Skyville Boys Page 25
“You don’t owe me anything,” I say.
“Not even your half from the performances you did with me at the club?”
I gape at him.
He chuckles. “I’ve known about it for a while now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I don’t know.” He touches the keys. “I guess I loved spending time with you, and I worried you’d quit if I told you I knew.”
“I love spending time with you, too.” I slide a little closer to him.
His eyes dip to my lips. He gazes into my eyes, his bursting with so much emotion. “You’ve added so much light to my life, Kara,” he whispers. “To me and my family. I…I think I’m falling in love with you.” He dips his head and takes my lips in his.
His kiss doesn’t start off slow. It’s intense and passionate from the get-go, leaving me completely breathless. My hands dig into his back as his grip my waist, the kiss growing more intense with every second. When I accidentally knock into the piano, we both jump at the sound of the keys. And then we roll out laughing.
“I hear happy voices in here,” the familiar voice of Jax says. He and Ezra are walking down the aisle, toward the piano stand.
They pull up chairs next to us and sit down.
“How are you holding up, Kara?” Ezra asks.
“I’m okay,” I tell them. “Happy it’s all behind me now.”
“What are you going to do?” Jax asks. “Did you give an answer to your agent?”
“What about your agent?” Carter asks.
“She has an audition for The Sound of Music,” Jax informs them.
“That’s amazing,” Ezra says. “You should go.”
They all nod.
I look from one to the other. “But what about you guys?”
“What…what about us?” Jax asks. He runs a hand through his dark brown hair. “I think we all feel the same way about you. I guess I’m wondering how you feel about us.”
“I care for each and every one of you,” I tell them. “I think I might even love you.”
Jax’s jaw flies open. “I love you, too.”
“I love you,” Carter says.
“And I love you,” Ezra says.
“A polyamorous relationship,” I say with a laugh. “Kitty saw it before any of us could.”
“She’s a smart one, that sister of yours.” Jax grins.
Once again, my eyes search each of their faces. “I don’t want to leave you guys. I haven’t been this happy in months.”
“We want you to continue living your dream,” Ezra says. “We’ll support you from all the way here.”
“We’re only two hours away,” Carter adds. “We’ll visit you all the time.”
“Now that we have you, I don’t think any of us want to let you go,” Jax says.
I get up and press a kiss to each of their cheeks. “And I don’t want to let any of you go, either.”
Chapter Fifty
Kara
Two months later
“Kara!” Kitty barges into my dressing room. “Guess who’s here!”
I glance at her through the mirror in my dressing room, where I’m touching up my makeup, and find three smiling faces standing in the doorway. I scramble to my feet. “Ezra. Jax. Carter. You’re here!”
“You think we’d miss your opening night?” Jax asks.
All three of them look so good. True it’s only been two months, but it might as well have been an eternity. I’ve missed them so damn much.
The girls who share my dressing room leave to give us some privacy. Kitty skips into the room and flops down on the couch. “Told you they’d come. Doesn’t she make such an awesome Liesl? You should hear her sing ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen.’”
“We will in a few minutes.” Ezra winks at her.
“Did Kara tell you the news yet? She and I are gonna guest star on Star Journey! Abbey finally worked her magic. I’m gonna play the younger sister of Aldelixa.” She bounces in her seat. “I’m so excited.”
“And we heard you booked the role of Young Elsa,” Jax says, giving Kitty a fist bump. “Congrats, Kitty Kat.”
“Thanks.”
All four of us look at her expectantly.
She rolls her eyes and drags herself to her feet. “Fine, I see you want to make out with your boyfriends. I’ll go join Mom and Dad in the audience. If I don’t see you before the show starts, break a leg, Kara.” She turns to leave, then flings her arms around me. “I’m so happy you’re performing again. Feels like I got my big sister back.”
I kiss her cheek before she runs off.
“How have you guys been?” I ask. “We video chat like every day, but it doesn’t seem enough.”
Jax glances at his watch. “There are a few minutes until places. I think we each should spend a few minutes with Kara alone. I don’t know about you guys, but all I want to do is kiss her.”
