MARRYING THE ROCKSTAR (#3 ROCKSTAR SERIES)

♪ sixteen ♪

I would have preferred to go home and cuddle a pillow while rocking myself back and forth and crying, but the girls convinced me to celebrate finding the dress.

The dress.

"No alcohol," I said, my stomach churning. If I drank booze, I'd become a fountain of words, and all my truths would spill out before I was ready to.

"Then...coffee? Coffee is always a celebration," said Daphne, as we waited for our car to pull up to the bridal gown shop.

"I know a great place," added Sapphire, texting something on her phone. I couldn't tell who it was, but I imagined they had to do with this coffee location she mentioned. "It's secluded, paparazzi don't travel to it, and we'll be left alone to relax."

"Perfect." My hands quit jiggling for a moment; long enough for me to breathe in, breathe out, and sneak into our car.

The other car followed us—my security guard, and Cameron—and I kept peering behind me as we navigated to Brooklyn, where Sapphire's coffee spot was.

And it was just that—a spot. A tiny hole-in-the-wall type place that focused on to-go orders and rarely catered to anyone in person. Except for Sapphire. The way they greeted her with enthusiasm and smiles and hugs told me she was definitely a regular.

And thanks to her patronage, we had the entire inside to ourselves—which was the size of a small New York City studio.

But it worked. It was cozy and allowed us to spread out and not be afraid of being overheard. Sapphire assured us the staff was discreet and wore headphones as they prepared orders and sent them out with their bike-couriers.

"How did you find this place?" Daphne marveled at the artwork on the walls; all local artists who'd donated to help keep it afloat.

"Hid in here once to escape paparazzi," said Sapphire, after ordering the special for us—a frothy cappuccino sprinkled with cinnamon and a drizzle of caramel. "The owner happened to be here, saw me all distraught, and offered me a drink. It was the best coffee I'd ever tasted. I've been a loyal customer since."

She was right—the drink was exquisite. It melted on my tongue but loaded my mouth with flavor. The feel of the java slid down my throat smoothly, soothing my earlier dryness from all the crying.

A waiter dropped off a plate of macarons, winking as he said, "on the house."

As he walked back to his post, we were alone to chat.

The drink, the food, the company—I allowed myself a moment to recompose, to chill out.

My meltdown earlier...it was a fluke, it had to be. I'd worked myself up into a panic, giving myself cold feet for no reason. It was Leo in my vision, right? But he was blurry, which signified I was afraid. I was freaking myself out, and trying on dresses had triggered all kinds of things in me I hadn't expected to feel.

"You okay?" Daphne's warm touch jolted me out of my thoughts.

"I'm good," I said, smiling though I wasn't positive my heart was in it.

"Are you sure?" Sapphire wiped the foamy residue from her upper lip. "That was quite a breakdown in there."

I couldn't tell them. They'd advise me to call it all off, to prioritize my hunch, to heed the warning in my vision.

But I didn't yet know if that vision had been hunch, or only a simple fear.

"It's a lot to process, for someone who never pictured herself getting married," I said, swallowing a gulp of cappuccino. "Which is why I'm struggling with bridesmaids and only have you two. I never planned for this, never...never sat around putting together my ideal bridal party, you know?" I scoffed. "Either of you have friends I can borrow? Seriously."