Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Cage’s jaw drops. “Jett Draconis said that?”
“Yeah, and here’s the weird thing. I think he actually meant it.”
Rory smiles, her grin splitting ear to ear. “I need to go talk to Brock.”
“Not until later,” I remind her. “We’re going to watch Emerald Phoenix, remember?”
Rory paces around, nearly dancing. “Right, right, right. How am I going to hold in this glee, Jess?”
“I don’t know. It’s fucking awesome.”
And it dawns on me. I told my sister that this is the best I’ve ever felt.
But I realize that was a lie.
Because as wonderful as this feels—the endorphins running through me, my adrenaline on high…
It doesn’t feel quite as good as when I came inside Brianna Steel.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Brianna
“Let’s go talk to Jett.” Maddie grabs my hand to go backstage after the concert is over.
“Didn’t you meet him when he came to Snow Creek?”
“Only briefly. It was a quick intro. They had to get out quickly, or they were going to be mobbed by everyone in Snow Creek.”
“Right, they were a surprise.”
I love Emerald Phoenix. And Jett has an amazing voice. He’s a former opera singer, like Rory. And he rocks the house.
But he doesn’t hold a candle to Jesse Pike.
Jesse’s voice isn’t quite as deep as Jett’s, but it has that sexy rasp. I get goose bumps every time I hear him sing.
Hell, I get goose bumps every time I hear him talk.
I look around. There are some other VIPs surrounding Emerald Phoenix.
Then I spy Jesse.
Jesse Pike, with two blond groupies pestering him and Cage.
And I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.
People are talking to Rory as well, with Brock at her side.
At Jett’s side is his wife, Heather, a gorgeous blonde who’s always smiling.
If only I were at Jesse’s side…as his partner.
Sadness sweeps through me. That’s never going to be. He’s made it quite clear.
“Ugh,” Maddie says. “We’ll never get through to see Jett or Zane.”
“We could talk to Rory and Jesse.”
“Who cares about Rory and Jesse? They’re my brother and sister. We can see them anytime.”
I’m not sure how to respond to that. “Don’t you think they did great?”
“Of course,” Maddie gushes. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard them perform better. Maybe it was just the acoustics here. It’s probably a better venue than they’ve ever played. But they were awesome. They rocked so hard.”
“They were awesome. I can’t believe how talented they are.”
“I know. They’re amazing, and then there’s Callie the super brain.” Maddie sighs. “One day I’ll find my special power.”
“You will. In fact, I can already tell you what it is, Mads.”
“What’s that?”
I lightly touch Maddie’s upper arm. “Your kindness. Your empathy. You feel things.”
She feels things very deeply, something I failed to observe as her supposed friend. I won’t let that happen again.
She rolls her eyes. “That’s hardly a superpower.”
“I think it is.” I give her a quick hug. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? All these VIPs came to see Emerald Phoenix, but they’re paying attention to Dragonlock as well.”
“It is pretty cool. I never imagined that…” She smiles, closing her eyes for a moment. “The only thing better than this would be if I met my true love on this trip.”
“You’re certainly in a sea of European hotties.”
She grabs my wrist. “What if we both fell in love on this trip, Brianna? I mean, it doesn’t even have to be the everlasting kind of love. Think of it. Maybe a romance in Paris.”
I wish I could get excited with her, but I’m already in love, and he doesn’t feel even close to the same way. “Maddie, we’re only going to be in Paris for a couple of days.”
“I know. Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”
“You’re romanticizing it.”
“But Paris is the city of romance. And we’re going there in a mere”—she counts on her fingers—“four days.”
“No, it’s longer than that. We have to get to Edinburgh, do a concert there, then Glasgow for another concert, and then back to London for an encore concert. Then we go to Paris.”
“Yes, I know. I can count, you know. I’m just too excited. I guess more like five days, right?”
“Yeah. Or a week. It’s a long time. I can’t believe we’re going to be gone for so long. Don’t you think you’re going to start missing your ranch?”
“Not really,” Maddie says. “I don’t even miss Mom and Dad that much. If things had gone as planned, I’d still be at school. Of course, they’d be a lot closer and I could see them whenever I wanted. What about you? Do you miss your mom and dad? Dale? Diana?”
“Since Diana lives in Denver, I don’t see much of her. And I’ve always been closer to Donny than I am to Dale. But yeah, I miss them all. I miss my dad especially. I still feel pretty guilty about leaving him. He was so excited to get me started in the orchard when I graduated early.”