I wasn’t just the younger sister of the band. Brooklyn Dawn was my home and my life, just as much as Cooper was.
The crowd whooped and called out my name. I laughed and found Cooper standing at his kit beaming with pride.
I couldn’t help myself, so I blew him a kiss, and the crowd lost their collective minds. I waved them off and we started up one of our summer hits, “Save Me”, which set the tone for the rest of the night.
Jamie tore through her solo, and then decided the lighting rig looked like a good place to park her ass. She climbed the rope ladder and played from the top edge, her feet swinging.
Our security scattered, and I caught Noah tossing his clipboard to follow her up there. I shook my head and kept on playing.
Some things would never change in this band.
We extended the song with a drums and bass faceoff between Oz and Cooper. When we finally finished, the crowd was cheering, and I was fairly sure the whole of the internet would be sharing that particular video. Two massive, sweat-soaked, shirtless dudes playing so hard that Oz ended up falling to his knees, out of breath. And Cooper, triumphant in his endurance, stood on his stool and held up his arms, giving a mighty shout to the heavens.
Oh, yeah, the stuff of wet dreams. And half of that ode to testosterone would be in my bed tonight, thank you very much.
The house lights went down, and a single spotlight lit Lindsey as she brought out her acoustic guitar and sat on a stool. “While we’re waiting for Jamie to turn back into a guitarist instead of a mountain climber, I thought I’d share a little something with you guys.” She strummed her fingers down the strings then tuned them quickly. “Normally, I leave the guitar parts to Jamie or Zane, but I have a special request for this one.” She turned to me. “Think you can pull this jukebox bit out of your hat, Miss T?”
Another spotlight flashed onto me, this one in a soft pink. “Can I have a clue? Or is this a test?”
The crowd laughed.
Lindsey leaned into her mic, and her soulful, husky voice floated out into the night with an old song that I was pretty sure every woman on the planet knew. “From This Moment On” made a lump form in my throat. I knew who might offer up this particular song.
Damn him and his romantic heart. “I think I know that one.”
“Thought you might.”
Lindsey kept going and I easily slid into the piano parts as the melody built. Lindsey’s voice was an easy match to Shania’s romantic song that had starred in a million wedding stories.
I couldn’t see Cooper in the dark, so I just focused on the music. On the song with the sweet lyrics about a love I’d only dreamed of but had found by some bit of grace from the universe.
Suddenly, the crowd started whooping as another light slowly flamed to life, and then Cooper was standing in front of me.
I frowned and mouthed, “What are you doing?”
I could hear drums, but they weren’t coming from him. I peered around him to find Mal giving me a quick nod from Cooper’s kit. Holy shit. What the heck was he doing? My heart was going to pound out of my chest.
Cooper leaned into my space and brushed the mic with his lips. His hazel eyes were serious and full of nerves. “Teagan Daly, I have a question for you.”
“Oh my God.” He did not just say that to the entire crowd.
He drew me away from my keyboards and went down on one knee. My vision went black around the edges. His eyes were wet as he looked up at me, a tiny crystal piano in the palm of his hand. “You’re my best friend and the love of my life. Ever since you came into my world, I knew there was only choice for me.” He cleared his throat and looked down at the dainty crystal piano. With shaking fingers, he flipped open the top, showing off a peachy-blush pink ring with a zillion diamonds wrapped around the band. “Marry me?”
“Oh, Cooper.”
“That better be a yes.”
I nodded and held out my left hand. “Yes. All the yeses in the universe.”
We were both shaking so hard that I had to grip his hand with my other one. He laughed and slipped on the ring. Before he could stand up, I launched myself at him. He caught me close and swung me around. And with me still in his arms, he shuffled over to my mic. “She said yes.”
I laughed and hung on harder. “Only you, Cooper Dallas.” I kissed him under a starlit sky, bathed in romantic pink, with a crowd of ten-thousand people screaming. “What a way to finally say you loved me.”
“I do.” He sniffed, wiping his eyes. “I love you with everything I am, Teagan.” He kissed away my tears. “Besides, you haven’t even said it yet.”
The tears kept coming. “I love you. I wanted to tell you a million times.”
“And what stopped you?”
“What stopped you?” I shot back.
“Man, nothing will ever be boring with you.” He set me on my feet. “I’ve known how I felt for so long, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.”
“Well, that’s a good answer.” I looked down at my glittering ring, so perfect I could barely believe it. “How did you know I wasn’t a diamond girl?”
“Because I know you better than anyone.” He grinned down at me and dropped a sweet kiss on my lips. “Now that we’ve made a complete spectacle of ourselves, I suppose we should finish up the show.”
“I mean, how can you top this?”
“Guess we’ll have to keep trying. We’ve got forever, right?”
“Damn right.” It was starting now.
Epilogue
Cooper
Late September
I glanced around my apartment. Everything was perfect
