I smiled. “One of them,” I agreed, keeping my answer intentionally vague. Susanna and Liz and I may be on good terms now, but I knew better than to supply them with gossip to bring back home to my dad. The last thing he needed to know was that I hadn’t come home yet because I was living in sin with seven other men.
Luckily, Grant appeared at my side to save me. “Hi girls,” he said, flashing his most charming grin. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to steal Ella away for our next set.”
“Of course,” Susanna simpered. “You all are just so talented. My sister and I were just telling Ella . . .”
Grant thanked them and led me away by the hand. I could feel the girls’ envious eyes on my back as we walked away, and I shook my head. We may be on good terms, but we would probably never be friends.
“We actually have a few minutes before our set,” Grant whispered as we walked away. “I just thought you might need saving.”
I squeezed his hand. “Perfect timing, as always,” I said.
Grant led me backstage, followed by all six of the others. Saul’s eyes gleamed as he looked at me. “I really do love that dress,” he said. “Do you think Demi would let you keep it a little longer?”
“It’s mine,” I told him. “Demi gave it to me as a gift.”
“Thank God for Demi,” Saul said with feeling.
“Amen to that,” Grant agreed, gazing down at me with such love, my heart nearly stopped beating. I remembered that we had Demi to thank for telling the guys where to find me when they thought I had left the city. Looking around at all of my men, I thought that I would never be able to repay her for all that she had done for me, but I vowed to try.
“Are we ready?” I asked. “I think the crowd is getting restless.”
“Wait,” Saul said, holding up his hand. “The guys and I were talking, and, well, we don’t think the Prince Charmings is the right name for us anymore.”
I felt my heart do a funny little somersault in my chest. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Are you going back to the Shouting Goblins?” I giggled nervously.
“No,” said Darren, smiling. “Never again.”
“We thought,” said Jason, “that now that there’s a princess among us, we needed a name that reflected that.”
Grant took my hand. “How would you feel about Ella and her Prince Charmings?” he asked.
For a moment, I could only stare at him. Finally, I found my voice. “Does that mean—” I asked, and Grant nodded.
“We want you as part of the band,” he said. “Permanently.”
I launched myself into his arms, never doubting for a moment that he would catch me. “Does that mean you like it?” he asked, laughter in his voice.
“Yes,” I said, fighting back tears. “Definitely yes.”
The others pressed in around us, touching me, kissing me. My heart felt full enough to burst. Finally, Saul pulled away. “I hate to say it,” he said. “But I think we should get onstage.”
I nodded. “We have a new name to debut, after all,” I said. Smiling, I took both Saul and Grant by the hands and led them onstage, to uproarious applause.
28
Grant
My heart pounded anxiously in my chest as I made my rounds through the Ball floor, pausing here and there to chat with a familiar face. A few months had passed since our fundraising event, which had proven to be far more lucrative than we’d dared to hope. In what seemed like no time at all, we had managed to restore the Ball to every inch of its former glory, and more. I looked around at the fruits of our efforts, marveling once again at what we had managed to achieve in such a short time. There was no sign of the fire that had nearly destroyed the building, the floors gleamed in the lights, the walls were painted a pale lavender shade that Ella had chosen.
Ella. As usual, my heart picked up speed even just thinking of her name. Of all the changes that had occurred over the last few months, Ella’s presence was by far the biggest and the best. In our time together, Ella had effortlessly chased away the ghosts of my past, leaving her beautiful, sunny mark on every aspect of my life.
I knew the others felt the change as well. I could see it in their faces when they looked at her, like she was something incredible and precious, like they couldn’t believe their luck that they had found her. Every day, I was thankful, not only that we had met Ella that night at the Ball, but that she had tracked us down again, in spite of everything that conspired to keep us apart.