Davis

by INGRID HARRISON

  I watched as he took a glass, filling it from the tap, and then set it before me on a square paper napkin.

  “Tough day? We don’t usually see you unless you’re on duty,” Steve asked me, leaning forward on his elbows.

  I chuckled. “It was going to be a lousy day, but I think things are turning around.”

  I took a long sip of my drink, setting it down before I continued. “I’m in love, and I am thinking about doing something crazy,” I admitted.

  “Ahh,” Steve said nodding. “Figured it was just a matter of time. Does Davis know?”

  I looked up at him quickly, surprise evident. “How did you know it was him?”

  Steve stood up, a grin on his face. “Lucky guess.”

  “I think I am going to move in with him,” I said slowly looking up to Steve.

  “It’s about time. There’s nothing for you here Steph,” he said, looking around. “This should only be a brief stopping point for all who come here, you know?’

  I nodded slowly. “Then you’re OK with me leaving? You won’t have any trouble finding my replacement?”

  Steve chuckled again. “So you remember that blonde that was sniffing around Dalton for the last couple of weeks?” At my nod, he continued, “She really needs a job and a place to live. She came in Sunday seeing if we were hiring.”

  Steve snickered. “I can’t wait to see the fireworks with Dalton and Arianna working together. It should be fun times.”

  Taking another sip of beer, I asked, “Can I have her number too? Maybe she would be interested in sub-leasing my apartment too?’

  An hour later, I was back in my apartment. I had successfully lost my job, potentially found someone to rent my apartment and had brought back some boxes to start packing.

  When my phone rang, I walked over to where it was plugged into the wall, smiling when I saw it was Davis.

  “How was the flight?” I asked in greeting.

  “No problem. Leo picked me up and I’m stoked to be back in our old stomping grounds,” he said happily. “But,” he said quietly, “I wish you were here.”

  Biting my tongue, I had already decided not to tell Davis my plans until I had everything figured out, so I said instead, “We have this weekend, which will be here before we know it. Besides, didn’t you mention you are busy the next couple of days with editing and finalizing your album?”

  Deciding to change the subject, I asked if he was going to stop off at home since he would be in Atlanta.

  “Yeah, I told Dad I would stop in. I need to mend fences with him,” he said sadly. “I can’t stand…Well, I need to fix things,” he muttered.

  “I was thinking maybe you should come to Atlanta,” he said, and I felt my heart beating faster. “Then we could see them together. Steph, if they see us together, I know they will realize that what we have is pretty special.”

  My heart clenched. “You think?” I said softly.

  “I know so,” he whispered back. “God, I already miss you like crazy,” he groaned.

  “I’m going to have Leo give you a call. Maybe he can get you an early flight on Sunday morning?”

  When I didn’t respond right away, he spoke again, his voice laced with tension, “Or I can fly up and get you on Sunday, and we can drive down to Atlanta together? Whatever you want to do just so long as I can see you.”

  “I…Have Leo call me, and I will see what we can find,” I said, touched by the timber of his voice.

  “I mean it Steph. I want to do whatever you want to do,” he said huskily. “I just think it would be best if we showed our parents a united front.”

  “I agree Davis,” I chuckled. “We need to do this together.”

  I felt him release his breath. “OK good.” He laughed. “Great actually!”

  “I’m going to text Leo now and have him call you. See you soon baby,” Davis said in a huskily before he hung up with a promise to call tomorrow.

  With renewed vigor, I started packing, a smile on my face that I couldn’t seem to make go away.

  CHAPTER 18-DAVIS

  What a week! It had been so busy, that the time had flown by, except for at night. Then, the hours dragged by. I am sure Steph thought I was a lunatic, texting her up to five times one night.

  I ached for her. It was getting harder and harder to be away from her, so that once I got back to my hotel room at night, I just wanted to sit up and talk to her or if she was at work, text her.

  Thankfully, I only had tonight to get through, and the benefit concert I had this evening and then tomorrow Steph would be here.

  To know that she was going to fly here so we could talk to our parents together meant the world to me. I wanted to make things right with our parents, and I know their problem was with me, because they couldn’t believe I had changed.

  But I had changed. Steph could see that, I knew that. Hell, Leo and my bandmates could see it too. I just needed our parents to see it too.

  “We’re on in ten,” Art said, slapping me on the shoulder, forcing my thoughts away.

  “You Ok?” Art asked me, a question in his eyes.

  “Yeah, just looking forward to our set tonight. I can’t wait to premiere our new song,” I said with a smile. “I want to see the crowd’s reaction.”

  “Dude, they are going to love it. I think it’s one of your best songs,” Art said with a grin. “You’ll see. The crowd’s going to love it.”

  I could hear the distant muffled sound of the lead up band, their music reaching a crescendo. We were the closing band of the night, instead of opening as we typically did.

  I tried to push away the nervousness I felt. It was always like this when I debut a new song. Even though I knew it was an amazing song in so many ways, there was always this anxiety that would swamp me. What if they didn’t embrace it like I thought my fans would? What if Steph hated it? What if….

  Shaking my head, I told myself to stop. I could sit around and what if all night long. I just needed to remember Steph when I sang it, to insure I conveyed all the feelings she inspired in me. I know if they could hear the depth of feeling the song inspired in me, my fans wouldn’t be able to resist the pull of the song.

