I soon lose myself in the lyrics, and quickly realize how perfect this song really is for the story of us. It was a huge hit back in its day, and I’ve sung it before, but it wasn’t until tonight that I can appreciate the beauty of its words. It’s about finding that special person who makes you better than what you were. That you feel happier being around them and that their confidence in you makes you believe in yourself. When you find that person who makes you feel that way, you want to love them and be loved in return. Standing here, singing this song for her, the lyrics mean everything to me, because she’s exactly that kind of person. She’s the somebody I want to love, and I want to love her until I breathe my last breath. I was destined to sing this song to her, to be the man who loves her unconditionally and make her dreams come true.
The crowd is on their feet as we come to the guitar solo. Harry and his band perform the song seamlessly. After the solo, I signal the band to slow it down and get the crowd to sing along with me, and then sing the chorus by itself. The moment is pure magic, and when I look over at Aly, I see her swipe at her cheeks as if she’s crying.
“I want to love you, baby,” I sing into the mic, and the crowd goes wild. We end the song with a bang, and I thank the crowd then yell, “Let’s go, Preds!” before high-fiving the band and hugging Harry. I’m ecstatic at how the performance went, and I seriously couldn’t have pulled it off without Harry and his band. As we exit the stage, I promise him we’ll catch up soon with lunch before saying goodbye.
I exit the tunnel and start to walk briskly back to the suite. I should have thought about an exit strategy after that epic performance. I’m stopped numerous times by fans wanting an autograph, photo, or just to talk. I hear the sound of the horn for the third period and realize I haven’t moved for the last five minutes. Another five minutes go by before security comes to my rescue, seeing how large the crowd was getting around me. I apologize to the fans who I didn’t get to take a photo with and am escorted back to the suite. As soon as the door opens, everyone starts applauding and rushing toward me. Scotty Wilkins is the first person who approaches, embracing me and pounding me on my back.
“Can you fucking tone it down, dude? You’re making it hard for us other men.”
I laugh at him, since he has no trouble getting the ladies with his good looks and charm. Which is exactly why I want him to stay far away from my cousin.
“All seriousness, Gav. She’s a good girl. Don’t fuck it up,” he warns me with a serious look in his eye.
“I have no intention of letting her go,” I respond with my own seriousness.
He nods in acknowledgement. “I’ll see you around. I’ve got some other people to say hi to. I’ll see you at Ripley’s.” He says goodbye and leaves the suite.
The rest of the people standing around congratulate me on an amazing performance, and I plaster a smile on my face and try to make my way to Aly, whose head I can barely see in back of the crowd. Finally, the sea of people parts and time seems to stop as she walks toward me with tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. I open my arms and she embraces me, burying her face into my chest.
“What did you think, baby?” I ask, wrapping my fingers around her jaw and lifting her chin up with my fingers so I can stare into her eyes. At first, I’m worried she’s embarrassed that I dedicated the song publicly to her and hold my breath.
“That was the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me,” she tells me, and my breath catches when I see happiness glowing back at me from her beautiful eyes.
“Thank fuck.” I grin then groan when she grabs my face and pulls me forward to kiss me with raw, unashamed passion. We get lost in each other and it isn’t until we hear someone tell us to get a room that we break away, breathing heavy.
I hold her face between my hands and look into her eyes, not giving a fuck who is watching us. “I meant every fucking word, Aly. Every. Single. One,” I growl, referring to the words of the song, before giving her one more swift kiss. She’s smiling as she nods at me, a silent promise filling her eyes that’s telling me that tonight is just another memorable night in our future together.
_________________
I look at my watch, feeling aggravated when I see it’s only been five minutes since the last time I checked it. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here, but Aly refuses to leave her friend. I look across the table at Willow, who looks just as bored as I am. I can see she doesn’t want to be here any longer and is completely unimpressed with Brodie Larsen, the guy Aly is trying to hook her up with. A man who’s currently standing at the bar, talking to another woman, and has been for the last ten minutes.
We’ve been at Ripley’s for an hour already, and the loud music and party atmosphere is starting to grate on my nerves. This was my scene when I first moved to Nashville—late nights at the bar, drinking, loud music, and trying to pick up women. The shit got old fast, and when I saw it was starting to affect my career, I went cold turkey, preferring to stay at home and work on my craft. Right now, I’d rather be buried deep inside my girl instead of being here.
“Babe, when are we leaving?” I ask Aly for the third time. Her eyes plead with me to stop asking and she bites her lip, making me growl out in frustration, because I want to be biting that lip.
“Yeah, I’m ready to go home too,” Willow says, confirming another reason why I like her. She’s not into the party scene either. Willow tried to go straight home after the game, and Aly had to beg and plead with her to stay and have one drink with us. Willow pushes her chair back and stands up, causing Aly’s eyes to widen in panic.
“Where are you going?” Aly tugs on her arm, attempting to urge her to sit back down, but Willow stands firm and pulls her arm out of Aly’s grip.
“I’m going home. I’m tired and there’s no reason for me to be here, not to mention your guy is ready to go.”
“Please stay,” Aly hisses and looks at me with weariness before speaking to Willow. “I really think you and Brodie might hit it off.”
