Laz

Candace rushes into the recording studio, waving her tablet in the air. “Have you guys seen? We are on Billboards Top 100 list! We have another hit song!”

Drea rushes over to her. “Let me see.”

Both of them wave Laycee over to join them, and then the three of them scour the list.

“We’re finally doing it,” Lacey belts out. “The Vixens have officially hit the top.”

“Not yet,” Cam chimes in. “We still have to go after that number one spot. For your first two singles to debut in the top hundred, that's saying something, but there's always room to go up. You guys are all stars, especially you, Candace.” He winks at her, and she grins back at him. “I have no doubt this group is going to go all the way. Don't you think so, Laz?”

“Absolutely.” I agree with him. “I think the ladies are well on their way.”

Drea makes her way over and plops down in my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. “We’ve had a fantastic coach.”

I pull her in close. “Coaching only goes so far if the natural talent isn’t there to be cultivated, and all you ladies are chock-full of it.”

“So what’s our next move to climb up that most-listened-to list?” she asks.

I tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “I’ve been working on something new. Want to hear it?”

She nods. “Of course!”

Drea pushes herself off my lap, and I slide my chair up to the soundboard. I throw a few switches, and the melody I’ve been playing around with for the past few days blasts through the speakers in the studio.

It feels damn good to be back in the studio. This place—this environment—is where my soul is the most happy. It's within the walls of a studio where I can create and find inner peace. I've missed this.

I adjust the base and add a couple of mid-tones to the beat and nod my head along.

“That sounds amazing, babe,” Drea praises.

I glance over and give her a sly smile. “I’ve been told I’m one of the best.”

She bends down and kisses my cheek. “That you are.”

I turn to meet her lips and kiss her long and hard, but before I can take things a little further and heat them up a bit with her, groans commence all around us.

“Get a room,” Cam calls.

I chuckle as I pull Drea back down onto my lap. “Don’t be a hater. I can’t help it. I’m love sick.”

“Sorry, man.” Cam pulls Candace into his arms, and a dreamy expression washes over Candace’s face as she stares up at Cam. “I totally know where you’re coming from.”

I smile because Cam’s persistence paid off after all and he and Candace seem really happy.

After everyone listens to the new song I’ve been working on for The Vixens, they begin trickling out of the room. Soon, I find myself alone with Drea in the quiet studio.

Ever since this woman came into my life, it’s gotten better. She gets me and doesn’t seem fazed by my past. She makes me want to be a better man, and now I can’t imagine myself without her. I’ve found myself smiling a lot more as of late, and in large part, it’s all due to her.

“What’s that look for?” she questions with a smile on her face.

I stand and pull her against me so I can wrap my arms around her. “Can’t I just look at you and smile?”

“You can,” she confirms. “But you’ve got an ornery twinkle in your eye that makes me think you’ve got something up your sleeve.”

“Damn. You’re getting pretty good at reading me.”

She bites her bottom lip as she tugs on the hem of my T-shirt. “Out with it then. What’s going on in that big, beautiful brain of yours?”

“I have a song I want to sing to you,” I admit. “It’s one I’ve had in my head for a while.” I pause. “What do you say? You in?”

“With you? Always.”

Hearing her say that fills my heart with more love than I ever knew it could hold, and it solidifies that what I’m about to do next is the right thing.

I reach down and set the acoustic track I had programmed on a loop and then take Drea by the hand. “Come into the booth with me. I want to lay down some tracks.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Now?”

“Yep. No time like the present.”

I lead her inside the booth and shut the door behind us. Once she’s in front of a microphone stand, she pops on the headphones. I follow suit and stand at the one next to her as put earphones on.

“Ready?” I ask.

She nods as she sets her eyes on me, watching my every move intently with her amazing brown eyes. “This sounds familiar.”

I press my index finger to my lips, not wanting to ruin the emotion I’m about to put in these lyrics as I sing them back to her just in case she knows the words.

When the beginning of the song comes around, I take a deep breath and stare into her eyes while I bare my soul to her with this song.

* * *

DREA

Laz takes my hand as he turns just a bit on the mic so he can gaze into my eyes and sing. The melody is a slight bit different, but the moment the first verse leaves his mouth, I recognize it immediately. “Bless the Broken Road” is one of those songs that you can feel the emotion of.

It’s song about a man who traveled a hellish path to finally come to happiness with a woman he loves.

Laz’s blue eyes hold mine, and nothing but sincerity stares back at me. His voice is smooth and wraps around me, causing goose bumps to pepper my flesh.

Tears burn my eyes as the words touch my heart, reminding me of everything I’ve overcome in my life to be here by Laz’s side.

Everything feels right in the world.

I’m finally where I’m supposed to be, surrounded by people who love me and who I love.

I love this man for so many reasons. He makes me want to be better and pushes me to keep moving forward even when I’m afraid. Life is better with him.

Tears fall freely down my cheeks, and Laz reaches up and wipes them away as he sings the last line of how his dark past led him to this moment—right here. Right now. I’m overcome with the beauty of Laz pouring his heart out to me. No one has ever opened up to me like this before.

He pulls his headphones off and reaches over and gingerly removes mine.

“Did you mean all that?” I ask in a shaky whisper.

Laz cradles my face in his hands. “Every word. My past is insane, and I don’t deserve someone like you, but I’m grateful to have you in my life. You’re everything to me, and I can’t see myself living one day in this fucked-up world without you.” He pauses and swallows hard. “I love you, Drea. Now and always.”

“I love you too.”

I wait for him to lean in and kiss me, but instead, he bites his bottom lip as he attempts to hold back a smile. “I’m happy to hear you say that because I feel like my chances are pretty good here to get the answer I want now.”

Without warning, Laz pulls back and then drops to one knee.

My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh, my God. Laz …”

He reaches into the front pocket of his jean and pulls the diamond wedding band he typically wears around his neck and then holds it up to me. I recognize it instantly and remember him telling me that his adoptive mother’s dying wish was for Laz to give this ring to the woman he wanted to spend his life with. “Marry me?”

I drop down in front of him and hold his face in my hands as tears fall from my eyes. “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”

I press my lips to his and know this is just the beautiful beginning to our forever.