Read Out of the Shadow for Free Online

Crawford is your boyfriend?” Lisa asked. “Wow.”
    “ Lisa, please stop saying wow,” Ally requested. “Please.”
    “ Sorry,” Lisa said. “It’s just a lot to take in, you know.”
    Ally twisted again to offer Lisa a sympathetic smile. “I do know and I’m sorry to throw it all on you. I would have told you earlier but, well, it’s the sort of thing that I like to keep on the down low. I try to just be Ally Jones, not Jay Jones’s daughter.”
    “ We’re almost there,” Jamie announced, sending Ally’s heart into outer space.
    The atmosphere inside Jamie’s little rental car became charged even though none of them spoke much. Jamie found a parking spot and opened the glove compartment. He rifled around it, as a thought occurred to Ally, freezing her hammering heart.
    “ Hey, Jamie,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Are any of the parents coming to this show?”
    “ Nope,” he said. “Dad went with Uncle Jay and Nate to the studio to hear this new band that Rhys Redden discovered. They’re all going to the show tomorrow, though, when RJ’s folks get to town.”
    Ally’s heart breathed a sigh of relief as Jamie produced three plastic passes suspended on nylon chains. He handed them out and instructed the girls to wear them as they got out of the car and rushed to the club.
    The large man standing at the door checked their passes and pointed to a section in front of the stage. They pushed through the crowd as Out of Control rocked the place, sending the occupants into an excited frenzy.
    Ally clutched Jamie’s arm while they walked, her eyes feasting on Cole hammering away at his drums. Jamie took Lisa’s hand, keeping her close, until they reached the roped off section in front of the stage, earning reproachful looks from the patrons who’d been trying to convince the usher to let them closer.
    “ This is really cool!” Lisa yelled in Ally’s ear.
    Ally just nodded as she watched her friends, waiting to catch Cole’s eye. Finally, Ren noticed her and grinned broadly, filling her heart with affection. Just how much she’d missed them all hit her hard with that one little smile from Ren.
    When they finished their set, Jamie herded them to a door, flashed his pass to the usher standing guard, and urged the girls down a dimly lit hall. They turned a corner, stepped through another door, and found themselves face to face with the sweaty band members of Out of Control.
    “ Ally! Great game today,” Parker exclaimed as he bent to hug her. His brown eyes sparkled when he edged back to look at her. “We missed you, kid.”
    “ I missed you guys, too,” Ally said, smile not leaving her face. She hooked her arm around Ren, who’d been lurking behind Parker, and yanked him forward to hug him and kiss his cheek. “You look great!”
    “ Thanks,” Ren said with a slight blush.
    “ Get the hell out of the way, little brother,” RJ said as he playfully shoved Ren aside and lifted Ally off her feet. He pressed a hard kiss to her temple then held her close. “I missed you, girl!”
    He put her back on her feet, grinning like mad. Her heart overflowed as she hugged him again. “I missed you, too, RJ. Life sure is boring without you around.”
    “ All right, enough of this sappiness,” Cole said, hiding a smirk. He snatched Ally’s hand and yanked her into his chest, his muddy brown eyes darting all over her face. “Hey, princess.”
    “ Hi,” she said before he pressed his lips against hers. She snaked her arms around his neck as her pulse fired through her veins. His shirt was damp with perspiration but she hardly noticed nor cared. She’d been waiting for this moment for a long time.
    “ Jeez, they’ll be that way for awhile,” RJ groaned good-naturedly. “And you are?”
    Ally was vaguely aware of introductions going on behind her as her focus was only on Cole. When he broke the kiss to smile at her, her heart jumped and flipped.
    “ I missed you, princess,” he said with a