Westside Series Box Set

by Monica Alexander

  The concerts were getting bigger each time they held them, and people were traveling across the country to see their favorite bands for free. But the cool thing was that they’d also started to get excited about seeing Sabrina, and her regular shows were starting to sell out. It was pretty awesome to see it all unfold, but to know that Elisa had been the mastermind behind it was that much better.

  She was happy, as happy as I’d ever seen her, because she had creative license to do what she was best at. She hadn’t been able to do that for us, since Westside didn’t need the kind of gorilla promotions she was doing for Sabrina. Our brand was fully established, and we just needed to do basic things to maintain it.

  Working for Sabrina allowed Elisa to show how truly great she was at her job and how far she could really take a brand if given the opportunity. And the best part was that she wasn’t being stifled by busy work, she wasn’t being persecuted for being with me, and she wasn’t put down by her boss at every turn. Laurie appreciated her, she asked Elisa’s opinion, and you could tell she truly respected her. They were a good team.

  I could only imagine how big Sabrina’s tour in the spring was going to be, and I was excited to be there with Elisa as she brought it to fruition. Of course I was more excited about being there tonight and watching her from backstage as she introduced Sabrina, considering what I had planned for after the concert.

  The best part was that Elisa had no idea I was there. Sydney was the main event for the concert, since she was the artist who the fans would get to see perform three songs and one duet with Sabrina to close out the pop-up concert series, but what my girlfriend didn’t know was that I was going to sing with Sydney and Sabrina. It was going to be a surprise to her and the fans, which I thought was kind of cool. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she saw me standing backstage. She’d be even more surprised when I stepped on-stage in thirty minutes.

  I had a feeling the crowd was going to go equally crazy when they saw me, and that gave me a little thrill. I loved performing for big crowds, and this crowd was huge. People spread out further than I could see across Golden Gate Park, and I could feel their energy radiating through the air. The night was cool, and the wind was blowing, the first signs of fall sweeping across San Francisco. It was the perfect night for an outdoor concert.

  I loved the venue Lis had chosen for the final event, since she and I hadn’t had the chance to be in San Francisco together when we’d stopped there with Westside. We’d been there back when she hadn’t been speaking to me and I’d been painfully trying to win her over all those months ago. Now that we were back in the same city, it seemed so foreign and unfathomable that there had been a time when we weren’t together and in love. It was like I’d almost blocked it from my mind, and I didn’t want to go back to that time. I liked where we were now so much better.

  Even though distance had separated us for the past few months, we’d made it work. I visited her whenever I could, and Elisa had stayed true to her word and joined our tour whenever she could, making the European leg better than I could have hoped.

  Even though I knew it must have been awkward and uncomfortable for her to see her old team and to see someone else doing her job, she came anyway and put on a brave face. I loved her so much for it and did everything I could to make her visits special.

  And they were. Seeing all those places I’d been to before but had never really appreciated was so much better when I was doing it with the girl I loved. Hell, I’d almost asked her to marry me when we were standing beneath the Eiffel Tower because I’d been so caught up in the moment.

  We’d gone at four in the morning, because we’d wanted to have some semblance of privacy, and it had been worth it. We’d practically had the whole place to ourselves. At one point, I found myself watching Elisa as she stared up at the massive structure, her long blond hair blowing across her face, and a smile of awe on her lips. A sense of rightness had washed over me, taking hold of me and locking me into that moment with her.

  Regardless of what we’d been through, and regardless of the past, I was exactly where I should have been with the girl I was supposed to be with. The moment had been so close to perfect, and I’d felt the words on my lips. Then I’d chickened out. I told myself we’d only just gotten back together, things were still new, and I didn’t want to push her too far too fast. But as we’d walked away, hand in hand, I knew what I wanted, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I worked up the nerve to ask her for real.

  I watched Elisa as she turned, smiled at Sabrina who’d stepped onto the stage, and then walked back to where I was standing with Sydney. Syd turned and winked at me right as Elisa’s gaze locked onto mine. Her eyes got wide, and a smile stretched across her face.

  “Van?!”

  “Hey baby,” I told her as she flung herself into my arms.

  I pulled her close, inhaling the familiar scent of her hair. It had been a few weeks since I’d seen her, and I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed holding her in my arms until that moment.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked me, still not letting go.

  I was alright with that.

  “Surprising you,” I told her.

  She pulled back to look at me, her blue eyes dancing with excitement. “You’re supposed to be in Calgary.”

  I shrugged. “It was a short plane ride. I’ll be back in time for the concert tomorrow.”

  She laughed. “I was going to fly there and surprise you.”

  “You were? That’s awesome.”

  She shrugged. “You beat me to it. Now I’ll just have to fly back with you.”

  “That just might be the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”

  Elisa laughed again. “I can’t believe you’re here. This is the best surprise.”

  “I suppose,” I said, grinning at her, knowing I had a better surprise up my sleeve.

  “You guys are so adorable,” Sydney commented, and we both looked over at her.

  “Did you know he was coming tonight?” Elisa asked her.