  “It’s time,” a worker with the arena interrupted my thoughts, bringing me back to the present.

  With a last look around the green room, my bandmates and I made our way to the side entrance of the stage. We passed the band that had just left the stage, smiling at their words.

  “Awesome crowd,” they encouraged, smiling as they made their way off the stage.

  The announcer introduced me to the crowd, and I relaxed when I heard their cheers, watching as my band made their way on the stage. I hung back a moment, then sauntered onto the stage, smiling as I heard the surge of cheers from the pumped up crowd, grinning out at the sea of people before me.

  We had decided I would hit the stage with my rising song, With You. As the opening strains of the music started, I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.

  A surge of pure energy overtook me as I started singing the song amid a crowd that was shouting and whistling their glee.

  After the song was finished, I wished everyone a great evening. “This is a pretty damned special night,” I shouted into the microphone and the crowd roared. “I am back in my home town, with some of my most favorite people in the world.” Cheers followed.

  As I gazed at smiling at the crowd, I thought of Steph, wishing again that she could be here. “And there is no place but here in Atlanta that I would choose to debut my newest single.” Ear splitting whistles greeted my words.

  “I wrote this song while on the road,” I said, as the crowd noise started to quieten. “It has a special place in my heart because I wrote it about a woman that has come to mean the absolute world to me.”

  “I wish she was here tonight, but you can bet I will sing it to her when I see her,” I hollered raising my arm in the air. The crowd cheered again.

  “I call the song The Reason, and you can find it on
my newest album, coming out in late fall called S in Savannah.”

  “So Steph, wherever you are, this one’s for you. I adore you!” I said achingly as the beginning bars of the song began.

  As I listened to the strum of a single guitar, I swallowed hard before I sang:

  When I thought I knew, I didn’t

  When I thought of you, I wouldn’t

  Even when I thought I shouldn’t

  You were the reason, I couldn’t

  Now I see you are the one

  The one that makes me shudder

  Loving you was so easy

  All I can do is wonder

  Why are you the reason

  The reason I love

  It was as the last notes of the song ended, that I could hear the utter stillness out in the sea of faces before me. And for a second, only a second, I was scared they hated it. But just when I was about to accept defeat, the cheers and clapping began and I watched the people rising from their seats, arms in the air, the roar deafening.

  It was also the moment when I saw Steph. I blinked twice, certain my eyes were deceiving me.

  Her long, dark hair falling over her shoulders, the glisten of moisture on her face, a look of utter surprise on her face as I watched a tremulous smile overtake her face.

  “I love you Steph,” I said in the microphone, my eyes gazing into hers, my words heartfelt.

  I watched as she mouthed the words back at me.

  “Let’s keep this party going!” I hollered as the band started a rambunctious song about my truck and how it couldn’t seem to drive by a honky tonk without my truck stopping in.

  The rest of the set was high energy and I couldn’t deny it felt like I was on top of the world.

  My fans undeniable support, and me doing what I loved so much with the woman I love before me, hell yeah I was happy; so damned happy.

  Just before the set ended, I caught a glimpse of Steph heading towards back stage, and a shiver of anticipation went through me as I finished the last song, thanking my fans for their support before I headed back stage.

  How had she come to be here tonight? I needed to find Steph.

  CHAPTER 19-STEPH

  I tried taking deep breaths, my heart still unsteady after watching Davis. My head felt full of cotton, fuzzy and slow.

  Here I arrived at Atlanta to surprise him and he had managed to surprise me. Any doubts I felt about moving out of Savannah dissolved, and I just wanted to see him, to hold him.

  The first person I saw was Leo, and he smiled widely, taking me in my arms and hugging me.

  “He is crazy about you,” Leo murmured before releasing me.

  Before I could respond, I heard the entrance of the band and when I turned, there stood Davis, his eyes scanning the room before they landed on me.

  Moments later, his hands landed on my shoulder, our eyes locked on each other. Neither of us said a word as he pulled me against him, one hand cradling my head, the other on my lower back, pressing me down his hard length.

  “You surprised me,” I said huskily against his ear.

  “Yeah,” he chuckled, “like you surprised me.” His lips found mine then, his kiss half frantic, his breathing becoming more erratic. “God Steph, your being here means the world to me.” His hoarse words caused a tremble to begin.

  “I hope so,” I said shakily, looking into his eyes, “because I don’t plan on leaving you again.”

  Davis raised his head at that statement, a question in his eyes.

  “I want to stay with you. I don’t want to return to Savannah,” I said softly.

  Instead of responding with words, his hands cupped my head, cradling it in his hands while his mouth covered mine. His lips were greedy; a fierceness in his kiss as his lips found mine again and again.

  “You belong with me,” he whispered as he buried his nose in my hair.

  “I know. I am right where I belong, and I never want to leave,” I whispered.

  Don’t miss DALTON, Book #3 of the Bro-Country Series, coming in April 2020.

  Dalton and Arianna’s story

  Can a guy who only takes learn how to give? Will her past keep these two apart forever? Or will they learn what it means to love in each other’s arms?

  Find out in book #3 of the Bro-Country series; a hot and steamy HEA with fireworks that will burn you, if not handled carefully.

  What makes you country?