The sound engineer is a Mountain Dew addict, the lighting manager has a proclivity for sneaking a sip from his hip flask every thirty minutes (I’ll keep an eye on him), and Zoe’s been on Tinder all afternoon locking in her afterwork plans.

“Hey, man,” I hear behind me. I step aside as the sound crew walks past on their way to the stage.

“Jimmy, Shane, Blaze,” I say with an accompanying nod. The murmur from the packed crowd rises a notch when they notice the sudden flurry of action on stage. I return my focus backstage, seeing, listening, taking it all in. Even with the constant stream of information flowing into my brain, my thoughts stray to Autumn and the argument she had with Cody.

I thought she was finally putting her foot down, but then Jensen dropped by her dressing room with a dozen red roses and an apologetic look—both gone when he emerged thirty minutes later with a shit-eating grin on his face. Autumn fell for the sappy speeches and promises that will be broken, and for the hundredth time, I wonder when she’s going to see through the man’s bullshit.

Behind me, the lights dim and the crowd goes wild. I turn and watch Bella Cruz, a solo act from Austin and Autumn’s opener, take the stage. The crowd grows silent when the first few notes of her flawless voice hit them, but they’ve recovered enough by the chorus to let out a huge cheer that shakes the rafters.

Damn, that girl can sing.

I’m so entranced that the buzz of my phone sends a jolt of adrenaline through me. Zoe’s name flashes across the screen.

After my initial security briefing with Autumn’s team, Zoe had suggested we have code names that were “dog breeds based on our personalities.” She was an Aussie, colorful with a bit of sass, Autumn a husky, a bit of a loner but fiercely loyal to her pack, and I was a timber wolf. When I pointed out that wolves technically aren’t dogs, Zoe brushed my argument aside, saying “Well, you’re no wiener dog.” A few suggestive eyebrow wiggles accompanied that comment, which I ignored.

My phone buzzes again as I step into the hall leading backstage.

Oh yeah, Zoe included Jensen in the group. Mini Doberman pinscher—all bark, no bite.

Before I can text back, Autumn and Zoe round the corner, followed closely by her bassist Karl, drummer Barry, and steel guitarist Grayson. Autumn barely meets my eyes as she brushes past me. Zoe hangs back instead of following everyone backstage. “Did you get my text?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t seen him.”

“Can you find him?”

“I should have Autumn in my sight this close to the show. She’s the client, not Jensen.”

“I know.” Zoe’s fingers begin to rap against her thigh. “But see, Autumn’s out of it. She’s distracted, jumpy.”

“And you think Jensen will help? They fought earlier.”

“And then made up.” She leans a hip against the doorframe. “I’m out of options, and the show’s going to suck if Autumn doesn’t get her head out of the clouds.”

“Zoe,” an unmistakable voice calls from behind us, “could you come here?”

Zoe straightens with a sigh. “I’m being summoned. Just let me know if you spot Mini Pin.”

I run a hand through my hair as she turns to go. “Wait. Let me talk to her.”

Zoe perks up. “Really?”

I regret the offer the moment it leaves my lips. I had vowed to stay away from charged conversations with Autumn. They lead me down a rabbit hole of emotions I had stuffed away in a dark corner years ago.

I look past Zoe where Autumn’s pacing at the top of the stairs. I know I’m caught. I could never leave Autumn hurting.

“Yeah,” I say with more confidence than I have.

Her bright hair sways as she flourishes a hand in front of her. “Then be my guest!”

The closer I get to the music star wearing a path in the floor with her boots, the more unsure I am about being able to fix this. Furrowed brow, lips tugged down into a scowl, shoulders tense—all signs point to a blowup the minute I open my mouth. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

I pause at the top of the stairs. Autumn doesn’t seem to notice me. “Are you okay?”

“No. The show’s about to start and I have to follow that.” She motions at Bella tearing up the stage with her perfect notes. “I told Cody I’d give this dancing thing a try, but I don’t know anymore. Going out there without my guitar just feels wrong.” Autumn buries her face in her hands. “Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut and gone along with Sunny’s plans. Everyone seems to want me to, so why am I fighting it?”

I know I vowed to stay away, but the vulnerable look on Autumn’s face slices through my defenses like a knife, burying itself in my heart before twisting painfully.

My mammoth hands blot out hers as I ease them from her face and nestle them between my palms. “Never apologize for standing up for yourself. You have every right to be angry when someone messes with your act.”

The perfect planes of her face shift from a frown to a half-smile. “You don’t think I overreacted earlier?”

“No.” I give her hands a squeeze and pull back slowly, trying to ignore how soft her skin feels against my palms. “And if it’s worth anything, I think you should play.”

She snorts in disbelief. “It’s not that easy.”

“Yes, it is. How long have I known you?”

She gives a tired laugh that’s still beautiful to my ears. “Forever.”

“And what do you love?”

“To sing and play and—” She stops as Zoe’s voice calls out a ten-minute warning. “Dammit, I’m running out of time.”

Against my better judgement, I close the gap between us. “You may be Autumn Hart to the world, but you’ll always be Hartman to me, and that badass star doesn’t let anything come between her and her music. You are your guitar, remember that.”

Autumn’s silent for a long moment, then reaches for her cowgirl hat. I know what my girl’s gonna do without having to ask.

Zoe appears at Autumn’s side. “You’re on in two.” She waves her hand in front of the music star’s shining eyes. “Earth to Autumn?”

Autumn bats her assistant’s hand away before heading for the mass of instruments behind us. “Tell the band I’m playing tonight while I grab my guitar.”

Zoe gapes after her. “Yes, ma’am!”

