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

accepted the good with the bad. The bad: strangers being abnormally interested in our lives. The good: everything else. And the list is super long, and includes these...” Her grip on my arms turned into playful stroking.

“Careful there, or I’ll think you’re saying all this so you can feel up your favorite part of me.”

“Don’t say that. They’ll feel left out.” She reached between us, patting my stomach.

“Just saying, but other parts are starting to feel left out too.”

She narrowed her eyes in response, putting both hands firmly on my shoulders.

“I promise we’ll work through everything together, Isabelle. You’re mine, and I have no intention of letting you go.”

“Wow,” she whispered. “You have ten minutes, and you don’t need all of them to make me swoon.”

I kissed her forehead, holding her close. “I probably only have a few left. But tonight we’ll be together, okay?”

She pulled back, pouting. “That’s gonna be in a million hours.”

“Yeah, but—”

The door opened suddenly. Harvey stepped inside. “Man, are you serious? We need to go. What are you doing here?”

“Talking to Isabelle. I told Sasha I need ten minutes. Still have five left. Get out.”

“Yeah, she knew you’d react this way. That’s why she sent me,” Harvey said. “Crowd outside is growing bigger by the minute. Isabelle, some help here?”

Isabelle took her hands off my shoulders, taking a step back and sighing. “He’s all yours.”

***

Isabelle

After the guys left, I just couldn’t stand still. Waiting was not my strong suit. The concert didn’t start for six hours! They performed for another two, and then who knew how long it would take until they were back.

I tried to kill the time by watching Netflix on my phone and ordering half a dozen snacks from the menu. The pastrami beef sandwich was a highlight.

But after binge-watching four episodes of my favorite Scottish detective show, I got an idea. Maybe I didn’t have to wait that long to see him.

I called the front desk right away.

“How can we help you, ma’am?”

“Hi! I was wondering if there are still crowds outside the hotel.”

“No. They scattered about half an hour ago.” That made sense, since the concert was starting right about now. All the fans would be at the venue, not staking out the hotel.

“Thank you.” I was grinning ear to ear. Oh yeah. I had a plan. I knew they’d left a security detail behind with me, but I needed some intel from Sasha.

Isabelle: I want to surprise Brayden by being there at the intermission. How do we make it happen?

Sasha: You two are KILLING me.

Isabelle: Pretty please!

Sasha: I’m messaging your security detail instructions and alerting the security here. This is actually a good time to come. All fans are inside the venue already. Be ready in ten.

***

On the drive to the Hammerstein Ballroom, I kept twiddling my thumbs in my lap and couldn’t tone down my smile. Imagining his reaction made me giggle. I wanted to show him that I really was okay with all this, that I just had to learn to properly navigate it. And I thought I was getting better at it. Look at me, managing to surprise my sexy guy right in the middle of a concert!

Since this wasn’t a stadium but an actual concert hall, there weren’t as many entrances. Flynn, my current security detail, led me right to the back of the building. But the second he opened a narrow door, music filtered out from inside. It was distant at first, growing louder and louder as we went deeper inside the building. The backstage here was smaller than the one at the stadium but still large enough that the whole crew ran around without bumping into each other.

The music was booming, electrifying me. Twenty or so chairs were lined up along a wall next to a table of snacks. There were cords and boxes everywhere. I went straight to Sasha, who was sitting right next to the snack table with her iPad. She rolled her eyes at me but was smiling too.

“Okay, so you two are crazy. But he’ll be happy to see you.”

“I hope so too.” This wasn’t a big thing, but I wanted to show him that I meant it when I said I loved this life.

“How much time left until the break?” I asked.

Sasha tapped the tablet. “Twelve minutes.”

My heart was thundering in my chest. The floor was vibrating even more than it had in the stadium. The bass thrummed in my ears, along with my heartbeat, but I couldn’t really dance with my ankle. It was far less painful, but I still walked with a slight limp. Dancing would have to wait.

“How can you sit?” I asked her.

Sasha laughed, for once looking up from her iPad for longer than a few seconds. “I’ve been to so many of these that they’re all the same for me.”

I was counting down the minutes, and it was easier to do that if I just lost myself to music.

I heard Lars say to the fans, “All right, New York, time for the intermission. See you in a bit.”

The crowd went wild with screams, and their euphoria was so catchy that I was even more on edge than before.

Out of the corner of my eye, I counted how many people were in the room. Right... far too many to get away with a hot-as-hell kiss.

My smile was huge and my palms a little sweaty as I stood right in the center of the room so he’d see me immediately.

Lars came in first and actually did a double take.

He stepped to one side. Brayden was talking to Thomas, at least until Lars tapped his shoulder.

His expression changed from surprised to a full-on grin in a fraction of a second. He came to me and, taking my hand, led me to a corner of the room. They’d left the music and the bass on during the break, so it was incredibly loud. But in the corners, the acoustics were slightly better.

“What... how did you get