Meet Me Backstage

21. More Than Friends

JACKS

"Fuck fuck fuck!" I curse as I pace the floor of the dressing room.

"What?" Dré asks with a brow raised. "Are you worried about your 'back injury'?"

He snickers and gives me a wink, but I shoot back a glare.

"This is serious, Dré. What the hell did I just do?"

"You're kidding, right? You just kissed your dream girl, man," Dré says, rubbing his head with his hand. "I thought you'd be happy about this, not freaking out like you just ran over her cat."

Maybe I should be happy, but I can't help thinking that I've just ruined everything.

"Did you see her?"

"I saw you two kiss. It was hot, man—steamy as hell." He laughs and pretends to fan himself. "Thought we were gonna need to open the windows."

"I mean after. She looked like a deer in the headlights. I think I scared her off, Dré. She couldn't get away from me fast enough; practically ran to the dressing room when they said 'cut.'"

"You're overreacting, brother. She was probably just feeling a little nervous. Maybe she's realizing she has feelings for you."

"Or she's realizing she has feelings for him."

I sit down at the makeup counter, shutting my eyes and burying my head in my hands.

What if I made her uncomfortable? What if I misread the signals? What if she's choosing him and not me?

"You need to calm down, man," Dré says, patting me on the back. "Nobody watching that kiss saw a woman who has feelings for her fiancé, okay? What's really got you so upset about this?"

"Because I can't go back."

The words come out of my mouth before I can even process them.

"Go back?"

"Today, just the two of us pretending like we're together and touching and laughing... it felt so good. It felt real." I sigh and run my hands through my hair. "It felt like something clicked. Until today, I feel like maybe I could've walked away. I didn't know what it was like to be with her—to have her as mine. But now I do. It's different. I can't..."

"I know you really like her." He pulls up a chair next to me and sits down. "But she likes you too. It's obvious. Everyone in that studio out there saw it today."

"I just... I don't think I can handle it if she chooses him. It's gonna break me, man."

Something between us has shifted now. It's like she's always been on the other side of the glass. I could watch her, imagine what it would be like to be with her for real, but I couldn't touch her—can't reach her. But now, that glass between us has shattered.

I can't go back.

"If you can't handle losing her then, well..." He sighs and shakes his head. "Don't lose."

I laugh at his straightforward advice.

"I'm serious," he says with a slight smile. "You're Jackson Ford, aren't you? Sexiest motherfucker alive or whatever? As long as I've known you, you've always gotten what you wanted. Skye isn't any different. You'll rise to the challenge—you always do."

I shake my head and smile. Dré always makes everything sound so easy.

"And if I don't?" I ask.

"Then you'll write a really sad hit record and we'll sell ten million copies." He laughs and pats me on the back. "You can go on tour with Adele and make people cry."