Love Songs & Other Lies(76)

“We have a new song for you tonight. Please welcome back Vee Miller.” The backstage lights come on, sending a soft glow over the purple backdrop that hangs behind us. I take one final breath and turn to face Cam as the spotlight comes on behind me. It’s bright, and hot on the side of my face, and I know exactly what the audience sees now. My silhouette.

The microphone is pressed against my lips. “Dakota Gray,” I say, and behind Cam, Jenn takes a step toward the stage.

Tad grabs her by the wrist, and she jerks as he holds on.

Shit.

She pulls her arm from his grip and I can see her mouthing, “Who the hell is Dakota Gray?” The audience has erupted and she’s just standing there, stunned. Her head is down as her fingers fly across her phone and when she sees it—when she knows—I can’t help but smile at her. I give her a wink, because that’s what Dakota Gray would do.

Dakota Gray is a sassy bitch. Dakota Gray is fearless. Dakota Gray is an internet sensation. There’s nothing people love more than a mystery. And in the year since her videos started posting online, no one has known her real name. They’ve never seen her face. She’s never played in public. She’s never been found, because she didn’t want to be.

Until now.

I continue to play the intro, and when I start to sing the first verse Cam joins me, just like we practiced. I’m lucky Cam is not one of Dakota Gray’s 1.5 million fans, because we’re singing one of my first songs. My best-known song. I had to modify it to make it a duet—and a little less angry. It’s an homage to love and heartbreak. The lights come up slowly and the darkened crowd explodes with bursts of light as cameras go off.

I’m exposed.

*

My hand is in Cam’s as we exit the stage and he pulls me to a stop when we reach the darkness of stage left. “I can’t believe you just did that,” he says. It’s hard to hear him over the roar of applause.

I laugh. “Jenn’s pissed.” I throw my arms around Cam and squeeze him like I’m trying to crush him. It feels like I’m going to explode with adrenaline right now, like I could put on an entire concert by myself. And then I remember that’s exactly what I have to do. This was just part one of my master plan.

“That’s not what I mean. I can’t believe you just did that,” Cam points to the stage.

I don’t know why he’s surprised, because Dakota Gray fears nothing. Not even getting her heart broken. She crushes her lips into Cam’s, keeping them there as he lifts her up off the ground.

We’re startled out of our embrace by Jenn’s angry voice. “What the hell was that? I didn’t approve any of that.” She holds up her clipboard, and points to the show logo. “This isn’t the Virginia Miller hour!”

“Dakota Gray,” I correct. “And we have an encore concert to put on now.” The band is all around us and I pull Cam’s hand, leading us all toward the exit. Jenn is following behind us, still yelling as we make our way out to the parking lot.

“I don’t give a shit about your little concert,” she says, as we walk along the side of the building. “You had two days. Don’t get your hopes up,” she says snottily.

Dakota Gray tosses her hair over her shoulder and pins Jenn with a smirk that says, We’ll see about that. Dakota Gray is confident. She’s been listening to the constant buzz of notifications all day, until she finally had to turn the phone off. She had to send her final location message to her fans using Tad’s phone. But I, Virginia Miller, am less confident. I think about crossing the road and seeing an empty park. I think about failing Cam, because an auditorium full of people isn’t enough to create the kind of buzz we need. There’s no time for my insecurities right now, because up ahead, Tad is coming around the corner with two more camera guys. They walk ahead, filming us from every angle like usual. But when we finally reach the edge of the building, and turn toward the park, we all stop. Things are anything but usual.

“Holy fu—lipping—” Anders mutters behind me.

“Oh, my—” I look at the scene around me. Am I officially kicked off of this tour?

I’m not sure how many people are in the park. There were five thousand in the auditorium tonight, and this looks like four times as many. Every available surface is covered in bodies. Trash cans, picnic tables, and bike racks are being used as chairs. There are a few people sitting in a tree on a little hill to one side. People are still winding down the sidewalks, seeping into every crack of space on the grass.

Jenn has stopped behind me and her phone is pressed to her ear. “Get the rest of the crew out here. Now.”

A pair of warm arms wraps around my waist, and Cam’s lips are at my ear. “You’re amazing.”

“Well?” Jenn rushes ahead of us and waves toward the stage. “Don’t just stand there.”

Cam kisses my temple, his lips lingering against my skin. “Thank you.”

At this moment, I don’t regret it at all.





CHAPTER THIRTY

NOW





CAM


The official body count for our encore concert in the park was 19,274. That’s what the police report says. Jenn taped it to the bathroom door of our bus and circled the number and the fine (a much bigger number), but she hasn’t said anything else about it. I have a feeling the press we’re getting will more than make up for the cost. We’ve barely sat down since we stepped off the stage last night.