We’re up in fifteen minutes.

The guitars are all tuned and we’re waiting backstage.

We’ve never been this nervous before. All our performances up until this point have never had so much riding on them. We play at clubs where people will listen to anything that’s in tune and decent. We’ve had a sweet ride, but this is our first chance into a massive rock festival with huge crowds and so many opportunities to get noticed.

Yes, we’ve all applied to colleges and set ourselves up because dreams can’t be guaranteed, but in the back of our minds, this is what we really want. To play. To be Velocity.

Man, I wish Max was here. I hate that she’s missing out on this.

“Look who I found.” I turn at the sound of Dad’s voice and nearly keel over with surprise.

“Max.” I whisper her name like it’s my personal brand of oxygen.

She grins at me and then looks to the others. “Sorry I’m late.”

I let out a choking laugh and lurch towards her, capturing her face and letting her know just how pleased I am to see her.

She smiles against my kiss, holding my shoulders. She tastes delicious.

“All right. We get it.” Dad shoves my shoulder and gives me an impressed smile. “Now, good luck, you guys. You play hard and you have fun. Whether you get a spot in that festival or not doesn’t matter. All that counts is that you get to play right here and right now. Enjoy it.”

He leaves us with a wink and a smile.

Wrapping my arm around Max’s shoulders, I pull her against my side, still giddy with the fact that she’s here. She’s here!

Austin steps up with the spare guitar. “Double-check the strap is the right fit for you. I’ve already tuned it.”

Max throws it over her head and checks the tuning before strumming the guitar and beaming us a smile.

Latifa snorts and shakes her head. “You left the game, didn’t you?”

“Yep. At the top of the third inning.”

“Your daddy’s going to kill you.”

“Yep. Probably somewhere around the fifth inning…maybe the sixth or seventh, depending on traffic.”

Latifa laughs and holds out her fist.

Max stares at it for a second before raising her own fist and tapping it against Latifa’s. “As much as I hate to say this…I’m glad you’re here.”

“Aw, yeah we are.” Roman bobs his head. “It’s time to smash this!”

He sticks out his tongue, makes the rock ’n’ roll symbol and we all join him, whooping loudly when the band before us finishes their last song and starts heading off the stage.

“This is it.” I kiss Max on the side of the head. “Don’t be nervous, okay?”

“I’m not nervous.” She grins at me. “I feel so alive right now.”

Her dancing eyes and sunshine smile tell me so much. With a giddy laugh she follows Latifa onto the stage.

A big cheer goes up from my parents…and Uncle Conrad.

Good ol’ Uncle Rad.

I grin at their table and then squint as the spotlight hits me right in the face.

Stepping up to the mic, I flag our introduction and decide to let the music do the talking for us. I look at Max, give her a wink, then start playing the intro for “Hero/Heroine.”

She comes in right on time, just like we practiced, and I start singing.

The rest of the world disappears as we all lose ourselves in the music. It’s just us, our instruments, and the sounds we’re creating.

Turning to the side, I catch Max’s eye when I get to the chorus, singing the words right at her. Because she did catch me off guard and became my heroine.

She grins and jumps up to the mic, coming in for the back part. She and Latifa sound great together, their voices blending with mine to create this wicked sound that’s pure gold.

It carries us through to the end and we’re rewarded with a thunderous chorus of whoops and cheers.

I laugh and quickly introduce us before launching into “Holiday” by Green Day. It’s really popular and the crowd gets in on it, shouting out “Holiday!” in all the right places.

Max is one sexy thing as she plays, her long body leaning back as she strums like she was born with a guitar in her hands.

Raising her hand in the air, she jumps in time with Roman’s beat and soon gets the crowd involved. They turn into a pulsing wave of people, their hair flying as they party with us.

I get what Max said just before she stepped on stage—I feel so freaking alive right now.

We only have one song left, which is kind of sad, but it’s a three-song audition so we just have to go with it.

Puffing into the mic, I thank everyone for being awesome and then launch into “Dance, Dance” by Fallout Boy.

It’s a good way to go and the crowd is pumped and cheering by the time we finish.

We grin and do a quick bow before leaving the stage.

Man, I hope the judges approve. If they like us, we’ll get into the second-round auditions, which are held in Cullington next month, before the actual event at Thunderton Park. It’s this huge camping/recreation area about two hours from here and it’ll be buzzing over Fourth of July weekend.

