Tattooed Hearts (30 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

“When confronted with a
challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart
searches for an escape.”

Forrest Montgomery
Desvareaux

Forrest pushed and shoved
through the endless sea of people to the back of the room where his friends
stood watching th
e madness. Leaning on the wall next
to Adam, he scanned the cramped space. The atmosphere was one
of elation—
infectious grins, longtime
friends and strangers shaking hands, patting one another on the back.

“This is crazy,” he said,
not speaking to any one
in particular.

Adam laughed and tightened
his grip around his very pregnant wife. “Your girlfriend is a star. People love
her.”

“Is this your first time
seeing Claire in action?” Lily asked, tucked safely in Adam’s arms.

Forrest started to shake
his head,
but other than the few highlights he caught
on television, this was his first time getting an intimate view of Claire’s
world. “I guess it is.”

Keely leaned into him so
that she could be heard over the strident timbre of voices. “You’re in for a
treat. She
’s awesome live.”

Jason appeared on the
stage. Palpable excitement zapped through the air, electrified buzz of voices
charged the room. His friend raised a hand, commanding attention. A hush fell
over the crowd.

“This is a great night,
not only for Vapor,
but for Martha’s Vineyard,” Jason
said into the microphone. “For the first time Claire Peters is performing on
the island. Let’s show her some love and welcome her home.”

A cacophony of applause
burst forth.

“Ladies and gentleman, I
give to you my friend,
my sister, the talented and
beautiful Claire.” Jason’s voice thundered over the crowd.

Anticipation hung in the
air. The lights dimmed. Cheers erupted like an auditory volcano. Smoke twisted
on the stage, forming wispy curls in the half-lit room. Forrest’
s eyes glued to the podium. She appeared, illuminated only
by speckled lights from the ceiling. All quieted. Forrest’s heart smashed
around in his chest.

She took a step forward,
hypnotizing the crowd in a deep, plunging dress that barely covered her ass.
She looked sexy hot and every bit the star she was. Head
high, she scanned the crowd then gave a slight bow. Another round of
acclamation started and the crowd began to chant her name.

She owned the room.

Hard to believe this was
the same woman who had her
hands pressed on the
floor-to-ceiling window in his living room less than one hour ago. With the
ocean as their view, he had scraped her thong to the side for quick access and
dived home.
Heaven on earth.
Forrest shifted and told
his other head to calm do
wn. This was going to be a
long night.

“Thanks, Jay!” Claire and
Jason hugged before he walked off the stage and gave her the full spotlight.
She turned to the jubilant crowd and let out a little laugh. The sound was
sweet and joyful. It echoed through the
room and into
everyone’s heart. “What a welcome. A big thank you to Tyler for asking me to do
this.”

The audience cheered, as
if they were forever grateful to Tyler for bestowing such a gift upon them.
Forrest told himself Tyler had nothing on him when it
came to Claire.

“It’s so good to be here.
I have no words.” Her right hand went to her heart. She closed her eyes for a
second, taking it all in. A spontaneous outpouring of emotion etched on her
face. She looked happy.

The sight made the hair on
the back
of his neck prickle. Overwhelmed with
emotion, he stood rooted to the spot and took in Claire, the famous singer.

“As some of you may know,
I have this thing for eighties and nineties music.”

Whooping and hollering
followed.

She laughed.

The sound was so
sweet.

“My last album was a nod
to those two decades. I’m going to do a few numbers for you tonight.”

She was forced to pause
again by another round of clapping.

She raised her index
finger and leaned into the microphone. The room went still. “And give you
a glimpse of the theme song for my movie
Tattooed Hearts
coming out this summer. It’s still
rough.” She wrinkled her nose. “But I love it and would love to share it with
you all.”

They waved and shouted
like maniacs.

“It will have to be
acoustic though, j
ust me and a guitar,” she
continued. “Think you can handle that?”

Another massive round of
applause. They were hungry for excitement and were putty in her hands, him
included. She had this quality about her that mesmerized people. Even during
their youth,
she hadn’t been aware of it, but it had
always been there. Now a woman filled with confidence, it was more transparent.
From the way she kissed him after reading Luc’s letter, to how she gave all of
herself to him in every way.

“Watch this,” Blake said
to
him. “You’re going to fall in love.”

Too late. Already there,
neck-deep in love.

Her fingers wrapped around
the microphone, a smile appeared on her lips and then she started belting out
the lyrics to
Hopeless
by Dionne Farris. Her
voice was smooth, clear,
quiet yet powerful as she
sang each word. It carried a level of sadness, a longing, drugging
everyone.
 
