ADDISON PAGE had the world at her feet. She had the face, the body, the voice, the moves, and the money. Letâs not forget the money. But advantages like that come with a price. I should have known it was all too good to be trueâ¦.
âWhat?â I yelled, my throat already raw from shouting over the roar of the crowd and the music blasting from dozens of huge speakers. Around us, thousands of bodies bobbed in time to the beat, hands in the air, lips forming the words, shouting the lyrics along with the beautiful, glittery girl strutting across the stage, seen close-up on a pair of giant digital screens.
Nash and I had great seats, thanks to his brother, Tod, but no one was sitting. Excitement bounced off every solid surface, fed by the crowd and growing with each passing second until the auditorium seemed to swell with the communal high. Energy buzzed through me, setting my nerve endings on fire with enough kick to keep me pinging off the walls through high school and well into college.
I didnât want to know how Tod had scored seats a mere fifteen rows from the stage, but even my darkest suspicion hadnât kept me at home. I couldnât pass up a chance to see Eden live in concert, even though it meant giving up a Saturday night alone with Nash, during my dadâs extra shift at work.
And this was only Edenâs opening actâ¦.
Nash pulled me closer, one hand on my hip, and shouted into my ear. âI said, Tod used to date her!â
I rode the wave of adrenaline through my veins as I inhaled his scent. Six weeks together, and I still smiled every time he looked at me, and flushed every time he really looked at me. My lips brushed his ear as I spoke. âTod used to date who?â There were several thousand possible suspects dancing all around us.
âHer!â Nash shouted back, nodding over the sea of concert-goers toward the main attraction, his spiky, deliberately messy brown hair momentarily highlighted by a roaming spotlight.
Addison Page, Edenâs opening act, strutted across the stage in slim black boots; low-cut, ripped jeans; a tight white halter; and a sparkly silver belt, wailing a bitter yet up-tempo lament about the one who got away. The glittery blue streak in her straight, white-blond hair sparkled beneath the lights and fanned out behind her when she whirled to face the audience from center stage, her voice rising easily into the clear, resonant notes she was famous for.
I stared, suddenly still while everyone around me swayed along with the crescendo. I couldnât help it.
âTod dated Addison Page?â
Nash couldnât have heard me. I barely heard me. But he nodded and leaned into me again, and I wrapped my arm around him for balance as the cowboy on my other side swung one eager, pumping fist dangerously close to my shoulder. âThree years ago. Sheâs local, you know.â
Like us, the hometown crowd had turned out as much for Texasâs own rising star as for the headliner. âSheâs from Hurst, right?â Less than twenty minutes from my own Arlington address.
âYeah. Addy and I were freshmen together, before we moved back to Arlington. She and Tod dated for most of that year. He was a sophomore.â
âSo what happened?â I asked as the music faded and the lighting changed for the second song.
I pressed closer to Nash as he spoke into my ear, though he didnât really have to at that point; the new song was a melodic, angsty tune of regret. âAddy got cast in a pilot for the HOT network. The show took off and she moved to L.A.â He shrugged. âLong distance is hard enough when youâre fifteen, and impossible when your girlfriendâs famous.â
âSo why didnât he come tonight?â I wouldnât have been able to resist watching a celebrity ex strut on stage, and hopefully fall on his face, assuming I was the dumpee.
âHeâs here somewhere.â Nash glanced around at the crowd as it settled a bit for the softer song. âBut itâs not like he needs a ticket.â As a grim reaper, Tod could choose whether or not he wanted to be seen or heard, and by whom. Which meant he could be standing on stage right next to Addison Page, and weâd never know it.
And knowing Tod, thatâs exactly where he was.