  Sydney laughed. “Not really,” she said vaguely.

  “Not really?” Elisa questioned. “What does that mean?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Shouldn’t you be paying attention to Sabrina?” she said, hopefully in an effort to distract Elisa.

  “Oh, yeah,” Elisa said, looking back at the stage. Then she looked at me guiltily. “I’d rather look at you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. You can look at me all night, but this is your crowning moment. You should enjoy it.”

  She smiled sheepishly. “I guess you’re right. And I’ll do that as soon as I get one of these,” she said as she pressed up on her toes to kiss me. I couldn’t really argue with that logic.

  Then she turned in my arms and leaned against my back. I pulled her against me, holding her tight as we watched Sabrina wow the audience. They all seemed to know the words to her songs. It was pretty incredible to see.

  “You did an amazing job with this, Lis,” I murmured to her after the third song.

  “Thank you,” she said, her eyes on Sabrina. “I’m glad you’re here to share it with me. You know, I dreamed about a moment like this.”

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded. “Yup. Back when we were at the benefit this summer, and you were standing next to me. You couldn’t even hold my hand because Katherine was nearby. All I wanted was for you to wrap your arms around me like this while we listened to the bands perform. I’m glad we can finally do it.”

  “We can do it for the rest of our lives if you want.”

  I saw her smile, but she still didn’t look at me. “I’d like that.”

  “Me too.”

  When Sydney went on-stage to sing her three songs, I kept my arms around Elisa, not wanting to let her go. But as soon as Syd sung her third song and invited Sabrina back on-stage, I knew it was almost time for me to join them.

  I felt the faintest flutter of nerves that I got whenever I
was about to go on-stage, but this time it was multiplied by so much more. I wanted this song to be perfect for Elisa, even if she had no idea what I was really doing.

  “You all have been an incredible audience tonight,” Sabrina gushed into the microphone. “You sang along, you danced, and you had fun. Am I right?”

  The audience let up a collective cheer as Sydney winked at Sabrina.

  “But before we end the night, we have one more surprise for you,” Sabrina continued when the crowd died down. “I’d like to welcome one more person to the stage to sing with us. You know him as one-fourth of Westside, but tonight he’s flying solo. Please welcome, Van Salvatore!”

  As soon as she said my name, the crowd started cheering, and Elisa turned to look at me in confusion. I grinned at her.

  “What are you doing?” she asked me. “We didn’t plan this.”

  “Surprise,” I said as I took in her stunned expression. Then I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t worry. It’ll be great.”

  An assistant put a microphone in my hand, and I started to walk onto the stage when Elisa hissed my name.

  I turned to smile at her, continuing my entrance, walking backward as I kept my gaze on her. “It’ll be great,” I shouted over the noise of the crowd.

  I knew nine million questions were on her mind in that moment, and it was likely killing her not to be able to ask one of them. But she was just going to have to trust me.

  When I reached the front of the stage where Sydney and Sabrina were smiling, I turned to the crowd. “Hello San Francisco!”

  I got a chorus of hellos back.

  “Thanks for letting me crash your party.”

  They cheered some more.

  “I’ve been following these pop-up shows since the first one, mostly because my girlfriend is the brains behind them, and I think she’s pretty awesome, but also because Sabrina Tyler has one of the freshest sounds I’ve heard in a long time. Am I right?”

  The audience cheered for Sabrina, and a smile lit up her face as she mouthed, “Thank you.”

  “This has been a fairly killer night so far,” I continued. “I know it’s almost over, but we’re going to sing a song for you if you don’t mind. This wasn’t actually the plan, and I know no one saw any teasers that I was going to be here tonight, and that’s because the only people who had any idea that I would be here are standing on this stage. Elisa, my girlfriend, is probably standing backstage right now still stunned that I’m out here talking to you, but I think she’ll get over it.”

  I turned and winked at Elisa who was smiling and shaking her head. Then I turned back to the audience.

  “I’ve seen how hard she’s worked to make these shows a success, and I wanted to do something for her. So here I am, selfishly using your time to make my girlfriend happy. Please don’t be mad at me.”

  The audience laughed and cheered, and I heard a few people yell, “I love you, Van!”

  I smiled. “I love you all too. Now, here I go being selfish, but I wanted to sing one of the songs my band, Westside sings, because it’s Elisa’s favorite. It’s actually our new single that dropped about two weeks ago. You might have heard it. It’s called The One I’ve Always Loved, and Elisa doesn’t know this, but I actually wrote it for her. So, surprise, babe. I love you.”

  I didn’t look back at Elisa as Sabrina, Sydney and I started in on the song that we’d had to rearrange a little with our three voices being so different than those of my bandmates. It was the first time I’d done something like that, and it was weird not singing with my guys, but the audience seemed to love what we were doing. I hoped Elisa loved it just as much. I refused to turn around until we were done, because if I saw the look I had a feeling was on her face, I’d have a hard time staying focused.

  Instead, I kept my eyes on the audience until we closed out the song. As they erupted in cheers, the three of us took a bow, and then Sydney and I exited the stage, leaving Sabrina alone to sing her most popular single, which she always closed out her shows with.