“Please tell me you’re not trying to set me up with the douchebag over there who has barely said one word to us since he’s gotten here.” She glances at Brodie before she looks at Aly with an incredulous look.
“Maybe,” Aly says, sounding unsure.
Willow snorts in disgust. “Seriously, Al? You thought I would be attracted to a guy like that?” She dismisses him with a wave of her hand and shakes her head. “I don’t know if I should be really disappointed in you for thinking I’m that desperate or just pissed.”
“Of course I know you’re not desperate. Honestly, he usually doesn’t act this way.”
“How well do you really know him, Al? Because this is the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about him,” Willow says, sitting down on the edge of her seat with a brow raised.
My girl starts to get flustered under Willow’s scrutiny, and as entertaining as this shit is, my mind starts to focus on the noticeable absence of Sosie. I noticed at the game she had a lot to drink, so when we got to Ripley’s, I told her to move to water so she wouldn’t end up sick. A while ago, I saw her wander up to the bar, but I haven’t seen her since. I scan the bar to where she last was but don’t see her.
“Has anyone seen Sosie?” I ask the girls, who stop arguing to look at me. They both start looking around, and when they don’t see her, they look at each other.
“I don’t see her,” Willow says, sounding worried.
“Willow, you go look in the ladies’ room. Gavin, you search the area up here, and I’ll go downstairs to look for her,” Aly instructs us as we get up from our seats. While I don’t like the idea of being separated from Aly, she’s right in that we’ll have a better chance of finding her if the three of us look in separate places. We all nod in agreement and split up to look for Sosie.
I take my phone out and send Sosie a message, telling her it’s time to go home and meet us by the front door. I scour the second floor with no sign of her. I find Willow coming out of the res
troom, and she shakes her head at me. We go downstairs and are able to find Aly leaning against the wall, watching the dance floor. I follow her line of vision to see Sosie embraced tightly in the arms of some guy, slow dancing.
“What the fuck?” I growl as I start to take a step toward them, when Aly grabs my arm to stop me.
“Look at her face, Gavin. She’s having fun. Let her dance with a stranger for once and live a little.”
“Fuck no, that guy could be a serial killer for all we know.”
Aly laughs, wraps her arms around my waist, and squeezes. “We aren’t going to let her go home with him. Let them finish out the song and then we will grab her to go. She’s fine.”
“There you guys are.” We turn around to see Brodie standing next to us. “I’ve been looking for you and thought you ghosted me for a second.”
“I’m surprised you even noticed we were gone,” Willow says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
“Obviously, I did or I wouldn’t be standing here,” Brodie points out.
“Whatever, don’t do us any favors.” Willow turns her back on him, and his eyes seem to focus on her like he’s seeing her for the first time. Maybe I judged him too quickly back there. I know what it’s like to be in the limelight. Maybe he was just trying to get a drink and got bombarded by people seeking his attention.
“Oh shit,” I hear and turn to see Sosie practically falling out of the stranger’s arms she was dancing with. I don’t hesitate and push my way through the crowd to get her.
“Sosie, are you okay?” I ask as I reach out for her, and she falls into me. Murder blazes out of my eyes, because I’m going to kill someone.
“What the fuck did you do to my cousin?” I bellow in the guy’s face. He holds up his hands and takes a step back, fear briefly flashing through his eyes.
“I didn’t give her shit, man. She was like this when we started talking. Then she grabbed me and brought me out here to dance, so I thought I was helping her by holding her up.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” I tell him in a menacing voice, and he turns around and leaves right away. I throw one of Sosie’s arms around my shoulders and grab her by the waist, making sure to walk slowly off the dance floor as she hisses that she’s going to be sick.
“Oh my gosh! Sosie!” Aly runs up to us and gets on her other side to help hold her up. I look between Brodie and Willow, unsure if I can trust this guy but really needing his help right now.
“Brodie, can you make sure Willow gets to her car safely?” I ask, and Willow starts to frantically shake her head.
“Of course, man, I got her,” he says, and I lift my chin in a silent thank you.
“I don’t need him to help me to my car. I can get there by myself; plus, there’s plenty of people outside!” Willow argues, knowing she’s fighting a losing battle when all three of us shake our heads at her.
“Willow, please. It will make me feel better knowing you got to your car safely,” Aly pleads with her. “We would take you ourselves if we didn’t have to get Sosie home right away.”
Willow’s eyes narrow on Aly, and then she looks at Sosie and huffs. “Fine.” She turns to Brodie, pointing her finger at him. “If you say or do anything to piss me off, I will put my heel so far into your foot that you’ll never be able to wear skates again.”
Brodie’s lips twitch as he brings his hand to his forehead and salutes her as if she’s his commanding officer. If I wasn’t so concerned about Sosie, I would laugh. Maybe Aly was right about the two of them being perfect for each other.
We say goodbye to both of them and walk Sosie out of the bar. She can barely keep her head up, and walking with her is nearly impossible. We are almost to the car when all of a sudden she stops and jerks her head up.
