The crowd goes manic, jumping and screaming and Meg scowls at me. She thinks they’re going crazy at the mere mention of Will’s name.

She’s wrong.

“Turn around, Meg-pie,” I shout in her ear, so only she can hear, and her eyes go wide in shock and then well with tears when she sees Will approaching her from behind. He’s dressed in slacks and a button-down, the sleeves rolled, and he has a mic in his hand. He nods at me and I release her hand and step a few feet away to let him do his thing, but close enough so I can watch with the rest of Seattle.

“Hey,” Will says into the mic his eyes on Meg’s, and then he waves to the crowd, who immediately erupts in joy again.

This is a fanfuckingtastic crowd.

I glance down to the front row to find Sam’s eyes on me, smiling broadly. All of the Montgomerys are clapping and whooping, the women crying. Will and I kept this a secret from all of them.

“Meg.” Will begins and steps close to her, turning her so the family can see both of their profiles. “So, I obviously didn’t have to go out of town this weekend.” He smiles down at her and shrugs. “Leo helped me with this surprise.”

Meg glances over at me, and I just smile and shrug.

“The song you just sang was also not from Leo to Sam like he told you it was.” He laughs as she lowers her mic and swears a blue streak at me for lying to her and then he turns her chin back toward him. “It was from me to you. You see,” he clears his throat, “I wasn’t sure where this was going to go when I first met you, all I knew was that I wanted you.”

The crowd has gone dead silent, listening in rapture to Will pour his heart out to Meg.

If I didn’t love her so much, I’d call him a pussy, but she deserves every pretty fucking word, and so much more.

“There’s a line in that song you just sang that says, ‘And it’s hard to love again, when the only way it’s been, when the only love you knew, just walked away.’ Well, I’m here to tell you, in front of all of these people and all of the people we love that I’m never going anywhere, Meg. I’m never letting you go. I love you more than I ever knew was possible to love someone. So,” he lowers himself to one knee and Meg covers her mouth with her hands, tears streaming down her pretty face. Will pulls a small blue box out of his pocket and opens it, showing her a fucking huge rock.

Atta boy, Will.

“Megan, will you do me the honor of being my wife? Marry me, babe.”

You could hear a pin drop in Key Arena right now. No one is even breathing as they wait for Meg’s answer. The Montgomerys are standing perfectly still. Tears continue to stream down Meg’s face and a few seconds feel like hours.

“Uh, Meg,” I mumble into my mic. “The answer is yes, sweetie, put the man out of his misery.”

The crowd laughs, and finally she sinks to her knees before him, drops her mic on the floor, cups his face in her hands and says, “Of course I’ll marry you.”

The crowd goes wild as Will wraps his arms around her middle and pulls her into him, kissing her long and hard.

Too long, and too hard.

“Hey, Montgomery, put the rock on her finger and get lost. I have a show to do.”

They laugh and Will slips her ring on her slim finger and kisses it, then helps her to her feet. They both wave at the crowd and exit the stage through the wings to my left.

I turn back to my band, raise the mic to my face and scream, “Okay, Seattle, let’s fucking rock!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

~Samantha~

The after party is in full swing back stage. Fans who won back stage passes for autographs and photographs have come and gone. The band made it very clear that this party was just for them and their families.

There are still more than thirty of us.

“The show was ah-mazing!” Stacy exclaims and snuggles into Isaac’s side, a drink in her hand.

“It was,” Brynna nods and smiles at Meg and Will, sitting on a couch, Meg in his lap. “Will, that was quite possibly the most romantic proposal I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m a romantic guy.” He shrugs and offers us all a cocky grin.

Meg explodes in laughter. “You’re a lot of things, babe, but romantic isn’t one of them. Did Luke give you pointers?”

“Hey! I have my romantic moments!” Will frowns at her and then leans in to whisper in her ear, making her blush.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

“I don’t want to know.” Matt shakes his head and then turns to Caleb, who has been dead silent all night, even during the concert. His eyes have been narrowed, his body on high-alert. “You doing okay, man?”

“Fine,” Caleb confirms with a nod.

Brynna frowns up at him. “Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.” His jaw is tight, but his voice is firm and leaves no room for questioning.

“Hey, Sam.” Jules approaches us from across the room. “Leo was looking for you a few minutes ago. You must have been in the restroom.”

“Do you know which way he went?”

“Out into the hallway.” Jules points toward the door.

“Okay, thanks.” I check the time on my phone as I head out into the corridor. I wonder how long we have to stay before we can tactfully leave. The guys are leaving in the morning for the tour, and I want as many hours alone with my man as I can get.

I hear voices murmuring in the hall as I turn a corner. Leo is standing with his back to me, facing Rick his manager, who is facing toward me, but hasn’t seen me yet.

“You’ll destroy her, Leo. She loves you.”

“I loved her too, but I sure as fuck can’t trust her now. What would you propose I do? The sooner it happens, the better.”

What the fuck did I do?

Rick glances over Leo’s shoulder and sees me. His mouth flattens in a grim line and he exhales hard. “Hey, Sam.”

“Fuck,” Leo mutters under his breath, lowers his head and props his hands on his hips, and my heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of my chest. “Go back to the party, Sam.”

His voice is cold. Angry. He doesn’t turn around to look at me.

Rick shakes his head. “No, I think this is a conversation you need to have.” He slaps Leo on the shoulder and pats my own shoulder as he passes by me, leaving Leo and I alone in the stark white, quiet hallway.

“Yeah, it sounds like we need to have a conversation.” I pull my walls up around me. Do not let him see you hurt, Samantha. I walk around to stand where Rick was moments ago. Leo won’t look at me; he keeps his eyes trained on the floor. “Look at me.”