The tears Chloe had fought to hold at bay finally broke free. They rolled over her cheeks and dripped from her chin. She had no idea that hearing him say those words would hurt so much. And until that moment, she had no idea just how much she wished it had been her he’d said them to.
She didn’t see him walk onto the stage, but from the roar of the crowd, she knew he had. With heavy feet, she turned to watch the bright lights flash across the darkened stage. The speakers pulsed as the hypnotic melody of a heavy guitar riff rolled over the crowd like fog. Bodies moved in fluid motion, their sweat-slicked skin covered in goose bumps as the music wrapped around them and sank into their bones. At the center of the stage, Reid stood with his eyes closed, his body motionless except for the tiny flick of his wrist as he dragged his pick over guitar strings.
With stinging eyes and trembling hands, Chloe hovered in the shadows. As the first verse rolled into the chorus and the chorus faded into the next song, dread raced through her veins as she waited for her cue to walk on stage and pretend her heart didn’t ache. The echo of a single guitar note rippled through the air, and when it faded, the arena was blanketed in silence. That was her signal to walk across the stage and stand next to Reid, yet she remained frozen. Locked in a concrete vise of fear and sadness.
Only seconds passed before she found herself trapped in Reid’s intense gaze. Perspiration glistened on his skin and the soft white lights surrounded him like a halo. In a slow, hesitant motion, he turned to face her. Murmurs rose as he moved toward the side of the stage. Chloe’s eyes darted to Drew and Greer. The confusion etched in their features caused her stomach to drop. She was going to ruin everything.
The tips of her fingers whitened as she gripped the neck of her violin. With her eyes locked on Reid, she pulled in a deep breath and positioned the violin under her chin. Lifting the bow, she dragged it across the strings and stepped from the shadows. Cheers erupted, the roar insignificant compared to the deafening sound of her pulse throbbing when she noticed Reid still walking toward her.
Confused and off-balance, she moved forward until they stood face-to-face, breath-to-breath. She continued to play even as her knees shook. She waited for him to face the crowd and sing. She waited for his lips to part and the sound of his voice to sink into her skin. He did neither of those things. Instead, he pushed the guitar hanging from his shoulder strap behind him. The beat of the drums softened, and Greer muted the keyboard until only a dull thump—a background vibration to the sweet sounds of her violin—remained.
Reid lifted his hand to her face, timid and unsure. When the backs of his fingers traced the curve of her cheek, Chloe’s eyes fell shut. With a slow exhale, he began to sing, the sound of his voice raw and gripping. It consumed every breath in the building.
Only dreams ease this ache,
With memories of how you taste
I hold you close and breathe you in,
drag my lips across your skin.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She wasn’t supposed to fall for him, and he wasn’t allowed to look at her like his heart was breaking. Not when the words he sang and the emotions behind them were meant for someone else. Someone she would never be.
But when I wake and reach for you, it kills me that it isn’t true.
I never find you by my side, these secret visions are just a lie.
Just a lie.
These secret visions cannot hide how dead I have become inside.
As he uttered the final words in a whisper and the lights faded to black, Chloe stood with twin trails of tears rolling down her cheeks and a pain inside her chest like nothing she’d ever experienced.
Reid sucked in a sharp breath and leaned forward. In the cover of the darkened stage, his cheek brushed against Chloe’s as he moved his lips to her ear. “Please don’t hate me,” he whispered. He straightened his back, and with a gentle touch, wiped the wetness from her cheek.
Chloe squared her shoulders. “I don’t,” was all she said before turning toward the crowd and readying her violin for the next song.
A sinking feeling latched on to Reid’s shoulders and pulled against him until his legs could barely handle the pressure. All day, he’d avoided everyone. Consumed with guilt, regret, and longing. It was the last emotion that wrecked him more than anything else. As wrong as it had been, as bad as he felt for hurting Chloe, for cheating on Jess, he knew without a doubt that were he given the chance, he’d kiss Chloe again and again.