“What about the fact that MFB is marketed as a band of attractive men?” Kane asks. “Will it change the make-up of the audience if there’s a woman up there?”
I shrug. “We’ve thought about that, too, but I think it could pose an interesting dynamic. Sort of an it could be me type of thing.”
Kane nods thoughtfully. “I still think my vote is for Gage. Not because of any sort of gender bias, but because I really think he’s the most talented.”
“Over Tyler, even?” Adam asks.
“Yeah,” Kane says. “Tyler’s a skilled bassist, but I still think Gage has the edge. I’d say that it doesn’t make any sense to leave a band like Capital Kingsmen for this sort of competition, but who am I to talk?”
His question is met with a beat of silence from the rest of us, and then he asks, “Who do you think would fit best in terms of personality?”
“I like all of them,” Brody says. “Each for different reasons. Blaze is fucking hilarious once you get him talking. John is a little serious but he’s a good guy. Gage and Tyler are probably the most like us, and Lexi brings a totally different ball to the field.”
“Or no balls,” Rascal says, drawing a laugh from only Brody and eyerolls from the rest of us.
“Gage or Decker for me,” Adam says.
Rascal nods. “I like Gage and Lexi.”
“Another vote for Gage and Lexi,” I say.
“So you’ve got your frontrunners.” Kane taps the table. “Nobody said Blaze or John as their top two, so is that who’s going home?”
I glance around the table, and everyone’s nodding. “We have our decision, then.”
“You sure you can’t come back?” Brody asks Kane.
He shoots us all a sad little smile, and he doesn’t have to follow that up with any words.
I text Camille, who makes an announcement over the intercom for the contestants to gather in the family room, and then we head up to make the announcement.
CHAPTER 39: LEXI
“We first want to thank Kane for being a guest judge today. Having the person here whose spot you’re all competing for has been both enlightening for us and a great way to spend time with someone who’s a brother to us,” Dax says. “And now, we’ve mutually decided which two of you will be going home. But before we do that, first I want to tell you who is safe from going home.”
I glance over at Gage, but he’s focused on Dax.
“It’s a little different this time because there’s a prize involved,” Dax says. “The two of you who wrote the winning song will get to perform it with the four of us backing you up on the stage at Ashmark’s practice facility tonight. Not only does that mean you’ll get to leave this house for a few hours, it also means you’ll get two-on-four time with the four of us. You’ll perform in front of an audience of Ashmark executives and a few fans who have won their way in, and it’ll be excellent exposure regardless of whether you’re the eventual winner of this competition.”
My heart races.
We’ll get to leave this house?
But more importantly, we’ll get to perform for Ashmark executives?
Even if I don’t win...that could be potentially life changing.
I suck in a breath. We have to win. I need the chance to play on that stage.
Dax glances at the men standing beside him, and then he looks at each one of the six of us. He’s schooled not to give anything away, and I’m impressed every single time that he can look right at the person who’s going home without letting it slip ahead of time.
Maybe it’s because I’m so dang nervous every time I’m standing here awaiting my fate.
“And now for the winners. You wrote the best song, the best lyrics, and a melody I can’t get out of my head...but more than that, your performance of it proved you can handle a big stage. You both have the kind of appeal that demands your audience stops to listen.”
Oh my God, I can’t take this.
Say my name. Please, please say my name.
“Congratulations to the winners of this competition, Gage and Lexi.”
A little squeal drops out of me, and I can’t help when I turn to Gage and toss my arms around his neck. He squeezes me back, and holy hell if my heart doesn’t start racing even faster as I’m back in his arms where I belong.
Where I belong.
I breathe him in as deeply as I can, memorizing his scent, but I can’t focus on it because we freaking won.
We’re leaving the house tonight, and we’re playing our song for executives, and I could not be more excited...even though someone’s going home.
“Congratulations,” Tyler says on my other side, and I detangle myself from Gage’s arms for a quick hug with my fake boyfriend even as I realize that he has a fifty-fifty shot at going home.
And I’m essentially going out with Gage tonight.
We pull ourselves together so Dax can make the announcement.
He looks between Blaze, John, Tyler, and Decker for the longest few seconds of any of their lives, and then he says, “We’re sorry to say that Blaze and John, you lost this battle. Neither of you will be MFB’s replacement bassist.”
I think I’m a little relieved that Tyler will be sticking around. He’s my best friend in the house, the one person who really knows what’s going on in my head apart from Ben, so it’s nice that he’ll still be here.
Except I realize as I hug him in celebration that while he’s that person for me, I’m not sure I’m that person for him. To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to know him very much at all.
And I don’t really know if I want to, either. Regardless of who wins this thing, once it’s over, we won’t be living in the same house day after day with literally nothing else to do except write music or talk to each other. He’ll either become MFB’s bassist or run back to Capital Kingsmen, and where does that leave me?
We’re faking it. It’s not like once this whole thing ends that I’ll be his actual girlfriend. Sure, we share a bond because of this competition, and maybe we’ll share a friendship outside of the show...but I doubt it.
That realization leaves me a little sad.
Because it means I won’t be around Gage everyday anymore, either.
We say goodbye to Blaze and John, and then Dax tells Gage and me we have an hour until we leave.
I use that hour to fix my hair and put on some make-up. I spend half of it just figuring out what to wear, and then I’m ready to go. Gage is already on the couch in his signature jeans and a black t-shirt, and he looks delicious sitting there.
I knew that was what he’d wear.
And that’s why I chose jeans and a white t-shirt.
I’m light to his dark.
His eyes edge over toward me, and they seem to ignite when they meet mine. His travel down the length of my body, searing me and branding me with every inch.
A wave of heat washes over me, and I get the sudden feeling that I am the one holding us back.
Except I’m not. He’s hooking up with Kat on the side—or, at the very least, he’s making it look like he is—and even though we haven’t actually talked through anything at all, he’s made it pretty clear that he hates me.