It’s gonna be awesome.

Gripping the back of Max’s neck, I pull her against me, kissing her hair and grinning at my friends.

“That was amazing!” Latifa squealed, showing more emotion than I’ve ever seen from her.

Roman chuckles, pulls in a breath, then looks like he’s about to throw up before grabbing Latifa and planting a kiss on her lips.

Her dark eyebrows rise in shock before she kind of melts against him.

“Ew.” Austin’s nose wrinkles. He pushes past them and heads into the bowels of backstage.

I trail after, set on finding my parents and asking how we looked up there. They’ll be full of biased praise, but I’ll take it. I want Max to know what genuine encouragement sounds like.

Stepping into our warm-up room, I take off my guitar and pack our stuff away. Max is buzzing, talking excitedly about how we did and the parts she loved. She’s freaking adorable and I don’t even attempt to shut her up.

I take the guitar off her and store it away, making sure it goes into the crate marked: VELOCITY.

“And then when they started jumping and shouting out ‘Holiday!’ That was the best!” Max whoops and jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around me like a spider monkey.

I chuckle and hold her tight, not sure I ever want to put her down.

“Get a room.” Austin warns when I start kissing the side of her neck.

She snickers in my ear and I ease her onto the floor.

“I guess we should go find my parents.”

“Yeah.” Max checks her watch, the color draining from her cheeks.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

“I tried to tell him the other night, but he just wouldn’t listen. He thought I was making up some joke. And then the whole Uncle Rad disappearance kicked in. That’s why I couldn’t face you at school. I failed and I just…” She shakes her head, unable to finish.

I swear my heart’s going to break if I can’t wipe that sad frown off her face.

Pulling her into a hug, I hold her against me and softly reassure her. “He’ll have to take you seriously now. You made a stand he can’t ignore.”

Her head bobs against my shoulder. “I’m sorry for being a coward.”

“You’re not.” I squeeze her a little tighter until we’re molded together like one unit. “I never should have called you that.”

“I needed you to,” she mumbles into my shirt. “And you were right. Uncle Conrad says it’s time to stop living a lie, and he’s right too. I have to man up and face this.”

Pulling away, I smile down at her and whisper, “You won’t to have face it alone.”

“You sure you want to be saying that?”

“Yeah.” I kiss her lips. “I’m sure.”

Her dreamy smile makes my heart warm. “Come on. It’s time to go hear how awesome we are.”

Max giggles as I pull her out of the warm-up room and into the corridor. We’re about to turn left and head back out to the main crowd when Max giggles again and tugs me right. Leading us into a dimly lit corridor that’s obviously private, Max stops against the wall and checks the coast is clear before tugging on my shirt collar.

“Just one more thing…” Her eyes sparkle and I couldn’t resist if I wanted to.

Crushing my mouth against hers, I meet her heated desire strength for strength. We’re both still pumped from the performance and all the emotion that awaits us at the end of tonight. I can feel Max pouring it all into this kiss.

It’s damn hot.

Curling my tongue around hers, I lightly dig my fingers into her hips, heat searing my core as she owns me like no girl ever has before. My parents are waiting, the band is probably wondering where we are, but I’m gonna take my time on this one.

Max runs her fingers into my hair, fisting a bunch on the back of my head. I’m fighting the urge to wriggle my fingers beneath her shirt, run my hands across her smooth skin, and explore the shape of her body.

It’s not the right time or place, but man I want to.

Pulling back to catch my breath, I grin down at my girlfriend—her eyes are alight with desire. I smile at her and manage a shaky whisper. “You are so hot right now.”

“Yes, hot for you.” She lets out a breathy laugh.

It’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard…until it’s cut off by a strangled moan that makes us both flinch.

Our heads turn in unison and a cold chill sweeps down my body.

Max’s soft gasp hits my chin as the earth shifts beneath us. Two big guys are dragging a struggling man down the private corridor to our right.

When they reach a black door, he surges back, straining against them and whimpering. “I can get you the money, I swear.”

“Cállate!” the big guy mutters before driving a punch into Uncle Conrad’s stomach.

He doubles over with a pitiful groan and they drag him through the door.

“Uncle Rad,” Max whispers, pushing me away and sprinting after him before I can stop her.