“I liked that you didn’t know who I was. It meant that you weren’t after me for the things everyone’s always after. The money and the fame. I wanted you to want me despite those things. Without those things.”
“Of course I wanted you for you, but you could have told me.”
“I would have. I was about to. I was waiting for the right time.”
“Travis,” someone says, interrupting us. But I glance over at his family, who are all watching our exchange with interest, and I see a different expression on their faces now, like I’ve just reassured them about a detail they were wondering about. An important one. Maybe I’ve just confirmed to them that I’m not a gold digging groupie who’s only after him for his money.
“It’s time,” one of the sound guys says.
Travis takes my face gently between his rough hands and he kisses me. Deeply. I’m a little shocked that he would kiss me like this in front of his family. “Don’t go anywhere, darlin’. I need you right here. Don’t be mad at me, all right? I’ll make it up to you. Roxie, don’t let her out of your sight.”
The way they’re all watching him and sending each other bemused glances makes me think Travis’s behavior is unusual and out of character. “Sure thing, Travis.”
Vaughn’s eyebrows lift and he gives his brother a sardonic grin. “Shit,” he murmurs, shaking his head as he laughs softly.
Roxie steers Travis towards the stage. “Just go. Go on. Sing your heart out and I’ll make sure Ruby is right here when you’re done.”
Travis kisses me again, more slowly than maybe this moment calls for, then he turns and walks onto the stage, slinging his guitar into place. Kade straps on his bass and Vaughn steps up to take a seat behind his gigantic drum set.
The crowd goes absolutely wild.
Travis stands at the microphone. The spotlight shines on his hair. Even if I’m still angry that he neglected to tell me some glaringly major details about his life, in this moment, I can only watch him in awe. He looks like a god, with his halo and his tall, lean body. If I ever tried to dream up perfection, it wouldn’t look nearly as good as Travis Tucker looks right now.
He strums one chord. The crowd quiets by a degree and Travis starts to sing.
You’re my wild, wild girl and I know what you like. Let’s go for a ride on a hot summer night.
Holy shit.
It’s the song.
The one from the radio. The one I’ve been humming and using for inspiration and getting turned on by, all this time. Since the first time I heard it.
It’s Travis’s song.
And as he sings it to this crowd of seventy thousand adoring fans, I can hear in his voice—even if I’m imagining it but somehow I don’t think I am—that he’s singing that song to me.
Got you in my arms, babe, feels so good and so right. I’ll hold you close all the hot summer night.
This realization makes my eyes sting. Because I’m in awe of his talent and his beauty. Because I love the song and the way he’s singing it right now.
When he hits the last note the crowd erupts. “Thanks for coming out tonight, Nashville. It’s good to be home for our last show of the tour.” Girls in the mosh pit are pushed up against the stage, crying and screaming I love you, Travis and Marry me, Travis.
Wow.
In this setting it’s sort of hard to process the fact that he’s mine. I don’t know how far it extends or how long it’s going to last—and I swore to myself I’d take the time to discover my own path before I committed to anyone else’s. But in at least one way Travis Tucker is mine and he always will be. He’s my first. He’s in me. His essence is a part of me and I can feel it.
And I decide to forgive him. I guess you would wonder if a person wanted to be with you because of the fame and the money. I guess he was making sure. One thing I do know is that, if anything, this will make things harder between us. In some ways, I would have preferred to keep him all to myself.
He’s mine.
Don’t you go falling in love with him, Ruby Hayes.
Maybe I already have.
But that would be crazy. First, I haven’t known him long enough to fall in love with him. Second, I’m not a romance-addict like my two older sisters, whose sole mission in life was always to have a boyfriend and get married and have babies and be taken care of. Not me. That was never me. I wanted to take care of myself, while meanwhile taking the world by storm.
It’s a lot to think about. Especially as I watch him on stage. He was clearly born for this. He’s cool and beautiful and his voice is to die for. He deserves every ounce of their adoration.
Roxie brings me a stool to sit on. She’s busy with the sound crew but she stays nearby as I watch Travis and his brothers. They’re incredibly good. They’re real musicians. Their sound is fresh and original while still walking the commercial line. All three of them are dazzlingly talented, with a rocket-fueled energy and a stage presence that could only be described as mesmerizing. It also doesn’t hurt that all three of them are also drop-dead gorgeous.
Time flies as they play for several hours and do two encores.
“That’s their last song,” Roxie tells me.
And then Travis does something I’m not at all prepared for.
“I have to apologize to ya’ll for being late tonight,” he says to seventy thousand fans, “but I think you’ll forgive me when you understand the reason why. I’m about to show you.” I see Kade shoot Vaughn a confused look. The massive audience cheers for their idol. At first I think I’m imagining it but then I hear it again. The first three chords of the first song I sang for him, on the bench by my window under a full moon.
“What’s he doing?” Roxie says.
“I don’t know,” I tell her.
But I do know.
Don’t do this, Travis. Please don’t do this. I’m not ready.
“See, the thing is, I’ve got a new friend and she has the prettiest voice you’ve ever heard.” Travis plays the chords again. “Ruby, come on out here. Come and sing a song with me.”
Travis. No.
“You sing?” Roxie asks.
I can’t even answer her. My heart is pounding in my chest.
“Come on out here, darlin’. Don’t be shy. Roxie, send her out.”
Holy hell.
I’m frozen.
“Ruby,” says Roxie. “I don’t know what he’s doing, but I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer.”
Can I do this?
But then I realize I can.
This is it. My first audition.
So I take a deep breath. I stand up and I smooth my dress. Then I take that first step and keep going.
I walk out to him.
He’s smiling at me and has this tender look in his sparked eyes that makes me almost forget that seventy thousand people are watching me.
A hush falls over the murmuring hum of the crowd. The lights dim except for two spotlights. One on me and one on him.
Someone whistles.
Travis makes room for me at the microphone, lowering it just a little so I can reach it easily.
“This is Ruby Hayes,” he says into it. To me: “You ready?”
It’s strange: I am ready. I feel weirdly like I’m home. Like this stage, with him, is exactly where I belong. I nod and he starts playing and we sing the song I sang for him in the moonlight. Our voices dance around each other, entwining in the crazy night. It’s the most amazing thing that has ever happened.