Spotting my family in the crowd, I waved at them while the rest of the contestants were announced. Mom was hollering for her two sons, Dad was grinning ear to ear, and Chelsey had tears in her eyes. It moved me, made me want to win this for them so they’d be proud of me, although I was pretty sure they already were. Mom had said as much when she’d called me this morning.

After introductions, we were separated into groups to perform as “bands.” I was picked to be the lead singer of my group, which made me a bit uneasy, considering the bad reviews from my lackluster attempt at an album. I put the doubt aside though, and redid a D-Bags song with my own personal flair. Instead of just singing the lyrics, I rapped a part of them. It was a slow, steady rhythm that perfectly matched the classic song we were doing. The crowd went nuts after we were done and, shocking the hell out of me, our group got a standing ovation from the audience…including the judges. Even Matt was beaming as he applauded us.

By the end of the show, I felt exhilarated and energized, and I felt great about my chances of surviving this.

The results show was the next night. My stomach was twisted into knots as I waited to hear if I’d be moving on or not, but I’d kicked ass last night, and I held on to that fact as tightly as I could. They’d liked me. A guest performer was brought in to entertain the crowd, and I was both surprised and not surprised to see who it was…Avoiding Redemption. Justin’s band.

I looked around for him backstage, but it was Gibson who found him. “Daddy! Uncle Justin’s here!”

Remembering my last words to him, I felt a little stupid when I was face to face with him. “Oh…hey…good to see you, man. How’s it been?”

Justin crooked me a smile as he looked me over. Gibson was holding on to his hand so tight, her little knuckles were white; she already had a thing for rock stars. I was not going to make it through her teen years.

“Things are good,” Justin answered me.

Running a hand through my hair, which was finally down to my eyes again, I let out a sigh. “Hey, I’m sorry about the stuff I said, about the album. I was being a dick. It wasn’t your fault your label didn’t want it. And honestly, it was crap.”

Justin’s eyebrows shot right up his forehead. “Wow. I totally thought you’d just gloss over that incident, pretend it didn’t happen.”

As I heard the theme music begin to play, I smiled. “The old me would have. But, you know, I’m trying to be more mature and shit.”

Gibson nodded. “And shit.”

Justin laughed as he looked down at her. “I can tell.” When he returned his eyes to me, he extended his hand. “Good luck tonight.” As I took it, he admitted, “I voted for you, by the way.”

I was surprisingly touched by his admission. “You did? Thanks, man. That means a lot.” After we separated, Justin bent down to kiss Gibson’s hand, then he handed her to me. For once, she didn’t want me. As I struggled to hold her away from him, I asked, “Hey, how’s Kate?”

Justin flashed me a grin that made Gibson sigh. I frowned at her while Justin said, “We’re great. I asked her to move in with me and she said yes. She’s moving to L.A. by the end of the month.” He seemed really pleased that I’d asked about Kate for once, and not Brooklyn. I probably should have been more encouraging about his and Kate’s relationship.

Clapping him on the shoulder, I tried to make up for all of my inappropriate comments. “That’s great. I’m glad you guys have decided to shack up. It’s about time.”

Justin frowned, then laughed and shook his head. “It’s good to see that you’re not entirely mature yet. I don’t know what I would do if you completely grew up.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but with a smirk and a shrug, I let it go.

After introductions and music from Justin’s band, it was time to begin hearing the results of last night’s voting. I was a wreck while I stood onstage waiting out my fate. They were making the announcements in groups of three. Liam had been in the group right before me, and he’d heard the golden words I was hoping to hear—You’re safe. I was the last one in my group of three. Both guys before me had been saved. I was happy for them, but at the same time, I knew that their success minutely made my odds worse.

With a straight face, I stared over at Matt, Evan, and Kellan. The three guys looked nervous as the host stepped up to me. I knew they didn’t have a say in my staying or going, but I hoped they were hoping I was continuing on. Breaking eye contact with them, I turned to the host when he said my name.

“Griffin Hancock…you had quite a night last night, but…was it enough?” He gave me a long, hard look before slowly opening the envelope in his hands. He took forever fumbling with the paper. I wanted to grab the damn thing out of his hands and see for myself if I was moving on or not, but instead, I made myself calmly stand there. It was the longest fucking ten seconds in my life, but finally, the dude gave me an Oscar-worthy grin. “It was. Congratulations, you’re safe.”

The crowd erupted into shrieks and my knees partially gave way. Thank God…for now, I was safe.

Chapter 27

Reconnecting

To give the potential bandmates a feel for what going on the road was like, all the contestants were being sequestered in the hotel…no visitors allowed. It made me miss Anna and the girls like crazy, but it gave Anna and me even more time to reconnect over the phone, which was surprisingly wonderful. And it usually wasn’t sexual either, which was sort of weird for us.