Exactly two minutes later, Autumn follows her band on stage, guitar in hand, megawatt smile plastered on her face, and waves at the crowd. Their answering roar shakes the very ground beneath my feet. I knew Autumn was famous, but this is something else: pure love pours out from the audience, bathing the object of their affection in a serenade of cheers and applause.

Autumn waits for the cacophony to slow. It doesn’t. With a shrug and a giddy look over her shoulder, Autumn nods to her drummer.

Click, click, click!

The band bursts into song after the last slap of Barry’s drumsticks. The crowd picks up the beat instantly, swaying and clapping along as they wait for Autumn to woo them with her vocals.

“Oh I’ve fallen, where’d ya go? ’Cause, baby, I’ve looked high and low. When I’m about to say goodbye, that’s when you show up and cry.”

Autumn strums out a few fast-paced chords, and then leans away from the mic to let the crowd sing the last line.

“Oh, baby doll, how I love you!”

Her foot taps along with the crowd as they clap to the beat.

“So you found new ways to break my heart. But, honey, maybe I’ve grown up.” She turns and grins at her band. “Got thicker skin and toughened up…”

“What the hell?” Cody storms up the backstage steps. His normally composed face is red as he glares at Autumn on stage. Cody turns his glare on me as he steps forward. “Can someone tell me why she is holding a guitar and not shimmying around the stage?”

I go utterly still at Cody’s use of words. “Let me give you a word of advice, Jenson: I wouldn’t say the word ‘shimmy’ around Hartman. If you value your working relationship, that is.”

Cody’s eyes flash. He whirls around and gives me his back. I earn an impressed look from Zoe before I turn my attention back to the music star singing her heart out on stage.

I know how I’m supposed to feel about my best friend. I’m supposed to love her the way a guy loves his little sister, to watch over her and hope she finds some safe guy in the suburbs instead of a beat-up ex-SEAL like me. And I’m definitely supposed to be blind to the way Autumn has filled out over the years. But even knowing all those things, I can’t stop my mind from thinking about how soft she’d feel if I held her like I’ve dreamed.

I've made up a million reason about why I broke my promise to stay in touch years ago, but I knew what they are: lies. I wanted something that Autumn couldn't give me, and when my responses to her letters slowed and eventually stopped, Autumn did the only thing she could: leave me behind like I left her.

It took us years to come back to each other. A Christmas here, a summer BBQ there when we were passing through town at the same time. Soon a phone call every few months, then a few more, and finally that offer that brought me to Nashville.

I'm yanked out of the past as the steel guitarist finishes his last twang. Autumn throws her hands in the air to ask the crowd for help on the last verse. They give a loud cheer and take her up on the offer.

“Because my heart don’t break no more!”

* * *

Autumn

My heart nearly bursts from happiness as I strum the final chord of my last song. I’m never more at peace than with my hands on a guitar and a mic at my lips.

I’m grinning like a maniac, shaking with a mixture of joy and nerves as I bow and unplug my guitar from the amp. “Thank you, Memphis! We had a great time with y’all tonight, and we’ll be back soon!”

The crowd roars their approval, clapping and stomping with such gusto that I’m surprised the roof doesn’t fall down on us all. I place my guitar on its stand, give one final bow, and follow my band offstage. I’m floating on air as the lights dim behind us, riding the wave of adrenaline that comes from giving a show to a packed house.

Of the mass of people waiting for me, my eyes immediately find the one person I’m dying to see.

“What a show, you were right, Bry!” He stiffens as I wrap my arms around his chest. I lean back and grin up wildly at him. “Thank you for talking some sense into me. What would I do without you?”

“I don’t know,” comes a cold voice to my right. I whip around and meet the icy stare of my boyfriend. He holds up his hand as I push away from Bryce. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to pry you from the arms of your man.”

My post-show glow begins to fade as I catch the glare Cody directs at Bryce. “Babe, stop it. You know we’re just friends.”

“Right. That’s why you threw yourself into his arms like a lovesick groupie.”

Before I can even think of how to answer, Cody turns and stomps down the stairs. An all-too-familiar throbbing begins in my temples and sweeps down my neck.

“Whoa, there…” Strong arms catch me as I sway to one side. With incredible gentleness and care, I’m led over to a bar stool and eased onto it. “Are you alright?”

I look up and meet Bryce’s worried eyes. “I’ll be fine. Soon.”

Bryce crouches down next to me as I fill my lungs with air, and he holds out his hand. With Cody’s words fresh in my mind, I shrink away from him, noticing for the first time that my band’s gathered at the curtain.

The encore!

Zoe comes over as I grab my head and groan. “You dying, boss?”

“I feel like my head’s about to explode,” I grumble through my fingers.

She nods at Bryce. “Can you help her back to her dressing room? These headaches have the habit of turning nasty fast.”

Bryce’s arms are around my shoulder before I can say no. I stand up and shake him off. “Wait. I have an encore to give before I can crawl into bed and ignore reality.”

“Hartman,” Bryce murmurs, his voice low and tight with concern. My eyes take on a will of their own, raising from the ground to meet his. I forgot all about trying to act normal as I stare into their depths. They’re bottomless like they could swallow the world.

Something stirs in me, something wild and potent that I had locked away a long time ago, and I realize that all these years apart haven’t changed a thing. I still can’t imagine any place I’d rather be than gazing up at this man.

The sound of my fans begging for more songs tethers me back to reality, just in the nick of time, too. I’m not sure I could’ve pulled my gaze from Bryce’s chiseled face without a damn good reason.

“I’m sure,” I say firmly, heading for the stage.

The volume of the crowd hits me like a brick wall when I leave the sheltered alcove. I steal one last look back at Bryce as I walk out under the bright lights, hating the way my heart flutters as we lock eyes. Then I push everything out of my head and focus on the one thing that’s never been complicated for me: music.