  As soon as I my gaze landed on Elisa, I saw her tear-streaked cheeks. Her hand was over her mouth as I approached her, but as soon as she was in front of me, she threw her arms around my neck. I lifted her off the ground, squeezing her against me as tight as I could.

  “I love you,” she gushed in my ear. “I love you so much, Van.”

  I laughed. “I love you too.”

  “I know! You just told thousands of people that.”

  “And I meant it,” I said as I set her down.

  She looked up at me, her lashes wet. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said shaking her head.

  “Did you like it?”

  “It was so beautiful. Did you seriously write that song for me?”

  I shrugged. “I did. I had all these things floating around in my mind a few months ago, and I had to get them out, so I wrote that song. It was back before you told me you wanted to be with me, so there might have been more angst than was necessary, but I wasn’t very hopeful back then.”

  “It’s so beautiful. You know I love the song, and I love it even more now.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad.”

  Her hands slid down from where they were resting on my hips into my back pockets as she looked up at me, and I froze. Then I watched, and it was like time stood still, as the smile on her face faded and was replaced by a look of surprise. Her hands weren’t moving, and she was watching me intensely, so I knew she felt it.

  Then she slowly withdrew her hands and brought them in front of her, examining the object she’d found in my pocket. In hindsight, that might not have been the most strategic location for it, but I hadn’t been thinking at the time. I’d been afraid that if I hid it in my front pocket, she’d feel it when she hugged me. I’d never expected her to slide her hands into my back pockets, although she’d done it before.

  I watched Elisa swallow hard, and next to us I could see Sydney eyeing us intensely. She’d gasped out loud when she’d seen what Elisa had found in my pocket, but she hadn’t said a word. Neither had Elisa.

  She looked up at me in question. “Is this what I think it is?”

  I nodded, my stomach feeling like it was in my throat. “Yes.”

  “You want to marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  I was completely lost for words. I’d had a speech, I’d had a plan, and I’d had a hell of a lot more time to gear up for this situation with how I’d had it mapped out in my mind. It was supposed to be later, we were supposed to be alone, sitting by the bay, and I was going to get down on one knee. This was not what I’d planned at all.

  “Wow,” Elisa gasped, examining the three carat cushion cut diamond I’d had designed for her.

  I was freaking out, because she wasn’t saying anything else, and in that moment, I knew that regardless of what my plan was, I had to do something. It was now or never, and my plan had essentially been thrown out the window. It was just like when I’d told her I loved her for the first time. It was out of the blue, unplanned and unrehearsed, and I was going to have to do the same thing now.

  People were all around us as the concert came to a close and Sabrina exited the stage. Roadies and assistants and members of Elisa’s team were close by, so the last thing I was going to do was get down on one knee, but I was going to drown them all out and pretend it was just Elisa and me. I was going to do this.

  I looked down into her blue eyes that I loved more than air and said, “I’ve loved you for years, Lis. I can’t imagine my life without you, and I don’t want to. I’ve wanted to be with you since the first time I saw you, over four years ago. You’re the best thing about my life, and I know we’ve only been back together for a few months, but I love you so much. Will you marry me?”

  Elisa looked down at the ring for several seconds before she looked up at me with fresh tears in her eyes. Then she nodded, flooding me with relief and elation and sheer freaking happiness all at once.

  “Are you serious?�
�� I asked her. “Say yes. You have to say yes.”

  She laughed as she said, “Yes, Van. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  “I love you,” I murmured as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me, hugging her as tight as I could. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too,” she said against my chest, where I was probably crushing her, but I was just so shocked that she’d said yes. We were engaged. “Can I put my ring on?”

  I pulled back to look down at her, the ring still in her hand. “Can I do it?”

  She nodded as she held out her left hand. I took the ring from her and gently slid it onto her finger. As soon as I did, cheers went up all around us, and I looked up to see everyone who was backstage watching us. I’d had no idea they’d all seen what had just unfolded, but as I let sink in that Elisa had said yes, I knew I didn’t care. She’d said yes, and it was probably the best moment of my life.

  So I kissed her. I pulled her into my arms, dipped her down in a dramatic movie ending, and I kissed her in front of every single person who was watching. I heard people taking pictures, I heard cheering and clapping and laughter, and it was awesome.

  Elisa was smiling when I pulled her to standing, and I put my arm around her, loving the look on her face. Then suddenly we were surrounded. Her friends wanted to see the ring, they wanted to congratulate us, and I let them do it all. My arm was around Elisa, and I’d wait forever as long as I got to stay by her side.

  “I love you,” I whispered in her ear after a few minutes.

  She looked up at me. “Enough for me to be your wife for the rest of eternity?”

  I grinned. “That’s exactly how much I love you.”

  She smiled. “In that case, I’m kind of glad I gave you a second chance all those months ago.”

  “It was a third chance, but who’s counting.”

  “Not me.”

  “Yeah, me either. But for the record, I’m glad you did to. No regrets?”