Having Ivy here had me feeling all sorts of ways. The girl who had inspired all of this without even knowing it was sitting right around the corner.
Completely out of sight.
Zane had worked double time to manage the gossip that spread from the photos we’d taken when I was in Willow Springs. The press had made light of it. Hometown boy seeing an old friend. I didn’t know who spun it like that, but I was glad that Ivy wasn’t receiving a lot of heat over it.
That’s all I cared about.
But things were changing and right now, I wanted to celebrate my girl. I’d flown to Willow Springs and asked her to come back here with me, and she had. Lucy was right. It was time I started trusting my gut. My heart. All of it. I took a long pull from my water bottle as the crowd continued to cheer. I held my hand up and spoke into the microphone.
“So, I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I appreciate you coming on this journey with me,” I said, as they went crazy in response. “There’s a girl, of course…”
The loud screams caused the room to feel like it was shaking. “It’s always about a girl, am I right?”
A few people shouted Jo’s name, and as always, I laughed it off. Time to put these rumors to rest.
“This girl is the first girl that I ever loved,” I purred, “and she’ll be the last.”
The walls were vibrating, and I looked back to see my band members laughing and encouraging me as well. “I wrote a little something new for her, and I thought you might want to hear it?”
The ground was shaking, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Zane with his arms crossed over his chest and his face fuming. I’d rehearsed this song with the group, but Zane didn’t think we should share it just yet as I’d not been gone from Willow Springs that long and he feared it would start up rumors about me and Ivy.
Fuck it.
I’d dealt with rumors for years and they hadn’t even been true. I was fine with a rumor that was actually my reality. And hopefully my future.
“All right, we can do that. But how would you feel if I brought her out here? She could hear it with you for the first time?”
The loud screams had me laughing, and I turned to jog to the side of the stage.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Zane hissed.
“Exactly what I want to do.” I looked past him to where Ivy sat with Rayne and I called her over.
“Ty, what are you doing?”
“I want to sing to you,” I said, cupping the side of her face.
“Oh my gosh. I can’t go out there.” She was shaking her head and chewing on her thumbnail.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” she said. I took her hand and she stayed right behind me as the bright lights flashed all around us. Zack was there with a barstool, and he set it right beside the microphone before kissing her cheek, as the crowd went absolutely wild at her appearance.
“So, this is Ivy. Ivy… this is… everyone.”
Laughter filled the space around me, and my girl handled it like the natural-born rock star that she was. She just waved and bit down on that juicy bottom lip of hers.
I glanced over at Smith and Jo and they started strumming on their instruments.
“You brought me back when I was down, found you in that same small town. Reminded me that lines were crossed. Who I was, my soul not lost. It’s who you are, I always knew. My heart is yours, you know it’s true.”
The music picked up as we got ready for the chorus, and I took her hand. “Always mine, ever mine. Lost in you till the end of time. My heart beats because of you. And now I know our love is true. She’s the girl I came to find. She has my heart, my soul and mind. Changing me from the inside out, I’m a better man with her no doubt.”
Zack jammed on the drums as the fans continued to cheer before I took the mic again. “The road is long, the lessons hard. Worked to the bone, played all the cards. Sold my soul for the devil’s fee. Is this the man I want to be? Digging deep, finding my way. This is not the game I want to play. I see the light and follow you. It’s the only thing I know to do.”
I move closer and step between her legs. Her hand moves to my waist as she looks up at me. “The greenest eyes and auburn hair. Being parted isn’t fair. So I’ll fight to make you mine. Pay the devil, pay the fine. Follow you to the deepest sea. Always yours if you’ll have me.”
I stepped back as the music picked up again for the chorus and the crowd sang along even though they’d only heard the chorus once. It always amazed me how the fans could pick up the lyrics and sing them as if they’d written them themselves.
“Always mine, ever mine. Lost in you till the end of time. My heart beats because of you. And now I know our love is true. She’s the girl I came to find. She has my heart, my soul, and mind. Changing me from the inside out, I’m a better man with her no doubt.”
The lights were flashing all around us and the cheers from the audience were almost deafening. I turned and saw Ivy sitting there with tears streaming down her face. I made my way over to her and kissed her hard before pulling her back down to her feet. She waved out at the fans, though I doubted she could see them because of the bright lights blinding us. I led her back to where she was sitting and Zane stood there, rage evident in his face.
“Now they know. How about you take them out of the corner and let them both sit where they can see us now.”
I kissed Ivy once more and jogged back out onto the stage. I was taking control of my life and it felt damn good.
To say that I’d had a great couple of days with Ivy would be a massive understatement. Everything was better with her here. We’d explored New York together, and she’d come to all three shows with me. She’d flown home this morning, and we had a plan for her to join me next week in Nashville as we’d just arrived here and had a bunch of shows lined up. I wanted her to see my house. To see where my career had gotten started.
The fans were embracing the fact that I’d brought her onstage and I was ready for the whole world to know how much I loved this girl.
I liked the changes that I was making. I felt damn good about the direction things were going and I had the support of my band too. They’d given me a pep talk because today I was having a meeting with the label and Zane to discuss our future tours.
Mr. Jalson was standing at the door when I arrived at his office.
“Ty, it’s nice to see you. Come on in.” He stepped back and Tanner, his son, who was being groomed to take over the business someday, walked over and shook my hand.
“I hear you were sold out at every show in New York. Well done, brother,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder before moving back to his seat.