Lyric & the Heartbeats

by Kole, Lana

  By the time they arrived at the venue, the crew was in the middle of setting up the stage, and Nohen collected his things before following Henry and Lyric and the others through the winding backstage area and to the green rooms.

  “Sound check in thirty. Then you have free time until—when?” Henry asked Lyric, taunting her.

  Nohen coughed a laugh into his palm as Lyric ground her teeth.

  “Seven forty-five,” she answered shortly.

  She turned her back just in time to miss Henry’s grin, and Nohen shook his head at the alpha. If his goal was to piss Lyric off, he was doing a mighty fine job of it.

  “Okay, I’m going to touch base with the crew. Don’t make me hunt you down later. Seven forty-five,” he warned, just as his walkie-talkie crackled.

  He answered the static with one hand as he slid his tablet into his arm and pushed the door open.

  Nohen turned just in time to watch Lyric cover her mouth with her hand, hiding the way she’d been mimicking Henry. It pulled a laugh from his chest, and Lyric smiled warmly at him.

  Watching them go at it for the next six weeks was going to be its own form of entertainment.

  Desi bumped into his shoulder and offered him a bottle of water. He thanked her just as she tipped hers back, whispering, “Let’s make a bet. How long until they’re fucking?”

  Nohen’s laugh came out choked, any humor strangled by the jealousy that crept up out of nowhere and wrapped around his ribs.

  “What?” he asked, quite intelligently.

  “How long until you think they’re going to fuck?” she asked again, just as blatantly.

  “Uhm…” He stalled, glancing over to Lyric, who was talking to Adra in a low voice. “Henry? Or them?”

  Desi hummed and seemed to consider it. “You’re right. It could be any of them. But Henry? I don’t know… He’s so bossy, and Lyric is not the kind of girl to take orders from anyone, especially an alpha. Butting heads is going to turn into bumping uglies soon enough.”

  With that, she shrugged, pulled out her phone, and answered a call from Amber. “I’ll be on the bus, come get me before sound check. Hey, babe,” she said into the phone and walked out of the room.

  Since Desi had abandoned him, he sipped his water and glanced around the green room. A bowl of snacks and bottled water sat on the table, as well as… He drifted closer with a frown. Gummy bears?

  “Hey, what’s u—No way, they found them?” Lyric exclaimed as she came closer. Her casual question turned into utter delight as she tugged the bowl of gummy bears closer.

  They were all one color, a light pinkish-orange, and Lyric plucked one free of the bunch with two perfectly painted nails. He couldn’t help but stare enviously as she lifted the tiny bear to her lips and popped him inside. Her jaw worked as she chewed, bobbing her head side to side happily.

  “Try one,” she offered, and shoved the bowl in his direction.

  Nohen arched a brow at her odd enthusiasm but followed her lead, grabbing a single bear and biting right through it.

  “You did not just decapitate the peach gummy bear,” Lyric said, eyes jumping to his from where they’d been studying the way he ate the bear. Or maybe she’d been studying his lips the way he had hers.

  Or maybe he was just a big dreamer.

  Nohen fought a smile as he popped the rest of the bear into his mouth and then sucked the stickiness off the pad of his thumb. “I so did. And he was delicious,” he taunted.

  He watched her gaze dip once, twice before he couldn’t take it anymore. Like a coward, he opened his big mouth to distract her—before he leaned forward and kissed her. “Are these rare or something? You seemed surprised to find them here.”

  Lyric shrugged and ate another gummy. “You’d be surprised. There are a ton of lost flavors that are almost impossible to find. Peach is one of them.”

  “So you asked for an entire bowl?”

  “Maybe,” she drawled, dragging out the first syllable and staring up at him innocently. “I’ll bag them up and bring them on the bus.”

  “Did you ask every venue for the same request?”

  Her lips quirked to the side as she gave him a droll stare. “Now that’s pretty boring, don’t you agree?”

  Before answering, he reached a hand out to grab another sweet, and she smacked at his hand. Startled, he shifted his gaze from the bowl to her, and she rolled her hand out. “Don’t you agree?”

