I paste a smile on my face and hug her tightly. “It’s fine, sweetie.”
“What did I do wrong?” Luke asks.
“Nothing.” I shake my head and smile over at him. “Nash is a fantastic band.”
“What am I missing?” Will murmurs down to me. I sigh.
“Leo Nash is my Leo, Will.”
“What?” he asks, frowning. Natalie curses under her breath. Jules is still worried, biting her lip.
“I’m fine.” I look around at the group of people who have come to mean so much to me. They have become like family to me. “Honestly, this is great. The guests will love them.”
Will is watching me closely, questions in his eyes, and I feel like shit for not telling him the whole story before. But it was too painful to admit to him that Leo left me here while he went and became a big rock star.
That he just forgot about me.
“Luke, how did you manage to get Nash?” Jules asks him.
Luke shrugs. “They’re doing the soundtrack for the new movie I’m producing. They just wrapped up a tour, and are taking some time off, so I asked if they would do this event before their vacation, and they agreed.”
“You’re so sweet,” Nat murmurs and kisses him.
“Maybe I should have checked with you guys, though. I didn’t think you knew any rock stars.”
I shrug. “We used to.”
Everyone is watching me. “Stop. I’m fine. What’s next? Dinner? When do we get cake?”
“Yeah, when do we get cake?” Will asks, making us all laugh, but his eyes are still serious and pinned on me.
“After dinner,” Jules replies dryly. “Which I think they’re about to serve.”
The band stops playing, and a DJ takes over while we have dinner and go through the motions of the cake cutting and the toasts.
Natalie stands and takes the mic offered to her and smiles shyly to the room at-large.
“My husband is usually the one to speak to large audiences, but I’m happy to talk to you all about my best friend.” She looks over at Jules and smiles widely.
“Are you going to embarrass me?” Jules asks.
“Maybe,” Nat winks. “See, she can never break up with me because I know too much.” We all laugh and Nat sobers.
“I don’t remember a time in my life that Jules and her family weren’t in it. You have shared everything that has ever mattered with me, even the birth of my baby. When Jules and Nate got together,” Natalie turns to the audience and smiles. Will takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. “I was astonished to watch the change in her. Jules is a kick-ass girl. She’s not big on public displays of affection, which she reminds me of almost daily.”
“Seriously, you guys are gross,” Jules rolls her eyes, but I can see the tears threatening to spill over.
“But Nate brought out that soft side of her. He makes her better. And I think she does the same for him. I just couldn’t have found anyone more suited to you, my friend, if I tried.” Nat raises her glass and we all follow suit.
“So, to my new brother-in-law Nate, and my sister of the heart, his Julianne. May your love continue to grow every day.”
“To Jules and Nate!”
Even I wipe a little tear away from the corner of my eye and laugh when Will smirks at me. Gosh, I love those girls. I understand what it is to have a sibling of the heart. Mine is in the next room.
Holy shit.
“Are you nervous?” He asks me, sensing my tension.
“To sing?”
“Yeah, are you okay?” He wraps his arm around me, resting it on the back of my chair. I grin up at his handsome face.
“I’m fine. I don’t usually get stage fright. And I’ve been practicing a lot.”
“I love the arrangement you’ve done with the song,” he murmurs and kisses my cheek. “You’re going to knock them dead.”
I smile and lean into him. “Thank you. I hope so.”
“Are you okay with Leo being here?” he whispers down at me.
The mention of Leo makes my heart stop. God, I’m going to have to talk to him. I don’t think he even knows I’m here.
What will he say? How will he react?
“I don’t know,” I whisper back.
“Hey,” he pulls my face up with his fingers so he can look into my eyes. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll kick his ass if you want me to.”
I laugh and cup his cheek in my hand. “That’s okay. The time for that was about three years ago.” God, I love this man. He’s always so ready to protect me.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
I smile softly and kiss his lips, tenderly. “I know.”
“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” Jules’ dad, Steven, announces, “I am proud and pleased to introduce you to a very good friend of Jules, and the woman who seems to have snagged my son, Will’s, heart. Megan McBride is going to sing the song for the first dance. Meg? Where are you, honey?”
“Here goes nothing,” I murmur at Will and he smiles widely and follows me, along with everyone else, into the ballroom.
And there by the stage is Leo, his mouth gaping open, watching me cross the dance floor to him.
“Can I please borrow your guitar?” I ask, cutting to the chase.
“Meg-pie,” he murmurs, shocked to see me. The old knick-name almost brings me to my knees.
I lock them.
“Leo, I just need your guitar, please.”
He can’t move. He’s just staring at me. God, he looks good. He’s tall, about six feet. His light brown hair is cut short on the sides, and a bit longer on top, styled into a faux-hawk. He has a small guage in one ear with a hoop through it. His lip and eyebrow are pierced. He’s covered in tattoos.
And his sweet, soft dark-gray eyes are pinned to mine.
“Leo,” I say again, a bit stronger, and he blinks.
“Meg,” he clears his throat. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Same here,” I reply with a grin. “I need to borrow your guitar, please.”
“Oh, sure.” He holds it out to me, and offers me a half-smile. “You’ve played it often over the years.”
I learned to play on this guitar.
I bite my lip as I loop the strap around my shoulder and back, and look up at him. “Thank you.”
I climb the stage and move the stool that’s been set in front of the mic for me. “I don’t think I can gracefully sit on that thing in this dress,” I say to the audience with a smile, earning laughter and applause.