by Elle Viviani
Remember when you said to ignore Bryce?
HA—RIGHT.
This may be the longest six weeks of my life.
Chapter 4
Autumn
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for making Memphis the first stop on your Hartbreak Tour!” The venue manager holds my hand in a death grip as she pumps it up and down. I manage to extricate it without breaking any of my fingers.
“I’m glad to be here,” I say, giving her my biggest smile. Enthusiasm like this reminds me why I forgo sleep for six weeks. “Do you mind if I take a look at the stage? I always like to check the setup before a show.”
“Of course!” The manager vibrates with excitement as she leads my little group through a network of hallways. “Your guy got here hours ago and checked over the set himself, so I can promise you that everything is up to your standards.”
“I’m sure it is.”
I’m about to follow the manager backstage when Bryce inserts himself between me and the door. His head swivels back and forth as he takes in every detail. “I haven’t checked this area yet. Wait here.”
I’m about to protest when Bryce gives me a firm look. I shut my mouth and nod my head. “Sorry. Just impatient to see the stage.”
“I understand. This won’t take long.” And then he’s gone, sliding through the door and disappearing into the dimly light warren of equipment, ropes, and tables.
Cody pointedly checks his watch. “Is this guy going to do this shit every time you walk into a room?”
Zoe snorts behind us.
I give Cody a calm smile. “It’s his job. I don’t get on your case for packing my downtime with signings and events.”
“But those are important. This—” he waves his hand at the door “—is a time killer. No one’s back there waiting to jump you, babe.”
“Which I’m sure Bryce knows,” I say testily. Boyfriend or not, I don’t let anyone rail on my best friend. “But he’d never forgive himself if I did come to harm, and he’d never half-ass his job.”
Cody’s rebuttal is severed by Bryce easing back the door. His gaze glides over each of us before resting on me. “All clear.”
My team follows me up the stairs while Bryce brings up the rear. I hear the shuffle of Cody’s leather loafers, the clack of Zoe’s wedges, and the muted thud of my own boots on the wooden steps, but nothing from Bryce. It’s always amazed me how he manages to move without making a sound.
“This way, Ms. Hart.” The manager pulls back the curtain and motions us through. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the glare of the stage lights, but when they do, I let out a muffled shout.
Bryce is at my side in an instant, every muscle in his body taut and poised for action. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything!”
The muscles in his neck jump and twist as he glances around the quiet stage. “I don’t understand.”
I sweep my arm out in front of me. “The setup. It’s—”
“Like it?” Cody sidles up next to me with a pleased look on his face. “Worked it out myself with some help from our friend Rhonda.”
“Sunny Records did this?” I look at the empty spot next to the microphone where my guitars should be. “Why?”
“So you can dance!” Cody throws an arm around my shoulders as he gestures toward the empty seats lining the floor. “Picture this: you, holding the mic, no guitar, moving that body of yours…”
I can feel Bryce tensing next to me.
“It’s what pop stars do,” Cody continues. “They put on a show!”
I shrug off his arm. “I do give a show, a damn good show based on the million or so fans that bought tickets to my sold-out tour.”
He tries to grab my arm, but I step away. “Come on, Autumn, you were supposed to be open to these changes.”
“And you were supposed to run these ‘changes’ by me.”
Cody draws himself up. “I thought you were trusting me with all this.”
“But this is not a small change! I’m known for my double act as a singer and guitarist. How do you expect me to give my fans what they want when I leave my guitar backstage?”
“Autumn,” Bryce murmurs behind me, “maybe you could finish this discussion offstage?”
That’s when I realize Cody and I are having it out in front of my team, the venue’s team, and every person in between, including the custodial staff weaving through the aisles. Heat flares up my neck to my cheeks as I turn on my heel and stride backstage. Cody follows but doesn’t stop when I pause at the top of the stairs. “Where are you going?”
“To get some air. Nobody appreciates all the hard work I do around here.”