I laugh. Jax and Ezra turn to leave.
“Wait,” I say. “I have something to say to all three of you. I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me. You helped me find myself again. I felt so lost when I left New York and came to Skyville. I didn’t think I’d be able to perform or sing again. I didn’t know if I’d ever feel like myself again. But you healed my heart. And now I’m living my dream again. I love you all, my Skyville boys.”
“You healed us, too,” Carter says.
“And we love you,” all three say.
Ezra and Jax blow me kisses before exiting the room. Carter gathers me in his arms and gives me a long, sweet, heartfelt kiss. “God, I’ve missed this.”
“How long are you guys in New York?”
“We’re leaving tonight. Unfortunately, we still have school.”
We spend a few minutes making out before reluctantly pulling apart. I take his hand and sit him down on the couch, lowering myself near him. Cupping his cheeks, I ask, “How’s the family doing? Did your father hear back from that job interview?”
A bright smile conquers his lips. “I heard the news right before we left. He got the job.”
I throw my arms around him. “That’s awesome.”
“And my boss agreed to Ezra and Jax performing at the club with me every other Saturday. And she agreed to give me a small raise.”
I press my cheek to his. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
He scans me from top to bottom. A loving expression spreads over his face. “Kara, I’m so proud of you. You seem so different from when you left Skyville. More confident.”
I push some hair out of my eyes. “It’s because of the three of you. You restored my faith in myself.”
We kiss one more time before Carter leaves. Ezra closes the door behind him and storms over to me, gathering me in his arms and lifting me a few inches off the floor. When his lips make contact with mine, firecrackers shoot in the sky. I’m transported to another world, our own private, magical world. His lips are sweet but urgent, like we haven’t kissed in a million years. This kiss is so powerful that we both lose our balance and crash onto the couch.
“Careful,” I say. “I’ll wreck my costume.”
“Shit, your hair.”
“It’s okay. My hairdresser should be back soon.” I sandwich his hands between mine. “How did your parents react when you told them you were coming to New York to see me perform?”
“It doesn’t matter what they think.”
I bite my lower lip. “I just wish they saw you the way I do.”
“Hopefully they will one day.”
I pluck a stray strand of hair from his cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want me to speak to my agent? I’m sure he can hook you up with another agent from the agency. You’re a great actor and you’re not too bad on the eyes. I’m sure you’ll get auditions.”
He runs a nervous hand through his hair. “It would be awesome to be cast in a show, but I don’t think it’s the right time now. I don’t want to drive my parents even further away.”
“Okay. Just know t
he offer still stands.”
We make out for a few more minutes, and then it’s Jax’s turn. I laugh as he sweeps me off my feet and spins me around. “Saving yourself for last?” I tease as he plants me down on the floor.
“Last is always best.” He slowly—antagonizing slowly—moves his head closer to mine. I swear I can count to a hundred before his lips make contact with mine. But when they do, my heart bursts with every positive emotion known in the world. Every part of me throbs with love for this guy. My hands tug on his hair as I move my lips desperately against his. I don’t think I can ever get enough of him or the others.
He fingers my lower lip. “I’m so glad to see you at this point, Kara. I’ve wanted to see you happy again for so long.”
“Everything that’s happened to me, meeting you guys and falling in love with all of you, being back on a stage…it’s all because of you.”
His eyebrows shoot toward the ceiling. “Me?”
“Yeah. Because you insisted I be in Beauty and the Beast. And you never gave up on me, Jax. I owe everything to you and the guys.”
He kisses me again, and I lose myself in the kiss, in him, in the profound feeling he evokes in me. But then there’s a knock on the door and we break apart, just as my hairdresser comes in.
“Knock, knock,” she says. “Five minutes to places.”
I squeeze Jax’s hand. “I’ll see you guys after the show?”
“You bet. Break a leg, Kara Starr. Share your amazing talent with the world.”
Once I’m ready, I wait until my first scene. As I leave my room and make my way toward the stage, butterflies flap around in my stomach. Not from nerves, though, from anticipation. Anticipation for what the future holds. Because right now, there’s a world of possibilities.
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–Mia Belle
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