“I love you,” I sob.
Cole tucks me into his chest and I let the tears fall. I cry for the man who is holding me like I’m a precious gift, for his bandmates, for Logan. I cry just to wash away the drama and the emotions of the last twenty-four hours.
With his words, Cole Hampton just made it impossible for me to ever love anyone else. Never. Not the way that I love him. He’s it for me, and that feels amazing.
These last two weeks have been bittersweet. The crowds have been on point, but none of us are really into it. Wilson was arrested, but of course that fucker made bail. It makes me sick to think that Soul Serenade fans thought we made that happen. That is unfortunately the nature of the beast.
My girl, though, she’s doing great. Her bruises are almost gone except for a few small spots. That’s a relief, considering every time I look at her, at them, it’s a constant reminder of what he did to her. I don’t know what I would have done if it had been worse. More than likely I would have been behind bars with no parole.
After tonight’s show, we’re wheels up until we reach Nashville. It’s going to be good to be home, in my bed. That is as long as Stacy is there with me. I’ve gotten used to sleeping with her tucked in close, and I don’t think I could sleep now without her. She knows I’m committed to her, to us. Beyond that, we’ve not really talked about it.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it, though. I do, every fucking day. I worry about how things will be when we get home. I see her every day, I hold her every night.
I don’t want that to change.
“Hey, man, you look deep in thought,” Kacen says, dropping into the chair beside me.
We’re waiting for our final sound check of the tour. Tonight, we have two local bands opening for us. We’re just waiting for them to finish up.
“Yeah, got a lot on my mind.”
“Wilson?”
“Mostly. The meeting is in two days. Gav says he’s got it handled. He says that I can’t be there, but I need to be, Kacen. I need to look that Cock Sucker in the eye when I knock him the fuck out for touching her. I want to kill him,” I seethe.
“I think it’s best if Gavin and I go. We’ve talked about it. We know what to say. We have a plan. You just hang with the girls while we put the wheels in motion.”
“How do I do that? How do I not defend her? Everything in me tells me that I need to lay his ass out.”
“She needs you, Cole. That’s more important. Trust us to take care of this, to ensure that he gets what’s coming to him.”
“Fuck,” I run my fingers through my hair.
“Focus on your girl. She’s what’s important. We got your back. You can’t hold her in jail,” he warns me.
He’s right. Stacy is all that matters. “That’s the other thing,” I confess.
“I figured.”
“I need the number to the relator you used when you bought your house.”
“Buying, are you?”
I nod. “I want to. It’s time to sell the condo and buy a home. One I hope Stacy will be living in with me.”
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“Getting serious. When you’re single, you look at all the guys who are tied down and wonder what the hell they were thinking. Why pass up new ass every night?” He finishes off his bottle of water in one long gulp. “Then you meet her. The one person you can’t seem to spend enough time with. The one you can’t seem to hold long enough, kiss long enough. That one person makes all those other guys look like fools.”
“Pretty much,” I confirm.
“Good talk.” Kacen laughs as he taps me on the shoulder and walks off.
“Hey!” I yell after him. “I need that number.”
“Check your phone.” He smirks and keeps walking.
Digging my phone out of my pocket, sure enough, he texted me the information for the realtor. I quickly save the contact, type a message, and hit Send. No point in putting this off. I know what I want.
I set up a conference call tomorrow to go over the contract details and gave the realtor some specs for what kind of house I’m looking for. With a little more pep in my step, I make my way backstage. Sound check should be starting soon. Just a few more hours and this tour is over. Our time with Stone Records and our connection with that fucker Wilson will be finished.
Time for new beginnings.
This show, like all the others on this tour, is electric. The crowd is wild, and we as a band are feeding off their energy. As we get ready to sing the last song, Kacen hesitates, and I know it’s because we don’t know what’s next. Everything is changing. We’re starting our own label, so who knows if we’ll tour again.