Chapter Thirty-Seven
Six Weeks Later
Owen
I faked air guitar as Jeremiah strummed the last bit of the song, the crowd going insane. After months on the road, I was kind of glad to see the tour draw to a close. We’d had a fantastic run, and now it was time to go home.
No more touring, no more late nights, and no more of the hassles and frustration that being on the road brought with it. We were going to take a break after tonight, perhaps a long break.
It had definitely been a wild ride, and I was beyond happy that we'd done it and pulled it off so smoothly. We were back on top, and we were all over the press and the internet. To top it off, album sales had shot up as a result. People really loved our new music, too, it seemed, even though it was a bit different from the old stuff they were used to.
For our final song, it was time for something really different.
“Thank you, Chicago!” I shouted out. “We have one more song for you tonight, and it’s a special one. But first, I need a very special person to sing it to.”
The crowd went wild with women and girls alike jumping up and down for me to pick them. Not that their enthusiasm mattered. I already had a woman in mind, the one woman who had toughed it out and gone back on the road with us.
True to my word, I had allowed her to do her job, sitting back and watching her work her magic for the last two months. During our downtime on the bus and free hours in the hotels, she and I had worked closely together on writing some new material for her album.
Despite the fact that over the past two months we had stuck to our agreement to keep things strictly professional between us, I had never felt so strongly about any woman as I had about her. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I wanted her in my life. Nalia was my other half. She just didn’t know it yet. She had turned out to be the kind of woman who I thought couldn't exist outside of the realm of dreams—except she did exist. She was real.
In spite of what was probably expected of me, I hadn’t fallen for some wild child, rock groupie. I had fallen in love with the girl next door, the girl that had me thinking about settling down, getting married, and raising a family. I had come to understand why rockers left the music scene to have another life outside of the craziness. While the fame was kickass, and the excitement and adrenaline were addictive, I had grown to prefer spending a quiet night with Nalia, going over scales for one of her beautiful songs, instead of partying or making appearances to maintain my rocker persona.
“I know I’ve kept you all waiting,” I finally said to the crowd, looking over at the wings of the stage, knowing she was standing there, “but I won’t make you wait any longer. Nalia, will you join me on stage? Everyone, welcome Ms. Nalia Dean!”
She shook her head as I motioned to her, a smile on her beautiful face. “Come on. Don’t be shy. Nalia, Nalia!” I shouted into the mic, getting the crowd behind me to chant out her name.
Finally, she walked out, embarrassment written all over her face. It was adorable. I gave her a grin and pulled her close for a tight, reassuring hug. “This is Nalia everyone. Nalia, say hi.”
“Hi,” she said into the mic shyly. The crowd started waving and shouting, and I grinned, pulling the mic back toward me. “Tonight is a very special night. It’s our last night on tour, and I thought we would end the show just a little bit differently.”
I turned toward Nalia and looked into her eyes, hoping she could see the love that was reflected in mine. It had been the hardest two months of my life keeping my distance and respecting the fact that we both needed some space to see if this was real. At least, on my end, it felt damn real. More real than anything I’d ever known. I just hoped that she felt the same way.
I nodded over her shoulder, and the band struck up a song we had been working on, one that reminded me of her. “This is called ‘Beautiful Disaster,’” I said, keeping my gaze on her. She blushed under the attention, and I launched into the lyrics, singing them from my heart.
“There was a time I couldn’t tell which way was up
but then you waltzed into town,
turned my whole world upside down.
You showed me love, you showed me grace,
now every day I want to chase
the love I never knew that I was after.
All I want is this beautiful disaster
that has me acting like a fool
because I’m so in love with you.
I want to be your happy ever after.
My beautiful disaster.”
Her eyes widened, and I held onto her, hoping she understood what I was trying to say. I sang the rest of the song, never breaking eye contact with her until the last note had finished.
“Please, give me another chance,” I said softly, holding my hand over the mic. “Just one more chance, that's all I'm asking for. If you’ll give me that, I’ll give you anything.”
“Oh, Owen,” she murmured, reaching her hands up to rest on each side of my face. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
I beamed, leaning down to press my lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss that shook every cell in my body. I pulled back, still smiling at her, then turned to the crowd, uncovering the mic. “Well, what did ya think?”
The crowd erupted into a frenzy, and I laughed, mainly because I was so damn happy. Nalia laughed, as well, and I hugged her before releasing her, kissing her on the cheek. “How about another round of applause for Nalia everyone? Oh, and by the way, she's an amazing piano player. Would you like to hear her?”
They cheered as I looked over at Jeremiah, who was already moving the keyboard in place. The guys and I had already talked about it earlier, about giving Nalia her first real chance to wow the crowd. We all knew she could do it, she just had to take that first step—and what better time than the present?
She looked shocked as the guys placed the keyboard a few feet from her. I pushed her toward it. “This is your chance,” I whispered into her ear. “Knock 'em out cold.”
“I-I can’t,” she protested as I sat her down on the stool.
I kissed her forehead, which elicited another cheer from the crowd. “You can, I promise. I know you can. Just do what you do best, and they won’t know what hit them. You're going to be awesome, babe.”
She swallowed, flexing her fingers, and I stepped back, swelling with pride as I waited for her to blow them away.
The first few notes filled the crowded venue, and the crowd immediately fell silent, Nalia’s concentration on the keys as her hands began to fly over them was mesmerizing. I closed my eyes and allowed the notes to wash over me, thinking of how damn lucky I was to have found her when I did.
She didn’t know it, but she’d saved me. She’d saved me from myself. Saved me from a lifetime of searching for something to fill a void that I now understood only she could fill.
This woman was my beautiful disaster. She’d come into my life like a whirlwind and completely rearranged everything, shown me that what I thought was a perfect life needed to a little calamity. And, it was indeed beautiful. I didn’t plan on letting her go, ever.
I watched from the edge of the stage where I had moved to so that she was front and center. She finished the last notes, and for a moment, the crowd remained silent. But then they erupted into wild cheers, and I knew exactly what they were feeling. It was the awe I’d felt the first time I heard her play.
Looking stunned, she rose from the stool and bowed, her cheeks blooming with excitement. They loved her, but not even close to as much as I did.