Page 198 of Broken Lines

“C’mon up, Mel.”

I blink, swallowing the lump that forms in my throat. Fear starts to sink it’s claws into me. But it’s like he sees right through me. He cups the microphone, pushing the stand aside as he leans down and sticks his hand out.

“It’s just you and me, sweetheart,” he murmurs quietly, looking right into my eyes. “It’s just you and me. But I need you.”

The roar of the crowd dulls to a murmur around me. The lights dim away. The earth slows to a crawl.

And then, he’s right.

It’s just him and I.

My hand slides into his, and everything starts to speed up again, growing louder once more as he lifts me onto the stage. He grins at me, and I just stand there, shaking but so full of happiness as I lose myself in his eyes.

“Turn around,” he murmurs.

I do, and it’s like a rush I’ve never once imagined before. Aseaof faces stretches out in front of me.

Cheering. Screaming. Taking pictures.

Jackson joins June in playing again as he steps up to the mic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce one of the best songwriters I’ve ever known.”

My face turns to fire as the crowd surges and cheers.

“Who also happens to be the daughter of the best man I ever knew, Iggy Watts.”

The floor drops out. I sway, my throat closing as I whirl to stare at him.

Shaking.

Crying.

It feels like I’m about to fall, but suddenly, he’s there, right in front of me and steadying me with an arm around my waist and a hand at the small of my back.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, looking into my eyes. “I didn’t want to do that publicly. But I’m about to kiss you, and I kinda had to clear up that whole parentage thing before I—”

I grab his collar, yank him down, and I kiss him as hard as I possibly can as the crowd explodes around us.

He groans into my lips, cupping my face with his hand as we forget the world together.

“You ready to sing?” He murmurs against my lips.

“I….”

“Because I’m in love with you, Melody.”

My heart skips.

“And right now, I don’t want you to sing for me, or for them, or fuckinganyonebut you.”

His steely blue eyes stab into mine as he pulls me towards the mic alongside him.

“Sing for you, sweetheart.”

I glance at a beaming June. I turn to the roaring crowd.

I grin.