Page 58 of Lance

Willa

To my great relief, Lance doesn’t slip back into his previous grumpy mood once we get to the club. I try my best not to read too much into his words in the car, though it’s hard not to think about the sound of his voice when he compared me toperfection.

He was trying to cheer you up, I tell myself. Flirting is his default. It didn’t meananything.

But hehadheld my hand the entireride…

We meet up with the other members of Intrigue at the club. “What are you doing here?” James asks, frowning when he sees me. I cross my arms, ready for a typical brotherly argument, but Lance speaks first. “She’s been working her ass off, James. She deserves a nightout.”

My brother watches Lance for a minute, as if trying to figure something out, then nods. “You’re right.” He turns to me. “This jackass is paying you good money for all those hours, isn’the?”

Lance rolls his eyes at me behind James’s back and I stifle a laugh as I lean in to hug my brother. “Sorry,” he mutters in my ear. “Didn’t mean to sound unhappy to seeyou.”

“Oh, I’m used to your particular charm,James.”

I turn to hug Layla and Haylee, who both seem genuinely happy to see me. And then Louis approaches and they all groan in unison. “He’s going to tell us that we have to go out and take pictures in front of the club,” Dylan says. “Before we even get a drink inus.”

“Cruel bastard,” Laylaadds.

Louis doesn’t acknowledge the insult. “Since you’re here to promote the club, it’s probably a pretty good idea to go do your jobs before you startdrinking.”

“Tell me again why we have to do this, Lou,” Dylan says, crossing hisarms.

“Because you need sponsors for the tour. I figured this would be a pretty painless way to get your name outthere.”

“You guys do sound a little whiny,” I point out. “You’re going to complain about getting free drinks at a pretty sweet-lookingclub?”

Lance narrows his eyes, but he’s smiling as he looks at me. “I’ll have you know standing around with these assholes getting my picture taken is a lot of hardwork.”

“Oh, you poor baby,” I shoot back. “Someone wants to take your picture. I feel so sorry foryou.”

He laughs and turns back to the others. “Willa, as ever, is right. Let’s get this overwith.”

I follow them out to the front of the club and stand back with Louis while they pose for pictures and sign autographs. Lance gets a lot of attention from the girls in the crowd—they scream his name and take selfies. Some even cry when he comes close. Every so often he looks over at me and smiles, rolling his eyes a bit as if to say,Can you believe allthis?

Icanbelieve it. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t lose her shit at the sight of Lance Foster dressed in a slim-fitting black suit, his tattoos vibrant against his white dress top—unbuttoned at the top to show off more skin. He looks like some godly combination of rock star and male model.And I got to hold his hand in the car, I think, laughing at myself. I sound like a teenager. I may as well go over and start screaming with the othergirls.

Eventually Louis leads them back into the club. “Have a good time,” he instructs. “But keep it together for thephotographers.”

“Got it,Mom,” Dylansays.

“Glad to see your recent success hasn’t affected your maturity level, Dylan,” Louissays.

Dylan nods seriously. “I always promised myself I wouldn’t let fame changeme.”

“Let’s get a table,” Haylee says. “See you,Louis.”

“Why are you all so mean to him all the time?” I ask as we head into theclub.

“Louis is the worst,” James, Dylan, and Layla say inunison.

Haylee gives me a sheepish smile. “I mean, they have apoint…”

I shake my head but drop it. The band has been complaining about their manager for as long as they’ve known him, but he’s never seemed that bad to me. I guess it’s normal to be annoyed by the guy whose job it is to tell you what to do all the time. I bet they actually like and respect him deep down.Reallydeepdown.

We don’t have to look for a table. A waitress appears as if by magic to lead us over to a velvet-backed booth at the head of the dance floor. The booth is on a raised platform, which gives us a great view of the rest of the club, but also makes me feel way too on-display to be comfortable as I take a seat between Lance andLayla.

“They couldn’t give us something a little more private?” James mutters as he slides in on the otherside.