by A. K. Evans
But that didn’t happen because Demi broke the silence.
“I called you earlier than normal yesterday morning because I was so excited,” she started. “I wanted to let you know that I was planning to meet you in Florida today so we could spend some time together.”
Shock moved through me, and my body went solid.
She was going to come to Florida to see me.
I didn’t know if she realized how much it was affecting me or not, but she added, “I fell in love with you, Cash. And it was hurting my heart to know that there was something weighing on your mind. For two weeks, I saw you struggling with something, and I just wanted to do something to make it better.”
She wanted to make it better.
This was it.
She was all I would ever need.
She loved me.
I knew I’d treasure that gift for the rest of my life.
“I love that you feel that strongly for me,” I told her. “If it’s any indication of how much you mean to me and how much I feel for you, I almost beat the shit out of one of my best friends.”
At my admission, Demi’s face shot up off my chest. “What?”
I shook my head, feeling disappointment along with a smidgen of regret. “If Killian hadn’t been there, I have no doubt that either I would have landed in jail, Roscoe would have been in the hospital, or both.”
Worry littered Demi’s expression. “I don’t understand,” she said.
“It was the look on your face in that brief moment right before you disconnected the call when I heard the pained cry come from you,” I started. “That set me off. I yanked my phone from that woman’s hand and told her to get the fuck out of my room. I tried to call you back, and when you didn’t answer, I lost it. I threw on some clothes and started shouting as I went in search of Roscoe. He came out of his room half a second after Killian came out of his. And then I charged forward. Killian caught me before I got close enough to land a punch.”
“Oh my God. What happened?” Demi asked.
“Roscoe and Killian were both trying to figure out what happened, and I told them,” I began again. “There was a lot of words said, but the basic gist of it was that if I couldn’t make things right with you, I was holding him personally accountable.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Demi reasoned.
I could tell she was simply trying to get me to calm down. Even though she was here now, and we’d worked it all out, it still made me angry when I thought about the whole situation. Roscoe’s negligence could have cost me the best thing that had ever happened to me.
“It was,” I insisted. “Those women were there with him. I’m not going to judge him on what he chooses to do in his personal life. That’s his choice. But when what he does starts to affect me, that’s where I draw the line. It wasn’t his job to just fuck them and let them do what they wanted. He needed to make sure that they were accounted for at all times. He didn’t, and you got hurt in the process. That is not okay. That woman was being a bitch just for the sake of it. She had no right to come in my room, especially not without her clothes on. And she definitely had no right to answer my phone and make you think that there was ever anything between her and me.”
Demi absentmindedly ran her fingers through my hair. Her expression turned curious, and she asked, “How did you leave things with them?”
“Well, I told them I was coming back here to work this out with you,” I explained. “They knew we were going to have to cancel tonight’s show. I also told them that if I couldn’t get you to listen to me and we couldn’t work it out that I wouldn’t play another show.”
“Cash… you can’t do that,” Demi remarked.
“Luckily, I don’t have to since we worked it out,” I countered. “But I’m not joking, Demi. You mean that much to me, and I’m not about to have someone else ruin what we have.”
She didn’t respond with words, but she smiled at me.
“Do you still want to go to Florida with me?” I asked.
Her smile grew. “I’d love to,” she rasped.
I nodded. “I should probably call and let everyone know that we’re on for the second show,” I told her.
“That’s probably a good idea,” she agreed.
I returned her smile and took in her beautiful face. Then I said, “I love you, Demi.”
“I love you, too.”
With that, she touched her mouth to mine before we both got up to get cleaned up. After we accomplished that, I called Beck to let him know all was well and that I’d be there before the next show. Once Demi and I got a flight sorted and had some breakfast, we had some time to kill. So we made our way to her bedroom and used that time wisely.
Demi
“I’ve never seen him so distraught.”
That came from Holland.
I was in Florida with Cash, and they were getting ready for their show. Holland saw me when Cash and I arrived, and much like the last time, she kidnapped me and whisked me into her dressing room.
I didn’t mind because not only did I really like Holland, but it also seemed I was going to get a bit more information on how things went down with Cash.
“Really?” I replied.
She nodded. “I mean, I’m so glad you two worked it out because I don’t think he would have ever been the same,” she shared. “I love him like a brother, and it was so hard to see him that devastated. He was sure you’d never speak to him again.”
My heart hurt hearing all of this.
It was making me wish I hadn’t been so quick to assume the worst. I mean, in my defense, I didn’t know he was staying in a three-bedroom suite, and a half-naked woman had answered his phone while she was in his bed.
But still.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how bad it was for Cash. Even with everything he’d told me and what Holland was telling me now, I was certain it didn’t compare to how it all felt in the moment.