“Stop, Cody, I’m serious.” He throws me a dirty look before shoving open the exit door. My patience evaporates. “If you leave now, then you’re fired!”
That stops him. Cody slowly turns around. “Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, if it’ll get you to listen—for once.”
The corners of his lips tighten. “I thought you wanted this.”
“What I want is to be involved. I want to know what’s going on in my own show.” I point toward the stage. “You assumed I wanted to dance without even asking me, and that’s what bothers me.”
“So you don’t want to dance?”
“I…I don’t know. It’s so sudden. I can’t wrap my head around it right now.” I look up and meet his eyes. “What I do know is that you overstepped today, big time, and I won’t stand for that.”
“Then I guess I owe you an apology.” Cody draws himself up. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
He gives me a terse nod, and then disappears through the door. I watch him go with a mixture of frustration and nervousness. I have no idea what’s gotten into him lately. First he sprang the record deal on me, now this setup change. Not to mention his attitude toward Bryce, a member of my team.
All I know is Cody better shape up and quick. This isn’t the first time he’s gone behind my back like this, but it better be the last.
Chapter 5
Bryce
The sound engineer is a Mountain Dew addict, the lighting manager has a proclivity for sneaking a sip from his hip flask every thirty minutes (I’ll keep an eye on him), and Zoe’s been on Tinder all afternoon locking in her afterwork plans.
“Hey, man,” I hear behind me. I step aside as the sound crew walks past on their way to the stage.
“Jimmy, Shane, Blaze,” I say with an accompanying nod. The murmur from the packed crowd rises a notch when they notice the sudden flurry of action on stage. I return my focus backstage, seeing, listening, taking it all in. Even with the constant stream of information flowing into my brain, my thoughts stray to Autumn and the argument she had with Cody.
I thought she was finally putting her foot down, but then Jensen dropped by her dressing room with a dozen red roses and an apologetic look—both gone when he emerged thirty minutes later with a shit-eating grin on his face. Autumn fell for the sappy speeches and promises that will be broken, and for the hundredth time, I wonder when she’s going to see through the man’s bullshit.
Behind me, the lights dim and the crowd goes wild. I turn and watch Bella Cruz, a solo act from Austin and Autumn’s opener, take the stage. The crowd grows silent when the first few notes of her flawless voice hit them, but they’ve recovered enough by the chorus to let out a huge cheer that shakes the rafters.
Damn, that girl can sing.
I’m so entranced that the buzz of my phone sends a jolt of adrenaline through me. Zoe’s name flashes across the screen.
Zoe: Husky is on the move. B backstage in 5
After my initial security briefing with Autumn’s team, Zoe had suggested we have code names that were “dog breeds based on our personalities.” She was an Aussie, colorful with a bit of sass, Autumn a husky, a bit of a loner but fiercely loyal to her pack, and I was a timber wolf. When I pointed out that wolves technically aren’t dogs, Zoe brushed my argument aside, sayi
ng “Well, you’re no wiener dog.” A few suggestive eyebrow wiggles accompanied that comment, which I ignored.
My phone buzzes again as I step into the hall leading backstage.
Zoe: Where’s mini pin? Husky wants to know.
Oh yeah, Zoe included Jensen in the group. Mini Doberman pinscher—all bark, no bite.
Before I can text back, Autumn and Zoe round the corner, followed closely by her bassist Karl, drummer Barry, and steel guitarist Grayson. Autumn barely meets my eyes as she brushes past me. Zoe hangs back instead of following everyone backstage. “Did you get my text?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen him.”
“Can you find him?”
“I should have Autumn in my sight this close to the show. She’s the client, not Jensen.”
“I know.” Zoe’s fingers begin to rap against her thigh. “But see, Autumn’s out of it. She’s distracted, jumpy.”
“And you think Jensen will help? They fought earlier.”