  “Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, pretty boring.”

  Lyric offered him the bowl and he carefully plucked a gummy from her collection, eyeing her the whole time.

  “I organized it by weeks. The first week’s venues are in charge of peach. Then there’s strawberry lemonade, watermelon, blue raspberry, green apple, and grape.”

  As she listed flavors he hadn’t even realized gummy bears came in, he shook his head.

  “What?” she asked defensively. “Andi said I could request anything I wanted.”

  “Why gummy bears?” he inquired. “Not that I’m complaining,” he added. “I just haven’t had them in forever.”

  “They’re the perfect road trip snack. Sweet and bite-sized. And they’re so cute,” she said, holding out a tiny bear.

  Without even thinking, Nohen leaned forward and nipped the gummy bear right out of her perched fingers. His gaze was glued to her face so he could watch her cheeks turn as pink as the candy and her lips pop open in shock.

  “You’re right. They’re perfect,” he drawled.

  An alarm cut through the room, shattering the moment and alerting them that sound check waited for no one.

  Lyric’s cheeks flushed even hotter as her gaze skated around the room.

  Nohen didn’t care who’d watched their interaction. In fact, he hoped the alphas had seen.

  He was expecting jealousy. To turn and come face-to-face with a challenge in their gaze, maybe even judgment.

  What he wasn’t expecting when he turned to face Odd and Emerson?

  The heat in both of their gazes.

  Cold air was pumping full blast backstage, and Lyric felt each pebbled goosebump as they moved in waves over her skin. The chanting of the crowd, the shrieking walkie- talkies, and the adrenaline-filled shouts of the crew as they readied last minute preparations, it was all one big, overwhelming rush of noise.

  The opening band, a local crew arranged by the venue, had left moments ago. Finally achieving part of her dream, she’d wanted to give other locals a chance to do the same in each city.

  Lyric sighed and took another breath to ready herself.

  Nerves crawled around in her stomach like living vines, and she bounced lightly from foot to foot, shaking her hands out at her sides and humming distractedly.

  A soft touch on her wrist pulled her attention to the present, and everything came into focus with a whoosh.

  “Hey, you’ll be fine,” Nohen offered in a shout.

  She nodded absently, not really listening. All she could hear was the crowd, which was growing louder by the minute, until Lyric could hardly find her own thoughts in the melee.

  Nohen grabbed her hand. “Hey,” he shouted, leaning close so she could hear him better. “Remember. There’s no such thing as a perfect show. Take a deep breath.”

  He was right. They could spend two years instead of two weeks, and it would still never live up to the expectations she had in her head.

  He pulled back from her, meeting her gaze pointedly and touching his chest before ballooning his hand away from his pecs as he inhaled.

  Lyric sucked in a deep breath with him, finding an odd calmness in the depths of his honey colored eyes. As they breathed together, it was like sinking into a pool of honey. Everything slowed down, her movements, her breathing, and best of all, her anxiety.

  “Okay,” she said moments later. It was only then she realized he was still holding her hand.

  Nohen cocked his head as if he hadn’t heard her, and she squeezed his palm once before she broke the connectio
n and summoned the others. Emerson with a tug on his dark colored button-up, Desi with a tap on her shoulder, and Adra turned as if he instinctively knew she needed him.

  “Sixty seconds,” Henry shouted from his spot beside the stage entrance.

  After giving him a sharp nod, she turned all of her attention to the band. As they stared down at her, as the lights behind their heads flashed once before lowering to darkness, as the wave of excitement seemed to drown the crowd awaiting them… it hit her.

  She was about to sing to a venue full of people, thousands waiting for her to walk out on stage. Songs she’d written. Lyrics that spelled memories and fears and hopes and dreams and death onto the page from her soul.

  Her eyes widened at the sudden smack of reality, and a smile took the place of the worry filled grimace she’d been sporting since she’d packed herself into her stage outfit.

