“You did it.” I pick her up, wrap my arms around her, and spin her around. She slides back down and finds her mouth with mine as she does. “You really did it. I’m so proud of you.”
All those years on her own. Being a single mom. Working a job and going to school. Sacrificing her sleep and her sanity to give everything to Jagger while still trying to chase her dreams. Finding the courage to tell McMann no thanks when he offered her job back to her.
All of them just realized for her.
“Dreams do come true,” I say.
She reaches out and cups my cheek. “They really do.”
EPILOGUE
Bristol
Later That Night
“So we’re going to do something a little different in the show tonight,” Hawkin says as he moves across the stage, pulling my attention from my phone. What mischief is he up to tonight?
I know the performance by heart. Bent’s set list. The jokes they tell. The looks they give when one of them fucks up. The banter they repeat like a rehearsed skit.
It’s not that I’m bored by it, but let’s just say I don’t hang on every note like I did the first twenty-something shows of this tour.
So when Hawkin breaks the routine, it most definitely grabs my attention.
I glance toward the doorway Vince’s personal assistant took Jagger through to go to the bathroom. If there’s something different tonight, I want him to see it.
“You see, two years ago, like any family, we”—Hawkin points to Vince, Rocket, and Gizmo—“needed a little break from each other.” Boos fill the audience. “I know, I know. I felt the same way.” He holds his finger up. “But something really good came out of that break. My brother here.” He walks over and hooks an arm around Vince’s shoulders. “Had a single that went crazy popular, and I want him to sing it for you tonight.”
What? This is most definitely a change.
“Really?” Vince asks, playing it up.
“Really.” Hawkin walks over to a waiting stagehand and grabs Vince’s acoustic guitar. He holds it out to Vince and exchanges his bass with it. “You see, it’s a good song. Fucking great actually. I’m kind of jealous I didn’t write it myself.” He laughs. “So, will you play it for us?”
The crowd goes so wild I have to plug my ears.
“Okay. Okay,” Vince says. “I’ll play, but I’m going to need some help.”
“What, are we not enough?” Rocket asks, propping his elbow on Hawkin’s shoulder.
“You’re enough, all right,” Vince jokes, “but someone I know has been working really hard on learning this song and wants to help me play it tonight.”
My head can’t process what my heart already knows, seconds before Jagger shuffles onto the stage with his guitar in hand. The one that matches Vince’s. I gasp and put a hand to my heart, the tears already forming before they even do anything.
Jagger reaches Vince and looks up at him with a huge grin. “You want to say hi to everyone, Jenzo?”
He lowers the microphone and Jagger waves to the crowd, his high-pitched voice booming out of the speakers when he says, “Hi, everyone.”
The crowd says hi back as flashes light up the darkness.
Each one of the guys fist-bumps Jagger and ruffles his hair as he’s getting set up beside Vince. My heart pounds in my chest and every mom cell in my body is overwhelmed seeing the two of them together like this.
“So, I wrote this song a little while ago,” Vince says as he takes center stage. “It was for the only woman I’ve ever loved. A woman who has never given up on me or her dreams. A woman whose different is her beautiful.” He adjusts the mic and looks out toward the press box where he knows I am. “Jagg and I have added an extra verse to it tonight. I hope you enjoy it.” More cheers. “You ready, buddy?”
“Yep. Ready to rock,” Jagger says and elicits laughter from the crowd. My heart is in my throat as I watch them.
The familiar chords of Sweet Regret fill the arena. The cameras to the big screens zoom in on Jagger. On the furrow of his brow. The bite of his teeth into his bottom lip in concentration. To the way he positions himself on his guitar.
And when the camera zooms out, both of my boys are side by side, almost identical in all things but height. I couldn’t be any more in love with them than I already am.
Vince begins to sing. He pulls me under with his sexy voice and the lyrics I know by heart. With the ones that convinced me we had to say goodbye. With the ones that made me love him even more.
And when he finishes the chorus the third time through after the bridge, he looks straight into the camera and sings to me.
Time lost. Time apart.
But we found our way, new lives to start.
Healed hearts. Our souls consoled.
You and me, baby, let’s grow old.
I look at him. I look at you.
The love we have keeps shining through.
I did forgive.
You did forget.
Losing time with you, my one, true regret.
I stare at the screen, awed by Jagger’s talent and the love I feel for the man standing beside him.
I never knew I could be this happy. This content. This fulfilled. This loved.
God, I adore them.
They bow and the crowd roars. Then Vince pulls Jagger into his arms and holds tight. It’s a moment I’ll hold dear for the rest of my life.
So many choices have brought us to where we are today. A heartbreaking farewell in a bedroom window, a ticket to a concert and a phone number from a bitter man, and a colleague asking me to fill in for her one fateful night.
But perhaps the most significant choice of all was to follow our hearts.
That decision led us back to each other.
To this moment.
To a love I always knew existed but never thought I could have.
THE END
Did you fall in love with Vince and Bristol’s story? Here are some other K. Bromberg books you might like:
Sweet Ache: You met Hawkin Play in Sweet Regret. Now find out more about this bad boy rock star with a good guy heart, who has lived a lifetime of cleaning up after his twin brother’s mistakes. Enter Quinlan Westin. She knows Hawke’s type and is determined to avoid the rocker at all costs—even if their attraction runs deeper than simple lust. Just as Hawke might finally be winning over the girl, his brother has other plans. When Hunter realizes his twin finally has a weakness, he’ll stop at nothing to take advantage . . .. Sweet Ache is a rock star romance with a twist. Check out Hawke and Quin’s story HERE.
Hard to Handle: Dekker Kincade’s job is to woo the only man who has ever broken her heart, hockey phenom Hunter Maddox, over to her agency. If getting him signed can help save her family’s business, she’ll swallow her pride and do what’s asked. But sometimes old feelings are hard to forget, and even harder not to act on . . . Click for more.
Combust: Firefighter Grady Malone has met his match when songwriter Dylan McCoy rents a room in house. Dylan needs time to come to grips with walking in on her now ex-boyfriend and her replacement. Grady needs time to recover from a tragedy at work that has scarred him. Together, they just might be what the other needs. Find out by clicking HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary romance novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines and damaged heroes, who we love to hate but can’t help to love.
A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs, sports practices, and figuring out how to navigate parenting teenagers (send more wine!). More often than not, she does all of this with her laptop in tow, and her mind daydreaming of the current hero she is writing.