“Give her our love,” Kristin replies. I type out their message and tell her I love her before tucking my phone away again.
“Okay!” Nicole exclaims. “Let’s go see these amazing seats that our super-fan Kristin scored us.”
Kristin gives Nic the stink eye, which would be way more effective if she weren’t in their fan club. Yup, my thirty-eight-year-old best friend is in a fan club for Four Blocks Down. I’m positive she regretted telling us this piece of information, but it landed us front row seats, so we haven’t been too hard on her . . . yet.
“You can sit in the nose bleeds if you want.”
Nicole wraps her arm around her shoulder. “You love me too much to deprive me of Randy.” She lets out a dreamy sigh.
I laugh. “As if you’ll ever going to get that close to him. And he’s married!”
I try to put Stephanie in the back of my mind. My sister’s illness is ripping me apart. I wish I could help her, but I can’t control any of it. It makes me feel helpless all the time.
Stephanie grew up listening to me blare the music and dance around like a loon, and instead, she’s stuck in a damn assisted living facility while I’m out. It isn’t fair. None of this is fair. She should be here with me.
“Hey,” Danni nudges me. “You look beautiful.”
I give her a small smile. “Thanks.” I’m no longer feeling carefree. I can’t stop thinking about how much I wish I could be doing this with her.
“I’m sorry.” Her smile falls slightly.
“For what?”
She shrugs. “I made reality come crashing into our big fun night of no worries.”
“Stop! Don’t feel that way.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder. “My reality never leaves me. My sister is dying. It’s just the way it is.”
Danielle’s smile falls completely now. “I’m so, so sorry, Heather.”
I know she didn’t mean to bring me down. I wish I could be more like Nicole. No responsibilities, sex with random strangers, nothing to worry about . . . but that isn’t how my life goes.
Nope. Mine is a series of tragedies. While my friends were partying in college, I was working full time. My nights and weekends weren’t filled with formals or trips to the beach, they were consumed by doing homework with Steph. I’m not bitter. I’m actually grateful in some ways. It forced me to cherish life and the people in it. Every day I have with Stephanie is a gift.
I shake my head. “You have nothing to apologize for. Let’s act like idiots and pretend there are no problems in the world.”
“You want to party like it’s 1999?”
“Yeah, just like that. If only we had our Four Blocks Down dolls.”
“They are collectable memorabilia,” Kristin corrects before blushing scarlet and mumbling about needing to go find our seats. Nicole, Danielle, and I laugh hysterically as we follow her inside.
I wave to two of the guys in my squad, who are apparently working overtime detail as security as we pass them. Shit. I didn’t even think anyone from my squad would be here. Usually, it’s the other district that handles the MidFlorida Amphitheater. They look thrilled to be here—not. I make a note to behave so my entire department doesn’t find out that I came to see my favorite boy band. However, knowing them, they’ve already texted everyone. I swear, cops are worse than teenage girls with their gossip.
I’ll never live this down.
Music plays from the two opening acts. I sing along because . . . their songs were my jams when I was a teen. I would blare their screw men anthems through my speakers, windows down, singing off key, and belting every note because they were my idols. I owe many of my breakups to them telling me that I didn’t need to take it.
“Ah!” Danielle squeals after the second band finishes. “FBD is next! I had the biggest crush on—”
“Shaun,” Nicole cuts her off. “We remember you licking his poster.”
“Oh my God!” I giggle. “I remember that. She straight made out with it.” I guzzle the rest of my beer and shake my hair around.
“I wanted him to be my first kiss,” Danielle explains.
We all did. Hell, I may have had multiple fantasies with Eli, but I wouldn’t have kicked any of them out of my bed. They were everything when we were younger. I think somewhere in my mind we’re all frozen in time.
“Want another beer?” Kristin yells.
I’ve had three already. I’m halfway to drunk. I shake my head no.
“Yes, she does,” Nicole answers for me. I look at her with my mouth open. “I’m driving. You’re having fun.” She turns back to Kristin. “She’ll be drinking all night.”
“Oh,” Danni laughs, “this is going to be epic.”
“Shut up, I’m a good drunk.”
In my mind.
“You’re good for a laugh,” Danni tacks on.
The lights go out, and the mood shifts. All of us start to scream and hold hands. This is Eli and Randy’s hometown, so it’s extra special. Their homecoming concerts are always louder and longer.
“Are you ready, Tampa?” PJ’s voice booms.
We all yell louder.
“We said,” Shaun’s voice comes through this time, “are you ready?”
I bounce with Nicole, unable to control myself. I allow the energy of the room to fill me. I’m probably the loudest of the four of us. I don’t give a shit, either. “Hell yeah!”
Kristin looks at me with a huge grin. So unlike me.
“That’s it, Tampa!” Randy’s face flashes on the screen on the side of the stage. “The Walsh brothers are home. And we want to hear you!”
Eli’s face. I sigh. “Did you miss us?”
“Fuck yeah I did,” I scream.
“Good.” The screen displays both Eli and Randy. “We missed you, too. And you’re about to see a whole lot of us. FBD is back, and we’re ready to blow your minds.”
The arena goes black.
And slowly, I see something rise out of the stage.
I stand mesmerized.
The light shines in my eyes, blinding me, but when I can see again, I would swear that Eli Walsh is staring right at me.
Emerald-green eyes pierce through me. His dark brown hair is cut short on the sides and the top falls errantly around his forehead. I take in every ounce of his perfect body. The way his arms pull against the fabric of his shirt, the pants that hug his perfect ass, and the span of his broad shoulders, makes me want to climb him like a tree. Then, with our gaze connected, he winks and throws a wicked grin my way.
Holy shit.
I stand there and gaze back at him like a fish with my eyes wide and mouth open. He looks away, but it happened. Eli Walsh smiled and winked at me. I just died.
Chapter 2
Heather
“I’m hallucinating,” I say to Nicole as I explain what occurred, or at least what I think did. “He wasn’t actually looking at me, right? I’m being insane. I must be stupid drunk to be imagining this.”
She lets out one of her evil laughs while shaking her head. “You have no idea how pretty you are. I swear. Blonde hair, petite, brown eyes, big tits . . . of course he winked at you. Hell, I’d do you.”