  Lyric put her palm face down in the circle between them all.

  “Let’s kick some ass,” she yelled, a wash of heat rushing over her as adrenaline kicked in.

  “Hell yeah,” Desi shouted, and slapped her palm down on top of Lyric’s.

  The others followed suit just as Henry called, “Show time!”

  Desi headed to the stage first, sneaking behind the curtain and cutting through the middle part to climb up onto her drum stage.

  Excited screams.

  Next, Adra gave her a wide smile before he entered the stage and calmly walked to his spinning station of keyboards and synths.

  Elated shouts.

  Emerson and Nohen entered the stage together, taking their places and wielding their guitars like weapons.

  Heartfelt cries.

  Finally, Lyric stepped forward, waiting for Henry’s signal as the anticipation burned her up from the inside out.

  She slid the monitors into her ears, and if all of the noise was like a rushing waterfall, the monitors made it seem like she’d sank beneath the surface of the water. Everything seemed so far away even though it was within reaching distance. It was… calming. It drowned out the crowd, the chaos, the shouts, and the countdown.

  Henry gave her a small push, her feet moved on autopilot, and then—light.

  Cameras. Lenses from the photo pit reflected the stained glass backdrop at her.

  Action.

  The clicks of Desi’s drumsticks came through loud and clear before, one by one, they chimed in to play a show.

  Her show.

  Here goes nothing.

  Gently, Emerson carried in the bass line, followed by the smooth rhythm of Nohen’s guitar, and finally, her and Adra began on the same beat.

  The venue was dark, the only light shining from the plexiglass, reflecting a multitude of rainbows over the stage, past her feet, and onto the faces of the first few rows.

  Halfway through the first song, she turned to face the band and the backdrop, and it took her breath away.

  The stained glass had come alive with the lighting, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across Emerson, Nohen, Desi, and Adra.

  Desi’s stage was alive with light, shining on the dark stage and turning the whole atmosphere into something ethereal. She’d picked a drum stage because the drummer was often eclipsed by the other members of the band. Now she sat five feet off the ground, high enough to be seen over Lyric’s head.

  The photographers would get the best photos of her. It made her smile as she sang, and they finished the first song without issue.

  “You guys look gorgeous,” she said into the mic, knowing her voice would carry not only through the amps and out to the crowd, but through their monitors.

  She was met with four matching grins as they carried into the next song.

  Halfway through the set, during a dance outro, Nohen shimmied closer to her and yanked out his monitor to speak.

  “How’s that stage presence of yours working out?” he teased.

  Lyric’s cheeks flushed. That hadn’t even been on her mind. She was too focused on the stage, the lights, the colors, the magic of it all.

  The awkwardness from the first few practices was gone—but still, it was far from perfect. It wasn’t something Lyric could put her finger on, and as it threatened to ruin the magic of the night, her face flushed with annoyance.

  It wasn’t something she knew how to fix, not with a command or a stern warning or even something that could be corrected. But something was itching at the forefront of her mind, and as Nohen changed guitars, Lyric met him side stage, leaving the crowd behind.

  “Hey,” she shouted, laying a palm on his shoulder. His shirt was damp with sweat, and he wiped his brow as he turned to her. His smile was contagious, and even with her blood pumping and determination screaming through her, she grinned back at him.

  “Go for it,” she said.

  His smile faltered for a split second. “You mean it?”

  Lyric couldn’t count how many times she’d arrived at the practice space to find Nohen already picking at the strings, experimenting with different sounds to her own songs. She’d chalked it up to boredom or killing time, but listening to him play the same sheet music he’d been given to learn on stage… something told Lyric to give him the same freedom on stage that he’d loved in those early morning moments.

  “Yeah. Don’t hold back.”

  Nohen slung his guitar to the side and pulled her in. His sticky shirt clung to his skin, and she shrieked before pushing him away.

  “Okay, okay, I get it! Show us what you’ve got.” Lyric gave him a gentle shove toward the stage, and he walked backward, shooting her a wink before the crowd lit up again at his reappearance.

