Merrick doesn’t. His left foot steps between my feet, and he presses his entire body against mine as his hand wraps around the back of my head and pulls me in for a kiss.
I nearly melt into his arms as I rest my hands on his hips and let his tongue slide across mine. This kiss isn’t gratuitous and doesn’t last long, but it’s perfect. I barely notice the few hoots and hollers, because I’m completely lost in his touch.
When we ease away from each other, he gives me a lopsided smile. “I have to finish this set. Wait for me? We can talk more later.”
I nod, a smile painted on my face. “Okay. I can’t believe you did that,” I whisper.
He plants a chaste kiss on my lips. “Believe it and get used to it.”
As I stumble backwards, he climbs back on stage and faces the crowd. “So, that’s that,” he says with a boyish smile and shrug. “Want us to continue?”
Sky comes up and pats him on the back with a wide grin on his face, taking the microphone. The crowd cheers for more, so they don’t seem too bothered by this revelation.
The band plays a few more songs, and Lexie and Leo pull me toward the bathrooms where it’s only slightly quieter.
“Oh my God!” Lexie yells, slapping me in my arm. “All these years! I can’t believe it.”
I can’t wipe the grin off my face if I tried. “It wasn’t my story to tell.”
“Well he just told a hell of one,” Leo says, jerking his thumb to the stage. “Babe, I hope you don’t expect me to write you a song now.”
Lexie rolls her eyes. “Dude! This is amazing! I couldn’t believe it when Merrick told me. I was curious about what the hell was going on with you two since he’s been needing me to get you places, but when he told me, so many things fell into place. And you’re all in love and shit.” She puts her hand on her heart as she tilts her head. “I’m so happy for you. We’re all gonna have to get together for dinner or lunch or something. I want more details.”
“Babe,” Leo chides.
“Not like that, weirdo.”
“We’ll definitely plan something. Me and him still have a lot of talking to do to figure out what happens now.”
She nods. “Like, are you moving away?”
I shake my head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I need to talk to Merrick.”
We make our way back to the crowd and as soon as Merrick spots me, he gives me a wink and my stomach does a flip.
“Holy shit, dude!” Royce says to Merrick once the bar’s cleared out.
By the time they were done performing, it was time to close, but all of Merrick’s brothers and their girls stayed behind.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Royce continues, standing behind the bar with London at his side.
“Go big or go home, right?” Merrick says with a wide grin.
“Alejandro.” Cill rests his hand on my left shoulder. “I guess we’ll expect to see you tomorrow for Sunday dinner.”
“He’ll be there,” Merrick says, reaching for my hand.
“Aww,” Cillian’s girlfriend, Midge, says from her barstool. “Merrick I’m so happy.”
“Me too,” Merrick replies, squeezing my hand.
“Does your label know?” Elijah asks as he rests his hands on Nova’s shoulders as she sits in a stool in front of him.
“They will soon.”
“You didn’t tell them?” I ask.
“I tried. I told our manager, but he told me to keep it to myself. Me and the guys already talked. We owe them one more album, and once that’s done we can look for another label.”
“Wow,” I breathe.
“It’ll be fine,” Merrick assures everyone. “I can’t take it back now, and I wouldn’t if I could. What’re they gonna do? They need me to make music so they can make money, but if the CEO has a problem with it, then we’ll leave.”
“I’m proud of you,” Elijah says.
“And we can’t wait to get to know you more, Alejandro,” Nova says. “I know the guys know you, but us girls will be armed with questions tomorrow.”
“I’ll be ready for them,” I reply with a grin.
“We’re gonna head out,” Merrick says, standing up from his seat. “See you guys tomorrow.”
And for the very first time, we walk outside, holding hands, without a care in the world.
48
Merrick
Present Day
It’s three in the morning by the time we get to my hotel, but I’m not even close to tired. I’m too excited to be sleepy. I’ve been dying to have this conversation with Ali.
I drop onto the couch and make sure Ali sits next to me, tucked into my side as I drape my arm over his shoulder.
“I think you said something about making plans for our future,” I say.
He chuckles. “Did I?”
“I think we should, but I want to start off by explaining what happened before. I really went to New York with the intention of telling them. Kit, who is the head of the label, was another level pissed. But at the end of the meeting, I stood up and said I wanted to tell them something. Our manager looked like he wanted to strangle me, and Kit was already annoyed that I had something to say that Evan didn’t know about. Evan basically pushed me out of the office while threatening to ruin me, whatever that means. Sky shook his head, telling me to let it go for now. I was pissed. I tried calling Evan over and over, but he was mad at me and didn’t pick up my calls. When I finally got in touch with him and told him, he was shocked silent, then he told me it wasn’t the right time to tell Kit, let alone the world. But I had already made the decision. You’re everything to me, Ali,” I say, gripping his shoulder and reaching down with my other hand to
