitar and my soul soaring up with the sound of the music. The audience was singing and stomping, dancing around, and I had the thought that this was it. This was what it would be like to play on a tour this big, with artists like this.

  I moved toward Anna, wanting to share this with her, but ran right into someone who was already next to her. I realized in that moment that Matt had moved and was now standing right next to her, playing his bass like he was offering it up to her on a silver platter while she grinned madly at him, her eyes shining and her laughter sounding out across the stage.