  Henry handed her a water bottle, arching an eyebrow and glaring until she drank half of it.

  Then, finally, with his nod of approval, she entered the stage again.

  Her gaze for some reason was immediately drawn to Emerson. Most of the set, he’d been cast in shadow, head down, focusing on the music. But now he looked up, a gleam in his eye that shined as brightly as the stage lights.

  Her heart pounded, her blood pulsed, and she sucked in a deep breath as she approached the mic stand again. Desi began another count.

  The music reverberated in her ears, through her veins, and spilled out of her lips. While the lyrics were more angry than happy, the music thrummed through her, invigorating her with new energy. She wrapped her hand around the mic and tapped her heel against the stage, singing with all her heart.

  Her eyes tried to drift close, but Lyric kept them open. She wanted to ingrain this night into her memory. On stage, with thousands of people in the crowd. Singing along with her, screaming and yelling as the music flowed around them.

  A smirk touched her lips as she sang about karma and payback. The music curled around her, wrapping her in a cocoon of safety, and she let herself go. Pulling the mic out of the stand, she bounced on her feet as the chorus approached, and when the beat dropped, she danced and sang. Gliding over to Nohen, she grinned and let the music pour out of her as it spilled from him. It was angry, and loud, and as Nohen added his own flair to the music, everything fell into place.

  Like puzzle pieces suddenly locking together, or a stubborn key finally sliding into place. She wanted to scream, or cry or even—oh, fuck it, she wanted to kiss Nohen right on the lips.

  But she didn’t, too aware of the thousands of eyes on them, but she was certain he could read the thought in her gaze as he dipped his head, gazing up at her with a smirk as he strummed the strings.

  She placed a hand on his shoulder, walked around him, and held eye contact until the very last second. Then, while it tested her voice control, she danced with him, back-to-back, before Emerson caught her eye.

  As the strange energy filled her, carried her across the stage toward him, she forgot to be afraid. Forgot to fret over stage presence or appearances. Singing, music, was about having fun and letting go. She stopped only a foot away, pointed at him as she sang, but kept her distance because the energy coming off him was as dangerous as the alpha h
imself.

  Seeking something—someone—safer, she found Adra.

  Adra was smiling, vibrating with the intensity from the song, but he was so still. As her lips formed the lyrics, she placed one hand on the circular rail, propped one foot on the ledge of the platform, and pushed off with her other foot. They spun, and Adra had to catch his balance, but he continued playing. The stage, the lights, and the dark empty space of the venue circled around them until she carefully leaned back, holding herself up with the rail and dragging the toe of her sneaker across the stage. It slowed them to a stop, and then she bounced over to Desi, leaving Adra with a smile on his face.

  Desi was slamming her passion into the drums and cymbals with a grin, her hair damp with sweat and flying around her face as she moved. Lyric didn’t distract her, instead, she drifted her fingers over the plexiglass frame of the stand and smiled.

  As the song came to a close, she floated over the stage and back to the mic stand, gripping it with both hands as she clicked it back into place.

  She swayed from side to side as she finished the outro, letting the music drift around them until it faded completely.

  There was a pause for one, two, three seconds before—

  “Holy shit,” Nohen shouted for them all to hear.

  Even after that moment of perfection, it turned out Nohen was fucking right. The show overall hadn’t been perfect—far from it.

  Her monitors had fucked up, sending her too much feedback, and she’d ended up yanking them out partway through the last half of the set. It made it a little more difficult to perform, but she got the hang of it. Nohen’s guitar strap had unhooked—somehow—and he’d had to lean against Desi’s drum stage until a stagehand came and situated him again. Desi broke so many drumsticks Henry had to hand deliver more, ignoring cat calls from the front row.

  At least no one could say the girl didn’t play passionately.

  Lyric forgot what damned city they were in as she was chatting with the crowd during a break. No biggie. It was just the first fucking show.

  But the crowd’s energy had been electric, their excitement knew no bounds, and it was like the fuck ups never happened.