“I jumped to conclusions,” I admitted.
Her brows shot up, and she shot me an incredulous look. “I would have, too,” she assured me. “Don’t feel bad about that.”
I nodded because I didn’t know what else to do.
“It was heartbreaking, though,” she said. “For a man who is always so confident, he was utterly broken.”
“You’re going to make me cry, Holland,” I told her.
“I’m sorry,” she lamented. “It’s good. Everything is good now. You’re both here, and you’re both happy. That’s all that matters.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“You ready?” she asked, jerking her head to the dressing room door.
With a downward jerk of my chin, I confirmed that I was.
At that, Holland and I left her dressing room and made our way to the one with the guys in it. No sooner did we knock and get ushered inside when I realized it was the first I was seeing any of the guys since before the whole situation went down.
Nerves suddenly shot through my body.
Would they hate me?
I glanced cautiously around the room as all their eyes landed on me. I avoided making eye contact with them, sought out Cash, and took a step in his direction. Before I could take a second step, a solid mass filled my vision. I tipped my head up and saw Roscoe looking down at me.
Swallowing hard, I waited for him to share whatever thoughts he had about me with me.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
Blinking in surprise, I returned, “What?”
“I’m sorry for what happened and that you were hurt by it,” he clarified. “I was careless. It was never my intention to have something like that happen. You didn’t deserve whatever you went through because of it.”
Well, that was unexpected.
And it was really nice of him.
“Oh. Um, okay. Thank you for the apology,” I replied.
“Are we cool?” he asked.
I nodded. “We’re cool,” I assured him with a smile.
He retur
ned the smile. Then, he stepped aside to let me pass and make my way to Cash. Once I was close enough, my man reached his arm out, hooked it around the back of my neck, and curled me into his body.
“Did Roscoe apologize to you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
For the next few minutes, everyone fell into their own separate conversations, or in the case of the guys, a bunch of bantering among them. I sat back and watched, loving that I was back here with Cash, experiencing it.
After all that had happened between us, after all that I’d learned happened between them and him, I was beyond grateful that it had all worked out and that nobody seemed to be holding any grudges.
When it was time for them to head out on stage, Cash was sure to give me a kiss that would easily last me until the show was over.
I didn’t think anything could make me happier than having that.
But I was wrong.
Because no sooner had they stepped out on stage and finished their first two songs when Cash started talking to the crowd. At first, it seemed normal. Nothing was particularly different about it compared to any other time he talked to the crowd.
But then he did something he’d never done before.
He said, “I’m dedicating tonight’s performance to a very special woman.”
Surprisingly, the crowd went wild, cheering in response to his words.
“She’s here tonight, and I want her to know how special she is,” he went on. “I love you, Demi.”
My eyes went wide as the crowd roared.
Cash’s eyes slid to the side of the stage where he knew he’d find me. He winked at me, kissed his two fingers, and pointed them in my direction.
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face or the tears from my eyes.
I loved him with all my heart.
My broken, fragile heart that was now whole and healed.
Epilogue
Demi
Today was my last day.
I was no longer going to be working at Granite.
It was the beginning of November, and I’d just recently gotten back to New Hampshire with Cash.
After I made the trip with him to Florida, I never came back home. He wanted me to stay on the tour with him, and it was where I wanted to be. So, I worked for Cal from the road and kept things going for him.
But as the My Violent Heart tour started to wind down, Cash started talking to me.
“I want to work on this new material I’ve written when the tour is over,” he said one day a few weeks ago.
“Okay? Why can’t you?” I asked.
“It’s not that I can’t. It’s that I don’t know where you stand,” he responded.
“What do you mean?”
His eyes searched my face a long time. Then he answered, “I don’t want to do the long-distance relationship with you, Demi. I want us together. I want you to move to Pennsylvania and live with me.”
“Are you serious?” I shot back.
He nodded. “Yes. I love you, and I’m not going to be states away from you ever again,” he declared.
“What about work?” I questioned him.
“Your job?” he asked before he shrugged. “It’s up to you. You’ve been doing it on the road for a while now. If you want to continue to do it from my place, I’m fine with that.”
“Cal probably needs someone who can be there on the nights that a band is playing, though,” I explained.
“So, am I moving to New Hampshire with you then?”
He couldn’t do that. He wanted to make more music. I wanted to hear his new music. So, there was absolutely no way I was going to put him in a position to be unable to make that music.
I shook my head.
“I’ll talk to Cal now,” I told him. “I’ll let him know that I’m going to be leaving to move to Pennsylvania with you. I’ll work with him until he finds someone to take over for me, and then I’ll find something to do in my new hometown.”
Cash grinned. “Okay, that’s one thing down,” he announced.
