Page 74 of Fame & Chaos

Rob Luxley is watching us.

Looking directly at Rob, I notice he’s smiling, and even from here I can feel his excitement building. That alone gives me a rush of confidence.

I glance over at Annie, and she’s absolutely shredding on her guitar. Colt taught her well because she’s killing it right now. Her fingers move effortlessly over the strings, and the sound pouring from her amp is sharp, emotional, and powerful as hell.

Her solo is coming to an end, so I step back toward the microphone, ready to jump in with the next verse… but Annie suddenly takes the solo even further.

My brows furrow instantly.

I listen carefully to the rest of the band, making sure everyone’s managing to keep up with the change she’s thrown at us in the middle of the song.

My heart starts hammering against my ribs.

Fuck.

Yeah, she sounds incredible, but she should have warned us she was extending the solo. It nearly throws me completely off, so I can’t imagine what’s going through Ella’s head right now. Luckily, Chad and Aston are handling it like pros and following her lead without missing a beat.

I glance over at Colt, and he’s frowning just as hard as I am.

If Annie fucks this up for us, I’m going to lose my shit.

She’s such a fucking show-off sometimes.

Annie glances back at me with this huge, excited grin that almost makes me smile for a split second, and then I remember she’s potentially derailing the biggest moment of our lives.

I scowl at her.

Her smile immediately drops before she turns back toward Rob and finally wraps up the solo.

Thank Christ.

We move into the rest of the song, and I force myself not to let the panic mess with my voice. My pulse is still racing so hard I feel slightly sick. This opportunity is massive for us, and if Annie just ruined it because she wanted her moment in the spotlight, I honestly don’t know how I’m going to react.

The song finally ends, and Rob starts clapping straight away, which I’m taking as a good sign.

Annie dramatically takes a bow while I roll my eyes at her.

Rob walks toward Colt while the rest of the parents clap enthusiastically behind him. The two of them start talking quietly together, too low for us to hear what’s being said.

I glance over at Annie, and she still looks ridiculously pleased with herself. She genuinely thinks she nailed it.

Chad comes around from behind his drum kit and joins me while we both watch Annie cuddle briefly into Aston’s side. Then, almost instantly, she steps back and glares at him like she wants to murder him before storming from the room.

I huff out a breath while Chad chuckles beside me.

“Think they’re ever gonna sort their shit out?” he asks.

“They better,” I mutter. “Or they’re gonna fuck this whole thing up for all of us.”

“Tell me about it,” Chad says, shaking his head. “Poor Aston is so pussy-whipped it’s not funny, and Annie keeps messing with his head. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death, but the way she’s screwing around with his feelings isn’t cool. And that solo? Seriously? Poor Ella looked like she was trying not to panic but failing miserably.”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, I was worried about Ella too, but she pulled through. They all did. Even I was basically improvising there for a bit.”

“Same,” Chad replies. “We all were.”

I drag a hand through my hair and sigh. “As for Annie, I don’t know what the hell she’s doing… with Aston or with the band. She needs to figure her shit out before she tears us apart, before we’ve even started.”

“Well…” Chad says with a grin, “… all I know is I’m starving. When do you reckon we can eat?”