Say You're Mine (The Gallaghers Book 1) by Layla Hagen (comprehension books .txt) 📕

I felt as if I was watching myself in a movie while Rick drove me to the football stadium where the concert took place. Hundreds of fans were lining up in front of the main entrance as security slowly let them in. Rick drove into a parking lot at the back, and when I got out of the car, the sound of the crowds nearby filled my ears. My heart rate sped up. Adrenaline spiked in my veins, and I wasn’t even the one on stage.

I blindly followed Rick, too excited to take in my surroundings. I felt like I was on a secret mission, to be honest, as he led me through narrow corridors and up two flight of stairs.

“This is the backstage area,” he said, pointing to an enormous room with several chairs and small tables, a rack of men’s clothing, and three sets of guitars that were either spares or Lars changed guitars more often than I thought. The room wasn’t shielded at all from the actual stage and the arena beyond it, so the sounds of the crowd were absolutely insane. I thought they were calling out the band name, but I couldn’t be sure.

A large number of people moved around, a mix of sound technicians and stylists. I noticed Sasha too. She waved at me, patting the chair next to her. I glanced around as I walked over.

“The guys are already out?” I asked.

“No, they’re in the small area shielded with the curtain between backstage and the actual stage.” She pointed to my right.

“I’ll be right back.” I immediately dashed away in that direction.

“Don’t let the crowd see you,” she called.

I waved at her dismissively. “I’ll just pretend I’m a sound technician or something.”

The closer I got to the front of the stage the louder the crowd sounded. I couldn’t see anything though, because the light projected onto the stage itself was so bright that the arena was completely covered in darkness.

The guys were all standing behind the curtain. The space was bigger than it sounded from Sasha’s description and shielded on four sides by curtains, like a cubicle of sorts. Lars was fiddling with his guitar. Harvey was drinking water. Thomas was pressing his fingers at the back of his neck in a massage of sorts. Brayden was looking at me intently.

“Oh hell no,” Lars said with a good-natured smile. “We’re going out there in thirty seconds, lovebirds. Don’t overdo it.”

“You guys go first. I’ll be right out,” Brayden told them.

Harvey chuckled. Lars shook his head. Thomas gave us the thumbs-up. The second they opened the curtain, the crowd truly went wild.

Brayden brought his mouth to my ear. “Thank you for being here. It means a lot to me.”

I narrowed my eyes, playfully pinching his shoulder.

“Aha! I’m hearing the crowd calling your name.”

“I like it best when you call my name. When you’re under me and I’m buried so deep inside you that you can’t even breathe, but you still call my name. Like you can’t help yourself.”

“Holy shit! I came here to give you a good luck kiss, and you go all dirty talking on me?”

He smiled right before he sealed his mouth over mine. He kissed me with urgency, and I felt the excitement in him. His pulse was pounding.

“A good luck kiss needs to be dirty, Isabelle,” he said when he pulled back, winking at me.

I needed to get the last word in, so I squeezed his ass shamelessly before kissing a bicep. “Well, go charm the crowd, and you might get another good luck kiss whenever you have a break. Might.”

He smiled wolfishly. His eyes were molten and determined. “I’m going to get that kiss, Isabelle. That’s a promise.”

He disappeared on the other side of the curtains, and the fans whistled and yelled his name. My pulse was still pounding, from the kiss and being here in the midst of it all.

I went back to Sasha, and even as I sat down, I knew the adrenaline wasn’t going to leave my body the entire evening. It was a new sensation to me.

“You know, I’ve been with a few bands over the years. I’ve never seen anything like you and Brayden,” she said unexpectedly.

“Oh?”

“This connection you have is special. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s always so careful and guarded, but when he’s with you, anyone can see how happy he is. I’m glad this is working out. In the beginning he mentioned that you two were probably only going to see each other until the tour started.”

“Yes, we thought things would work out that way. I was a bit wary of all... this. I still am. It’s so stifling to always think about security and all that, right?”

She smiled sympathetically. “I’m not enjoying it either, trust me. No one is. We all got used to it, and you will too in time.”

I knew I would. I was adaptable. It still felt surreal to see Rick in a corner and know he’d be on my heels if I moved around too much. But all that slid to the back of my mind when Brayden started speaking to the crowd.

“Good evening, Miami! I have a special surprise for you tonight. The guys and I wrote a new song, and this is the first time we’re performing it. It’s called ‘Say You’re Mine.’ Clap your hands while we’re singing, okay?”

The crowd immediately started to clap, and so did I. Goose bumps broke out on my skin. The stage vibrated between our feet. The air seemed to vibrate too. I couldn’t sit down any longer, so I went as near as possible to the stage so I could see the band but no one could see me, not even Brayden. The last thing I wanted to do was distract him.

Brayden was sitting at the piano, as usual. A microphone was mounted right in front of him. He was positioned so they could see his side from the arena and he could