“I’m going to throw up,” she says, and I drop her arm as if she just burned me. Aly is the sensible one between us, and she turns her away from us so she can throw up near the building we’re next to. She holds Sosie’s hair and rubs her back, softly reassuring her that everything’s going to be okay.
“Gavin, we can see the car from here. Go run and bring it to us, please,” Aly tells me while Sosie continues to upchuck.
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Gavin, you can see us the whole time. She’s going to be useless once she’s done. Go now!” Aly demands, and I realize she’s right.
I run to my truck, get in, and turn it on. Aly was right; I can see them the whole time, and within seconds, I pull up beside them. Aly is holding Sosie against her, using the wall as her support system.
“Is she done?” I ask after I get out of the truck and open the back door.
“Yes, help me get her in the back seat.”
I bend down and scoop Sosie up, carrying her to my truck. I place her as gently as I can, laying her down across the leather bench.
“Do you have a plastic bag?” Aly asks, and I open the passenger door to get a bag out of the pocket in my door. I hand it to Aly, who grabs hold of the handrail and hoists herself up into the back to be with Sosie.
“What are you doing?” I ask, not liking the fact that she’s not going to sit up front with me.
“I’m going to sit back here with her. If she needs to throw up while you’re driving, I can hold the bag for her.”
“No.”
“No?” She shakes her head.
“She’s not buckled in, which means you can’t be either.”
“Can you please not act crazy right now? I’ll be fine. Just drive carefully.” Seeing she’s not going to give in, I place a swift kiss on her lips. “You’re really amazing to want to help her out, especially after the way she’s treated you.”
She just shrugs and looks once more at Sosie before returning her eyes to me. “I know if the roles were reversed, I would appreciate someone helping me out.” She swings her legs in, and I close the door after her. I walk around to my side of the truck and open the door to get in. “You do realize it’s probably going to be a long night, right?”
I look at my girl through the rearview mirror and grimace. All my plans to do very naughty things to her are now down the drain. “Yeah, I know,” I grumble, pissed off at Sosie for ruining the ending to my amazing evening. I reverse the car out of my parking spot and hear Sosie moan when I hit the brakes to put the car in Drive. An evil smile forms on my face when I think of how wicked her hangover is going to be tomorrow.
Payback’s a bitch!
Chapter Fifteen
GAVIN
I STARE DOWN at the numbers the marketing department just slid in front of me, a slew of emotions internally running wild as I look at them in shock. Never in my wildest dreams did I think so many people would preorder my first album. I’m speechless, humbled, and damn fucking proud.
The last couple weeks have felt like a dream, with things going so well both personally and professionally. We released the cover of the album the same day the second track came out called “My Ride or Die.” The song climbed straight to the top of the country music charts and made its debut in the top twenty of the Billboard charts.
“For a new artist, these numbers are extraordinary. We’re very happy, Gavin, and we hope you are too,” Atticus Langston tells me, everyone around the table nodding in agreement with him. It’s very rare for Atticus to attend these types of meetings, so the air is thick with tension from his presence.
“I’m beyond happy and grateful,” I say, nodding at Atticus. “Thank you,” I tell everyone, looking around the table. “I’m so thankful for you all and your hard work. Because of everyone, release day is going to be amazing.”
The album drops in three weeks, and it seems unreal that we’re finally so close. The conversation turns to discussing our schedule for publicity during the album’s release. Some of it requires out-of-town travel, and I make a mental note to ask Aly if she can get off work to join me for even part of it. A couple more pressing items are discussed and then the meeting wraps up, and everyone, including me, stands u
p to leave the conference room.
“Gavin, do you mind sticking around for a minute?” Atticus asks.
“Of course.” I sit back down and plaster a smile on my face, wondering why he wants to speak with me privately. When the last person shuts the door behind them, Atticus turns back toward me and smiles.
“Now that it’s just you and me, we can cut all the bullshit and be honest. Are you really happy at Charisma Records?” His smile is just as phony as he is, because I know he doesn’t care about my happiness. All he cares about is if he can make a profit off me and my music. Record companies shell out a lot of money on their artists, so I know the bottom line is all that matters to a man like Atticus Langston.
“I don’t bullshit people, Mr. Langston. If I had any issues, they would’ve been discussed already.” I look him straight in the eye so he can see I’m serious. “What’s the reasoning behind this question?”
“No reason, other than the fact that you’ve been spotted out publicly at numerous functions held by another record label. The rumor mill amongst our peers is beginning to turn. That is not the type of negative attention I want brought upon us.”
“If you’re referring to functions hosted by Big Little Music, then that’s only because my girlfriend works for them.” I grit my teeth in frustration, since he damn well knows the reasoning. It has only been a handful of outings, most of them not public, so who the fuck is telling him this shit?
“Ah, so you’re serious about the girl?” He gives me a doubtful look, and my hand fists in anger underneath the table.
Fuck, I hated this guy when I was dating his daughter… and I still hate him now.
“Her name is Alyson, and I’ve been serious about her from the moment I met her.”
He stares at me a moment longer before looking down and folding his hands. “I trust you, Gavin, because I know how appreciative you are for everything we’ve done for you. However, I don’t trust Kathleen Davidson. I have no doubt she’s plotting to try to steal you from us when your contract is up.”
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