Bounce
Page 26
We go through the set, building an experience for the audience. We play “Runner,” and it’s our first time performing it live, but it goes perfectly. Better than in rehearsals. One by one, we go through our songs. Nine of them, all original. It feels like it happens in under a minute, but I know I’ve been up here for almost an hour. With only one more to go, I pause to regroup. It feels like coming out of a trance.
I’m sweating, I realize. I’m thirsty. I feel invincible.
I grab a bottle of water and take a sip, then look around me. The guys are right there with me. This is it. This is us. All the hard work, the rehearsals, the ups and downs . . . it’s all worth it because of this. This moment. This feeling.
Without meaning to, I look toward the back of the club. Brooks is easy to find—he’s still there. But I don’t see Garrett. I don’t see Vogelson. And I know that’s who I was looking for, despite myself.
Whatever. Screw him.
I come back to the microphone stand, and the applause dies down. It’s hot in here. Someone’s brought in huge fans in the back of the club. I hadn’t even noticed. They make the canvas sheets billow, make the light roll with the material in a way that’s hypnotic . . . We’re all of us at sea. Free here, in this space. Open. I’m open in a way I’ve never allowed myself to be.
The whir of the fans is the only sound I hear. I don’t hear two hundred people breathing, but it’s almost like I feel them. Our connection is what I feel. Like everyone in this room has been stripped down to the most honest parts of what it means to be human. We’re experiencing life together through music. I’m making that happen. The band and I, we’re doing this.
I freakin’ love it.
I take the microphone and find Skyler in the audience. “For this next song, our last one tonight, I want to bring up someone you’ve heard already. Someone who’s special to me. This song exists because of her. And, uh . . . I’m starting to think I do, too. What do you say, Sky? Want to help us out?”
She of course jumps up onstage to cheers and whistles. And it’s as I watch her grab her cello that I see Garrett standing there, too, with Vogelson. Garrett grins his ass off and shamelessly points at Vogelson, then gives me the thumbs-up and starts the whole thing over. Point, thumbs-up, point, thumbs-up.
Vogelson sees all of this, of course, and laughs. I guess when you’re Garrett Allen you get away with shit most people can’t. Vogelson tips his chin, acknowledging me. The look in his eyes says, “I like what I’ve seen,” and, “Let’s work together.”
I don’t think I’m imagining it, because I hear Shane behind me. “Oh my God!” he yells, and pounds a quick, furious beat on the drums that’s made of so much pressurized celebration, it’s borderline aggressive.
Skyler takes the cello from Saul and comes over. “That looks promising.”
I can’t even focus on that right now. I’ll have to process that later. “You look promising,” I say, pulling her in for a quick kiss that draws a dozen catcalls from the audience.
“Now,” I say. “What do you say we blow the roof off this place?”
Acknowledgments
First, and always, thanks so much to our amazing readers and supportive bloggers for all of your kind words, support, and enthusiasm. You are the best, plain and simple.
my fabulous and talented coauthor, Veronica: Thanks for countless laughs and swoons; for some truly disastrous culinary and drinking “experiments;” and for being a model of grace, dedication, kindness, humor, and intelligence. No list of adjectives comes close to describing how much I adore you!
To my amazing extended family—Lisa, Mustafa, Alexandra, Andrew, Dina, Samantha, Abbey, Brenda, Elizabeth, Anna, and Matt—thanks again for being just who you are.
To all my writing compatriots—the other part of my family: Thank you for inspiring me, supporting me, challenging me, and being kick-ass, wonderful, brilliant people. I’m so lucky to know you all.
Last, thanks to Josh and Tracey Adams for all you do; to Tessa Woodward for your editorial guidance and support; to Elle Keck for your enthusiasm and help; to Molly Birckhead and Megan Schumann for helping us get these “babies” out into the world; and to the entire team at HarperCollins/William Morrow for working so hard on our behalf. Sometimes it feels like magic goes into making a book, but I know it’s really a ton of hard work! Thanks so much.
—LO
This book was a joy to create from start to finish. Thanks first and foremost to Tessa Woodward for your belief in us, and for your editorial guidance. Thanks also to Elle Keck for all your help in bringing this book to publication. Megan Schumann and Molly Birckhead have both done so much to spread the word on this trilogy. I’m grateful for all your efforts!
Boundless love and thanks to my family and friends for their patience and support. I’m blessed to have you in my life. To my wonderful and talented coauthor: All the Mavericks for you! You’re a treasure and I’m so fortunate to call you my friend.
Finally, thank you readers and bloggers for letting us share these characters with you. You’ve made this so rewarding and fun. Thank you for taking this journey with us. For you, a standing ovation.
—VR
About the Author
What do you get when friends pen a story with heart, plenty of laughs, and toe-curling kissing scenes? Noelle August, the pseudonym for renowned editor and award-winning writer Lorin Oberweger and New York Times bestselling YA author Veronica Rossi, the masterminds behind Boomerang and Rebound.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Noelle August
Boomerang
Rebound
Credits
Cover photograph © oneinchpunch / Shutterstock
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BOUNCE. Copyright © 2015 by Wildcard Storymakers, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-233110-6
EPub Edition AUGUST 2015 ISBN 9780062331113
15 16 17 18 19 DIX/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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