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“I guess they were a thing then.” Rhylie heard me but didn’t comment.
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. It was over now, and that allowed a smile to crawl onto my pink-glossed lips.
The first of Remington’s songs started, his fingers dancing over piano keys. Sen sang the opening line. Her tone had changed from earlier, altered by disappointment, embarrassment, and, above all, irritation. She became squeaky, making him sound all the more perfect when he joined her in the chorus.
The crowd applauded when it came to an end, making it hard to hear Remington when he said, “Thank you, Sen.”
Sen only nodded, something like understanding on her face. Happiness nudged me in the ribs as she trotted off the stage, waving to the audience.
“Happier?” Rhylie asked, with a slight curve to her lips. Maybe it was her nudging me.
The smile on my face gave her my answer.
“And thank you, my beautiful crowd.” Remington’s glittering eyes landed on the piano keys before finding us lucky few close by. “Hello, ladies and gentleman. I apologize for my lack of manners. I should have said something earlier. However, I’m sure you’ll fucking forgive me.” He laughed. “Am I right?…God, I hope so.”
The only boy in our strip of people—a teenager in an I Love Remington T-shirt—almost fainted. His hand rushed to his happy face, fanning himself because Remi looked at him.
Golden eyes dwelled on me from the man at the piano. My racing heart fluttered and skipped a beat when it felt a second longer than everyone else. I felt calm, different from how I did only minutes ago.
I smiled, big and bright, all the while hoping that I didn’t have the richly-colored lip gloss on my teeth. My knees weakened when he returned the action. He bit his lower lip, his gaze dropping to the keys when a few words slipped through the smile lingering on his perfect mouth, “To the pretty redhead in the sexy dress, you have the hottest fucking smile.” He laughed again.
And I almost fucking died.
Right there.
Right then.
On the stage.
Having not even seen the show.
Rhylie beamed for me, shaking life back into me, and I mouthed the words, thank you, but they became lost in the dark because those pretty eyes were no longer on me.
Music began, a long finger hitting the D-sharp key three times, starting a song I loved.
I swayed, and the drink Daniel had given me gifted me the courage to dance. I smiled, wondering if Remington would think my dancing was sexy, too. I held my sister close, and she did the same, her drink spilling over the rim of her glass as we swayed, but who cared. I didn’t. And enjoyment was on Rhylie’s face, for once, as we listened to the perfect tone of the piano.
Chapter 44
Catharina
Evening twisted into the darkest night. The open view above showed us the sky had darkened from royal blue to black. Little stars burned with the heat of the show as they watched over Remington, stripped of his jacket, strutting around the stage. The rowdy crowd lost in the enjoyment of their night. And I, in a dreamlike trance, my eyes not moving from the man commanding the stage, just by walking around it and singing.
The acoustics blared as another song came to an end. We were running out of songs, of time, with me in the same space as him. Of the moments I’d remember and the ones he’d forget the second he set up at his next venue.
The band continued with a more placid melody, a theme for all my daydreams. Remington rushed to the edge of the stage, accepting a drink from a blonde stagehand, who was pretty enough to be desired by the majority. He flashed her a smile before his head-worn mic picked up nothing more than a quick thank you. He squeezed the plastic bottle, and a stream of cold liquid cascaded down his throat, soothing the strain from his raspy, powerful voice.
He wiped his lips, careful of his piercing, before tossing the bottle to the crowd. Too many eager fans in the third row rushed for it, eager to hoard something his lips had touched.
Still too hot, he pulled his T-shirt over his head with one arm, revealing that tanned stomach and the hint of abs I’d fantasized about all week. Perfectly unedited. Slightly less prominent than on the pages of the magazine, all six of them glistening with sweat. And I was damn near drooling.
I wanted to lick him.
Shame over that thought pooled in my stomach, leaking down into my core and turning to something else...lust. I squeezed my thighs together.
“I’d ask you guys if you want this, too...” He held up the tee. “But it’s all sweaty and shit.”
I’d still have taken it, slept in it every night while I’d dream of him. Other fans wanted it, too. The percentage of female audience members all demanded it at once, but he didn’t toss it to the crowd. He dropped it to the floor and kicked it to the side.