My brows pulled together. “Is there more?”
“I talked to everyone else in the band, and we’ve all agreed that we want you to be our new swag and merchandise manager,” he said. As my eyes nearly popped out of my head, he added, “If you want to do it, of course. There’s no pressure. But since your best friend is going to be in charge of designing all of our new apparel, I thought it would be a great way for you to continue to stay in touch with her on a regular basis.”
Needless to say, I didn’t turn him down.
And because I’d contacted Cal about it right away, he managed to find someone rather quickly. Of course, having had My Violent Heart play at Granite meant that when he put the word out that he was hiring for my position, there was no shortage of interest.
So, this was it.
I was here at Granite for the last time for the foreseeable future, and I was here with Cash, the band, Cal, and Sam.
I was in love and blissfully happy. And tomorrow morning, I’d be leaving my life in New Hampshire behind and starting a new one with Cash in Pennsylvania.
I couldn’t wait.
It was a few minutes before the band was set to take the stage, and the place was packed. But as packed as it was, it didn’t compare to the number of people at the venues I’d seen them play at.
So, for the band, this was an intimate setting, and they didn’t seem to mind mingling with the crowd and their fans.
Cash was by my side and had said, “I think I should head back there.”
“Okay,” I answered. But then something caught my eye. “Hey, isn’t that the woman from the hotel?”
Cash’s body went solid. “What?”
I jerked my chin in the opposite direction. “Over there with Beck,” I told him. “That’s the woman whose husband cheated on her at the hotel I used to work at. It was the woman there the day you guys arrived the first time.”
The tension left his body, and I belatedly realized he must have thought I was talking about the woman from the hotel in Texas. That wasn’t even a thought in my mind anymore.
Cash looked to where I had indicated and said, “I think it is.”
“Do you think he’s interested in her?” I asked. “A woman like that deserves a good man in her life.”
Cash returned his attention to me and replied, “I can’t say I disagree with you on that. As for Beck… I don’t know. What I do know is that he’s got a soft spot for single moms, so maybe there’s something there for him.”
“That would be amazing if they could work it out,” I declared.
“Yeah,” Cash agreed.
I smiled and said, “Okay. Go get yourself ready to take the stage.”
He leaned down, kissed me, and said, “I love you.”
With my lips still brushing up against his, I returned, “I love you, too.”
A few minutes later, My Violent Heart took the stage. I sat back with my best friend, my cousin, and the rest of the crowd and enjoyed the show.
Cash
“I have something for you.”
Demi looked up at me from where she was sitting on the couch.
We’d been living together at my house for several months now, and life had never been better. It was my hope that things were about to improve, though.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Can you turn that down?” I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the television.
Demi didn’t hesitate to not only turn the volume down but also pause whatever she was watching.
A moment later, the sound of Roscoe playing the bass guitar filled the room. Walker came in with the drums next, and Beck followed with the synthesizer. After the slower, seductive instrumental introduction, my voice entered the song. Killian came in on the guitar later as did Holland with some vocals.
I’d heard the song a million times already.
This was Demi’s first time hearing it, so I kept my focus on her
. She listened intently, and I could tell she was focused on the words.
She didn’t react.
She didn’t give me any indication of what she was thinking.
Or, at least, she didn’t until it was over. That’s when she allowed two tears to stream down her face.
She looked up at me and rasped, “I love it.”
“It’s yours,” I told her. “That’s the song I wrote for you. The first of many.”
Her head moved back and forth as she bit her lip and fought back the emotions. Then, with her voice just a touch over a whisper, she asked, “What did I do to deserve you?”
I grinned and answered, “I am pretty spectacular, aren’t I?”
Demi rolled her eyes. “Boy, do you know how to ruin the moment.”
“You love it.”
She laughed and leaned into me. “Yeah, I do.”
“That’s why you should probably make sure you hang on to me,” I noted.
“I planned on it,” she replied.
“Permanently.”
“What?”
I reached behind me on the couch and closed my hand around the box before I lifted it between us.
“Marry me, Demi.”
Her eyes darted back and forth between the ring and my face. There was no question she was in absolute shock.
But the shock quickly wore off.
The next thing I knew, she buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.
I wrapped my arms around her and teased, “That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”
“You’ve made me so happy, Cash,” she cried. “I don’t even know how to tell you.”
“You could say you’ll marry me,” I suggested.
She looked up at me again through shining eyes and said, “I’ll marry you.”
With that, I didn’t waste another second. I took the ring from the box, slipped it on her finger, and kissed her.
When she pulled her mouth from mine, she marveled at the ring. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “I never thought I’d have this.”
“Well, it was custom made for you,” I told her. “So it’s the only one like it.”