“And then made up.” She leans a hip against the doorframe. “I’m out of options, and the show’s going to suck if Autumn doesn’t get her head out of the clouds.”
“Zoe,” an unmistakable voice calls from behind us, “could you come here?”
Zoe straightens with a sigh. “I’m being summoned. Just let me know if you spot Mini Pin.”
I run a hand through my hair as she turns to go. “Wait. Let me talk to her.”
Zoe perks up. “Really?”
I regret the offer the moment it leaves my lips. I had vowed to stay away from charged conversations with Autumn. They lead me down a rabbit hole of emotions I had stuffed away in a dark corner years ago.
I look past Zoe where Autumn’s pacing at the top of the stairs. I know I’m caught. I could never leave Autumn hurting.
“Yeah,” I say with more confidence than I have.
Her bright hair sways as she flourishes a hand in front of her. “Then be my guest!”
The closer I get to the music star wearing a path in the floor with her boots, the more unsure I am about being able to fix this. Furrowed brow, lips tugged down into a scowl, shoulders tense—all signs point to a blowup the minute I open my mouth. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
I pause at the top of the stairs. Autumn doesn’t seem to notice me. “Are you okay?”
“No. The show’s about to start and I have to follow that.” She motions at Bella tearing up the stage with her perfect notes. “I told Cody I’d give this dancing thing a try, but I don’t know anymore. Going out there without my guitar just feels wrong.” Autumn buries her face in her hands. “Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut and gone along with Sunny’s plans. Everyone seems to want me to, so why am I fighting it?”
I know I vowed to stay away, but the vulnerable look on Autumn’s face slices through my defenses like a knife, burying itself in my heart before twisting painfully.
My mammoth hands blot out hers as I ease them from her face and nestle them between my palms. “Never apologize for standing up for yourself. You have every right to be angry when someone messes with your act.”
The perfect planes of her face shift from a frown to a half-smile. “You don’t think I overreacted earlier?”
“No.” I give her hands a squeeze and pull back slowly, trying to ignore how soft her skin feels against my palms. “And if it’s worth anything, I think you should play.”
She snorts in disbelief. “It’s not that easy.”
“Yes, it is. How long have I known you?”
She gives a tired laugh that’s still beautiful to my ears. “Forever.”
“And what do you love?”
“To sing and play and—” She stops as Zoe’s voice calls out a ten-minute warning. “Dammit, I’m running out of time.”
Against my better judgement, I close the gap between us. “You may be Autumn Hart to the world, but you’ll always be Hartman to me, and that badass star doesn’t let anything come between her and her music. You are your guitar, remember that.”
Autumn’s silent for a long moment, then reaches for her cowgirl hat. I know what my girl’s gonna do without having to ask.
Zoe appears at Autumn’s side. “You’re on in two.” She waves her hand in front of the music star’s shining eyes. “Earth to Autumn?”
Autumn bats her assistant’s hand away before heading for the mass of instruments behind us. “Tell the band I’m playing tonight while I grab my guitar.”
Zoe gapes after her. “Yes, ma’am!”
Exactly two minutes later, Autumn follows her band on stage, guitar in hand, megawatt smile plastered on her face, and waves at the crowd. Their answering roar shakes the very ground beneath my feet. I knew Autumn was famous, but this is something else: pure love pours out from the audience, bathing the object of their affection in a serenade of cheers and applause.
Autumn waits for the cacophony to slow. It doesn’t. With a shrug and a giddy look over her shoulder, Autumn nods to her drummer.
Click, click, click!
The band bursts into song after the last slap of Barry’s drumsticks. The crowd picks up the beat instantly, swaying and clapping along as they wait for Autumn to woo them with her vocals.
“Oh I’ve fallen, where’d ya go? ’Cause, baby, I’ve looked high and low. When I’m about to say goodbye, that’s when you show up and cry.”
Autumn strums out a few fast-paced chords, and then leans away from the mic to let the crowd sing the last line.
“Oh, baby doll, how I love you!”
