Rocking His Fake World (Love You Forever #3) - Alexis Winter

One

LUNA

The guitar feels light as air as I hold it in my hands, my fingers gliding across the strings, hitting precise notes as I sing up on this crowded bar’s stage. The room is dark and the dance floor in front of me is packed tightly. It’s like a sea of faces, all of them blending together and moving like waves. The spotlight is hot as it shines down on me, but it’s a heat I love. One I crave. Everything in life could be going wrong, feeling like the world was crumbling down on top of my head, and all I’d have to do is get up on the stage and sing my heart out. Even though the bar is loud, when I step up to the mic, I feel peace.

I belt out the last line of the lyrics and hold it just a tad longer until my voice grows raspy and thick. It only adds to the sharp edge of the song. When the band wraps up, the crowd goes wild—screaming, clapping, and cheering while jumping up and down.

“I love you, Luna!” some guy in the crowd yells.

I laugh into my mic, “Love you too. Good night.” The stage goes dark and I exit off to the right, handing my guitar to the guy we hired to lug our shit around. This is just a small bar, so there isn’t a lot going on backstage. We’re not famous musicians, so there’s no party, no manager to tell us how awesome we did, and no group of people ready to do anything for an autograph or a selfie. But one of these days I know there will be. We’ve just gotta pay our dues.

I go into the small dressing room and grab a towel to wipe the sweat off my face. Of course, it smears my makeup, so I sit at the illuminated mirror and reapply what’s required. I mean, I can’t exactly go out there looking like a mess. Some nights we show up, perform, and take off, but this time I feel like sticking around to have a few drinks. The crowd really came to life tonight and that only amped me up more. There’s no way I’m ready to walk out of here and go back to my normal, boring life. When you’re up on a stage like that, the energy of the crowd seeps into you. I’m like a sponge up there, soaking up every last bit of excitement, love, and appreciation. Mix that with the three Jack and Cokes I’ve had already, and you get a fucked-up ride that won’t spit you out until the very end of the night.

Van, Ridge, and Lane all make their way into the dressing room and they’re all rowdy and ready to party.

“That crowd ate us up tonight!” Van says, tossing his drumsticks into the air and catching them.

“Fuck yeah, they did. Did you see that little vixen in the front row giving me doe eyes?” Ridge asks, dropping down on the couch and running a hand through his sweaty dark hair.

“Yeah, I did, actually. I usually think you make this shit up, but I did see her. I bet she’s waiting for you right now. So what do you think, Luna? You wanna stick around for a few rounds?” Lane asks, stepping up to my side to check himself out in the mirror. Lane is the most vain one in the group. Other than me, he’s the pretty face in the band—the one who gets positioned up front in all of our publicity photos and posters.

“Sure, I’m down,” I reply, pushing a strand of my thick, chocolatey hair behind my ear. I give my reflection one last look. My blue eyes are surrounded with dark liner and accentuated with false lashes. My lips are the perfect shade of crimson, and this top shows just enough of my cleavage and toned stomach. “I’ll be at the bar when you guys are done packing shit up.” I spin around on my heel and leave the dressing room and the boys behind.

I find my way to the bar and sit on the only open barstool. The bartender comes over immediately and pours another Jack and Coke. He offers up a flirty smile and flexes his biceps more than needed. “This one’s on me. You guys did awesome up there tonight.”

I take the glass and stir the ice with the straw. “Thank you.”

He nods. “How long you been playing and singing like