Nicky and I exchanged a chuckle before I turned my back on the crowd and made eye contact with Maria and Matt. They led the way for the choir. Got a nod from Chris, got a nod from Sylvia. Shit was good.
I faced the mic again and threw myself into the song, managing to block out the outside world like I hadn’t been able to do this morning.
I’m leaving…in the morning.
I don’t…I don’t know where I’m going.
But we’ve got a long way to go.
Chapter 15
The entire gig had been so loud that when we sat down with our acoustic guitars to deliver the last song in front of a quiet audience, a rushing sound invaded my ears.
I kept one foot on the floor and half sat on the stool, and my voice was granted a break with a tune that was much easier to sing. Well, at the moment anyway. There was a crescendo later when I’d have to give it my all one last time.
Nicky and Chris harmonized beautifully alongside me, taking over for a beat so I could move on to my next task. I switched places with Sylvia; she took care of the rhythm, and my fingers found their home on the keyboard.
She stayed by my side, and we sang into the same mic.
Exchanging a look with Luiz and Nicky, we wound down the song so I could speak to the audience again.
“You’ve been amazing, Nashville.” I kept playing softly, accompanied by the others, and I cleared my throat. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to speak tomorrow. I could already feel a hoarseness creeping up. “A dream come true, really. Thank you.”
We were met by cheers that gave me chills, and I could only smile to myself. Definitely a dream come true.
Sylvia took over the keyboard one last time, and I walked over to the mic with my harmonica.
We played with a finality to every note and poured the last of our energy into our goodbye to the South.
Almost broken
Here I am
Take me
Down the river
Lead me home
Water. Gimme water.
Unsure of where my cases were right this second, I placed my guitars on a few boxes and scanned the immediate area for water. Water came first.
Thank fuck.
There was a case of bottles waiting for us, and I tore the plastic and handed them out as everyone came off the stage.
“That was such a rush!” Sylvia exclaimed. “We need to play live more.”
I grinned, out of breath, and uncapped my own bottle.
“We go live almost every Sunday,” Maria reminded in a singsong voice.
“Because that’s the same, mami,” Nicky laughed. “Yo, if church offered kick-ass rock concerts, I’d go to Mass more often.”
I chuckled. “You mean instead of only when Nonna guilts us into it?”
He pointed to me in exactly.
Our group divided to create an aisle for the crew that was already busy clearing the stage of our instruments, and this time, nobody cared where things went. As long as the equipment was stored securely, it didn’t matter. Everything was going straight on to the bus, and then we’d find a classroom at the Initiative to organize it all. That was Tuesday’s problem.
“Great job tonight,” I said, lifting my tee to wipe sweat off my face. “I hope we can do this again.”
“I’m so in,” Sylvia agreed.
“You sounded amazing, bro.” Luiz held out his fist, and I bumped it with my own.
“I didn’t set the bar very high at the rehearsal,” I joked.
Nicky and Chris laughed.
I spotted a backstage worker and felt I’d waited long enough to see August and Camden, so I walked over to her and asked if it was okay to bring spouses and family back here.
“As long as no one gets in the way,” was her response.
Good enough.
I texted August, and I told Nicky to send Gideon a message too.
A couple minutes later, we opened up the fence enough for the men to sneak through. Gideon went straight to Nicky, and Camden threw his arms around my midsection.
“You were so freaking good! And sweaty. Jeebus, you’re soaked through.”
I laughed and kissed the top of his head.
“Lemme see your abs. Sweaty abs are hot abs,” he said.
“Abs?” I snorted. “You mean the ones buried under a layer of pizza and August’s cooking?”
“Hey, don’t go blamin’ me, boy.” August closed the distance and gave me a firm kiss. “You were amazing up there. Incredible. Out of this world.”
“Thanks.” I smiled and stole another kiss. Then I had to—Christ. “Ragazzo, I swear. Stop tugging on my shirt.” I pushed it down again.
He snickered and snuck close to hug me again. “Fine. I’ll wait till we get home.”
Home. That sounded nice. Too nice.
“Speaking of.” August squeezed my hand. “What’re your plans now? Y’all headin’ out or…? I don’t know how you rock stars come down after a show.”
I chuckled. I could guarantee his life had been a lot more rock ’n’ roll than mine.
“No plans,” I replied. “I think the others talked about having a drink back at the hotel, but I’m coming back to the ranch as soon as we’ve loaded the bus.”
The relief that flashed in his eyes did things to me. “I’m not even going to feel bad for takin’ up all your time. We’ll prepare some snacks while we wait for you.”
“And I’m gonna put your CD on the shelf!” Camden announced. “We bought two. Daddy wants one in his truck.”
Fuck, my cheeks hurt from smiling. “When you know the band, you get those for free. You know that, right?”
He shrugged. “That’s not how you support musicians. But I will demand you sign it.”
I’d sign whatever he wanted. I lifted his chin and dipped down, kissing him languidly. “Consider