Her foot taps along with the crowd as they clap to the beat.
“So you found new ways to break my heart. But, honey, maybe I’ve grown up.” She turns and grins at her band. “Got thicker skin and toughened up…”
“What the hell?” Cody storms up the backstage steps. His normally composed face is red as he glares at Autumn on stage. Cody turns his glare on me as he steps forward. “Can someone tell me why she is holding a guitar and not shimmying around the stage?”
I go utterly still at Cody’s use of words. “Let me give you a word of advice, Jenson: I wouldn’t say the word ‘shimmy’ around Hartman. If you value your working relationship, that is.”
Cody’s eyes flash. He whirls around and gives me his back. I earn an impressed look from Zoe before I turn my attention back to the music star singing her heart out on stage.
I know how I’m supposed to feel about my best friend. I’m supposed to love her the way a guy loves his little sister, to watch over her and hope she finds some safe guy in the suburbs instead of a beat-up ex-SEAL like me. And I’m definitely supposed to be blind to the way Autumn has filled out over the years. But even knowing all those things, I can’t stop my mind from thinking about how soft she’d feel if I held her like I’ve dreamed.
I've made up a million reason about why I broke my promise to stay in touch years ago, but I knew what they are: lies. I wanted something that Autumn couldn't give me, and when my responses to her letters slowed and eventually stopped, Autumn did the only thing she could: leave me behind like I left her.
It took us years to come back to each other. A Christmas here, a summer BBQ there when we were passing through town at the same time. Soon a phone call every few months, then a few more, and finally that offer that brought me to Nashville.
I'm yanked out of the past as the steel guitarist finishes his last twang. Autumn throws her hands in the air to ask the crowd for help on the last verse. They give a loud cheer and take her up on the offer.
“Because my heart don’t break no more!”
Autumn
My heart nearly bursts from happiness as I strum the final chord of my last song. I’m never more at peace than with my hands on a guitar and a mic at my lips.
I’m grinning like a maniac, shaking with a mixture of joy and nerves as I bow and unplug my guitar from the amp. “Thank you, Memphis! We had a great time with y’all tonight, and we’ll be back soon!”
The crowd roars their approval
, clapping and stomping with such gusto that I’m surprised the roof doesn’t fall down on us all. I place my guitar on its stand, give one final bow, and follow my band offstage. I’m floating on air as the lights dim behind us, riding the wave of adrenaline that comes from giving a show to a packed house.
Of the mass of people waiting for me, my eyes immediately find the one person I’m dying to see.
“What a show, you were right, Bry!” He stiffens as I wrap my arms around his chest. I lean back and grin up wildly at him. “Thank you for talking some sense into me. What would I do without you?”
“I don’t know,” comes a cold voice to my right. I whip around and meet the icy stare of my boyfriend. He holds up his hand as I push away from Bryce. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to pry you from the arms of your man.”
My post-show glow begins to fade as I catch the glare Cody directs at Bryce. “Babe, stop it. You know we’re just friends.”
“Right. That’s why you threw yourself into his arms like a lovesick groupie.”
Before I can even think of how to answer, Cody turns and stomps down the stairs. An all-too-familiar throbbing begins in my temples and sweeps down my neck.
“Whoa, there…” Strong arms catch me as I sway to one side. With incredible gentleness and care, I’m led over to a bar stool and eased onto it. “Are you alright?”
I look up and meet Bryce’s worried eyes. “I’ll be fine. Soon.”
Bryce crouches down next to me as I fill my lungs with air, and he holds out his hand. With Cody’s words fresh in my mind, I shrink away from him, noticing for the first time that my band’s gathered at the curtain.
The encore!
Zoe comes over as I grab my head and groan. “You dying, boss?”
“I feel like my head’s about to explode,” I grumble through my fingers.
She nods at Bryce. “Can you help her back to her dressing room? These headaches have the habit of turning nasty fast.”