Rock with Me (With Me in Seattle, #4)(86)

“Sacrifice a virgin?” I ask with a laugh.

“Nothing that dramatic.” He shakes his head, smiling softly. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay. Break a leg.” He kisses me, hard and fast, and shows me out to the hallway where the security guard is waiting to escort me back to my seat.

“This is Lionel. He’s been assigned to you guys all night. If you need anything, just ask him.”

“Okay.” I turn to Lionel. “I’m ready.”

***

Leo



Aside from Samantha, there is nothing I love more than performing. The rush of being surrounded by thousands of people singing along with songs I’ve written is better than any drug-induced high.

The first half of the show has gone without a hitch. The band is warm, playing flawlessly. I’ve been with these guys long enough that we communicate with hand movements or eye contact.

It’s the best.

My voice is strong and sure, and I’ve never enjoyed myself more during a show. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that my city and my girl are in the audience.

“Are you having fun Seattle?” I scream and hold the mic out for their response, which is a deafening scream.

I look down front and see Lionel gather Meg for me, escorting her to the wings.

Here goes nothing.

“We have a special guest with us tonight, Seattle. Back in the day, we played in bars and clubs around the city, and this gorgeous girl,” I gesture to my left as Meg walks confidently on stage, a big smile on her lips and a mic in her hand, “was a part of Nash at that time. She’s agreed to sing with us tonight! Megan McBride, everybody!”

The crowd cheers and applauds, the front row going ballistic. Jules is screaming and jumping up and down.

Just wait, sweetheart.

“Hey, everybody!” Meg calls out and waves and is met with more applause.

I asked her to join me on stage a few weeks ago, and she vehemently rejected the idea at first, but I roped Sam and Jules and the other girls into talking her into it.

I always get my way.

I nod back at Gary and he starts the song on the keyboard, Eric joins him on the drums, and we begin the song.

It’s not one of ours. Will asked me to change the arrangement of Kiss Me Slowly by Parachute into a duet, and have Meg sing it with me. I lied to her and told her it was for Sam.

She bought it.

I sing the first verse, and she takes the second, we join together for the chorus.

God, my girl can sing.

The song comes to an end and the crowd is on their feet, cheering for us, and Meg’s smile is simply incredible. She should perform with us more often.

She waves and turns to leave the stage, but I grab her hand.

“Not so fast, Megan.” I speak into the mic and she turns back around, surprise written on her face. “So, I’m sure you don’t know this,” I tell the crowd, “but Megan is my little sister. She went and got involved with someone you all know and love, I think you’ll recognize his name, a Mr. Will Montgomery.”

The crowd goes manic, jumping and screaming and Meg scowls at me. She thinks they’re going crazy at the mere mention of Will’s name.

She’s wrong.

“Turn around, Meg-pie,” I shout in her ear, so only she can hear, and her eyes go wide in shock and then well with tears when she sees Will approaching her from behind. He’s dressed in slacks and a button-down, the sleeves rolled, and he has a mic in his hand. He nods at me and I release her hand and step a few feet away to let him do his thing, but close enough so I can watch with the rest of Seattle.

“Hey,” Will says into the mic his eyes on Meg’s, and then he waves to the crowd, who immediately erupts in joy again.

This is a fanf*ckingtastic crowd.

I glance down to the front row to find Sam’s eyes on me, smiling broadly. All of the Montgomerys are clapping and whooping, the women crying. Will and I kept this a secret from all of them.

“Meg.” Will begins and steps close to her, turning her so the family can see both of their profiles. “So, I obviously didn’t have to go out of town this weekend.” He smiles down at her and shrugs. “Leo helped me with this surprise.”

Meg glances over at me, and I just smile and shrug.

“The song you just sang was also not from Leo to Sam like he told you it was.” He laughs as she lowers her mic and swears a blue streak at me for lying to her and then he turns her chin back toward him. “It was from me to you. You see,” he clears his throat, “I wasn’t sure where this was going to go when I first met you, all I knew was that I wanted you.”

The crowd has gone dead silent, listening in rapture to Will pour his heart out to Meg.

If I didn’t love her so much, I’d call him a *, but she deserves every pretty f*cking word, and so much more.

“There’s a line in that song you just sang that says, ‘And it’s hard to love again, when the only way it’s been, when the only love you knew, just walked away.’ Well, I’m here to tell you, in front of all of these people and all of the people we love that I’m never going anywhere, Meg. I’m never letting you go. I love you more than I ever knew was possible to love someone. So,” he lowers himself to one knee and Meg covers her mouth with her hands, tears streaming down her pretty face. Will pulls a small blue box out of his pocket and opens it, showing her a f*cking huge rock.