She sang her own cover of
Iris
by Goo Goo Dolls,
Don’t You Forget About Me
by Simple Minds, and
Ordinary Love
by Sade. All without a crack or flaw. Then she brought
Amber on stage as promised and they sang
I Feel
for You
by Chaka Khan and two of her own songs. The tempo to those
songs was a bit more upbeat. An excitement rushed through the room, like liquid
adren
aline being injected right into everyone’s
bloodstream–not strong enough to freak them out, but an adequate amount to make
them feel the vibe of the music and let their body go free.

When Claire requested,
they joined in the fun and sang along. The few fac
es
Forrest was able to see grinned like idiots. They sang a few of their favorite
lines completely out of tune but in joyful harmony. No one cared how they
sounded, they were happy. And so was Claire.

She laughed, moved
rhythmically to the music and played
along. She
looked pumped, excited, and more alive than he’d ever seen her.

It was as if all the
mundane worries of her life had been muted and all there was to know about
was…this moment. No worrying about the past, no anxiety about the future. Eyes
wide,
grin wider, in one adrenaline-fueled warrior
yell, she jumped off the stage into the crowd.

Forrest’s body
automatically moved in the direction of the stage, his brain fast forwarded to
protective mode, needed to be sure she would not be crushed. But Jaso
n grabbed his shoulder and held him still.

“She’s fine. This is what
she does. This is who she is. Relax.”

She gave herself to the
crowd and the crowd gave back to her. Forrest took it all in.

It was magical. One
moment, one brilliant feeling of togetherne
ss between
Claire and her fans suspended in time. Ten years or a lifetime from now, he’d
remember tonight and the way she looked in her element. It was a circuit of
energy–music, friends, good times, dance.

This side of her didn’t
belong on the island.

“Al
l right! Are we having fun?” she asked the pumped crowd. Her voice pulled
Forrest’s attention back to the stage.

“Claire! Claire! Claire!”
They roared.

“I love you!” Someone
declared.

“Have my baby!” Another
one proposed.

Claire laughed. “We’re
going to
take a quick ten. Be right back.”

Adam, the asshole that
he’d always been, leaned into him and said, “They want your girl. You better do
something about it.”

The fucker.
“Shut up,” he replied without a glance at his friend.

Adam laughed, clearly
enjoying h
is distress.

During the intermission,
Jason managed to join them. He took one look at Forrest and shook his head.
“Still got a stick up your ass?”

“Probably forever,” he
responded. No point in lying. His mind was still surging with perplexity. But
his frie
ndship with Jason should have never been
tested…on his part. Anger was a powerful tool. “Congrats on the babies,” he
offered, man-code for saying
I’m
sorry, I’ve been a dick
.

Jason nodded, seeming to
accept the apology. “Ready to play uncle?”

“Do I have a
choice?”

“Not from where I’m
looking.”

“Then I’m ready.” They
stared at each other for a second or two, neither willing to put their Alpha
card away. “How’s Minka?” he asked, initiating a conversation, silently
folding. Since he’d been the asshole, it was
only
right.

“Nauseous.”

“That will pass in a month
or two.”

Jason shoved a hand
through his hair. “You should tell her that.”

“Ah, the wolf pack all
together again.”

All heads turned to
Claire. She was still smiling and so fucking beautiful that Forrest pu
lled her into his arms and kissed her. When he finally let
her go, she let out one of her little laughs and touched her lips.

“Claiming her?” That came
from Adam.

Since Adam’s favorite
display of affection was to give one of them the finger, Forrest
flipped him the bird. “You’re awesome live.” He pulled her
in and hugged her, pressing his jaw to the top of her head.

“Thanks. I have to go back
for the big finale.” She tiptoed in for a kiss. “I love you, Doc.” The words
slipped out of her mouth as a whi
sper.

He opened his mouth to
reciprocate, but he tensed. A ball slammed against his chest. To feel and know
you love someone is one thing. To give it life and utter the words was another.
Especially after realizing there was a whole side of Claire Peters t
hat neither of them had brought up. Like the elephant in
the room–an obvious truth they’d shimmied around and ignored.

She was leaving.

She was a star.

She belonged on the road.

She was temporary.

The realization sank deep
in his hollow gut.

His lungs scre
amed for air. Shock registered on her face, and then she
kissed him again and gave him air before slipping back into the throng of
people waiting to touch Claire Peters, the one that belonged to the world.

Blake gave him a shove,
snapping him back to reali
ty.

“What was that for?”

Blake chuckled. “You look
like a lost puppy. Man up.”

“Fuck off. All of you.”
Not in the mood to deal with his friends’ shit, he slid them a look then
squared his shoulders a little more to keep them at bay. After they choked out
a
low laugh, they retreated and refocused their
attention on the woman responsible for all of his angst.

Somehow she managed to
make her way through the crowd and back to the stage. One of the musicians
handed her a guitar. Even before she spoke, everyone w
ent
quiet, as if they knew what was coming next.