Forever Red (38 page)

“You sure you’re going to be okay watching them?” Cort asked me again as I handed her the bowl of popcorn and settled onto the couch next to her.

I sighed. “Yes, I’m sure.” We always watched the Grammy’s together. The performances were usually amazing. The host was funny. The women were beautiful and we drooled over their dresses. And the men weren’t bad eye candy, either.

We always watched the CMA’s together, too, though. Last November, I hadn’t been up for it; my break-up was still too fresh, my loss of Neil too painful to spend the night watching the Country Music Awards. I’d watched him with his date for years and I just didn’t have the stomach for it then.

Tonight, I was okay. He was scheduled to appear, performing with his band. Molly was presenting so I had a sinking suspicion we’d see him walking the red carpet with her. She wasn’t up for any awards; she’d become an overnight sensation and I knew next year would be her year. But I was okay. I was surviving and it wasn’t going to kill me to see them together.

I hadn’t been wrong. Molly Ray and Nate Kelly were nabbed by every reporter as they walked into the theater as if they owned it. She looked absolutely stunning in a black dress that seemed to show each of her tattoos. Nate was rocking a completely black tux and dark shades in place, his face unreadable. His hand never left the small of her back, but when asked about their relationship, she shook her head. “We’re just really great friends.”

I knew that, of course, but the tabloids had gone crazy in December after Nate was in some barroom brawl with Mikey. Molly, in an interview that just happened to come out a few days later, publically announced that they were not a couple. Even
People
claimed that Nate’s temper and drinking were too much for Molly to handle and she had to call it quits. I shook my head after reading the headline, for once, not buying a magazine that talked about him.

I had lived the drama for too long. I didn’t need to read about it. Especially when I knew it was all lies.

Neil smiled at the reporter, and before leading Molly away, told her that he and his band had a new video coming out the next day and that everyone should watch for it. I didn’t even know they had a new song, let alone a new video. I knew what I’d be doing as soon as I got home from work.

Cort and I got lost in the magic of the show, almost forgetting about Nate completely. Then they announced Nate Kelly and the ‘Bama Boys. As the spotlights lit each of my friends, it almost hurt to see them. They looked good. And Finn was back, playing bass right next to Neil, leaving Noah kicking ass on slide guitar. I tried not to look at Neil, but as the first few notes of the song started, my eyes found him immediately. He’d changed into a red tee and jeans.

“All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go. I’m standing here, outside your door.”

“Really?” Cort asked, surprised. “They’re not even singing one of their songs? Is John Denver being honored tonight? Like getting the Lifetime Achievement or something?”

I shook my head, not knowing. But he was singing my song. In a way, that made me wonder if there was more to his song selection. If anyone else questioned it, nothing was said. 

I was exhausted, but I forced myself to stay up. I wanted to see Molly present, offering her my support, even if it was just subliminal. Courtney stayed up with me, mostly because she’d decided to hate Molly and wanted to see what she was wearing.

So when they announced Nate’s name again for another performance, we both sat up in surprise. All my sleepiness disappeared when a single dim light lit the stage and we could just see Boone, sitting at a Piano. Sia started singing a version of her song Chandelier that I’d never heard. With just the piano, it was slow.

She’d only been singing a few seconds, just getting to the first “One, two three, one two three, drink” when another dim spotlight showed over Neil, wearing all black, causing a few shrieks from the audience as he mixed his low voice with hers in a way that gave me goose bumps. I was easily his biggest fan, and I’d heard him in person more than the average person, but this was the best I’d ever seen him. The audience must have agreed; they got a standing ovation and more applause than anyone had all night.

“Holy shit, CeCe.” Courtney’s eyes were wide. “Did you know he could sing like that?”

I smiled and nodded. I had. He thought Molly’s world had blown up – but Nate Kelly was about to be even bigger than he’d been before. And, I was so fucking proud of him.

*****

My phone started vibrating before my alarm went off. By vibrating, I mean it went crazy. It was blowing up. I wondered in that haze of sleep if it was possessed. I grabbed it before I could even check the number. “You need to Google Nate’s name right now.” Nina’s voice screeched in my ear.

“Neens,” I mumbled, “I’m sleeping.”

“No, do it now!” she insisted.

I didn’t have a chance to sit up before Cort burst through the door, carrying her tablet. “You need to see this!” she exclaimed, jumping up next to me.

It was music video. A crappy, low budget one from the looks of things. The camera focused on a plane landing. Then a door that looked – to my sleep-filled mind – eerily like my front door. When I saw Neil standing in front of said door, though, I sat up and yanked the screen from my friend’s hands.

He was singing my song again. This time, he’d changed the words. Instead of “
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye,” he sang, “I have to wake you up because I didn’t say goodbye.” And he changed “babe” to “Red.”

I was wrong. The video wasn’t crappy at all. It was stunning. Filmed in front of my apartment, in a cab, and finally, in the airport – it was very simple but beautiful. The only time the band joined him was in the airport, and then it was just my boys – Noah, wearing his stupid Betty Rubble tee, on bass, Billy on drums, Rhett on fiddle, and Reb on guitar. The rest of the time, it was just Neil, wearing jeans, a pair of sneakers, his hat on backward, and a red shirt.

It had been uploaded to the band’s YouTube account this morning.

The video ended with a very simple message, scrolling across the screen.

I never said goodbye. So kiss me and smile for me, tell me that you waited for me. Promise me you’ll never let me go. ‘Cause, I’ll love you forever, Red. And I want you to wear my wedding ring.

I made Courtney watch it with me four more times, me crying more each time. Finally, I hung up on Nina and made the call.

“Red?” His voice wasn’t groggy, and he didn’t sound tired. For someone that had been up until God knows what time at after parties, he should have been exhausted.

“It’s beautiful.” I closed my eyes, annoyed that
that
was the first thing I said to him in months.

“Not as beautiful as you. God, I’m so fucking sorry.” He paused. “I love you.”

“I love you.” The words stumbled out before I could even think. “I don’t even know where to go from here.”

“Well, you get outa bed, walk to your door, and let me in before your neighbors realize I’m standing in the hall.”

I squeaked in surprise, running out into the kitchen and yanking the door open.

He looked at me with the same look he’d given me the day of that first homecoming game a hundred years before, like I was the only girl in the entire world. “Then,” he murmured as he pulled me into his arms, “you let me spend the rest of my life loving you.”

I could do that. I nodded, pulling him to me and wrapping him in a hug. I didn’t want to miss another minute. I wanted forever.

The amount of shutterbugs assembled on the road outside my property was ridiculous. I’d never seen that many people there, waiting to grab a picture of me – not even when I’d made worldwide headlines for the brawl we’d had with a couple of Dallas Cowboys. If there were that many here today for just the rehearsal, I didn’t want to think about how many would be hanging around tomorrow for the actual wedding. Thankfully, the property was fenced off and the there was a mini-mountain between the road and my house, keeping them from getting any money shots.

Noah and I drove through the gate and started up the hill before I realized something was wrong. Very wrong. There were people everywhere. People I didn’t know. Lia had told me that it was a circus, but I hadn’t realized just how big of a mess it was.

This was not the quiet, small, low-key event that we’d wanted. I groaned and looked over at my little brother, who was shaking his head, just as appalled as I was. There were vans and trucks blocking the way, forcing us to park at the lower garage and walk up to the house.

No one paid any attention to us, all too focused on their tasks at hand. As we climbed the steps up onto the porch, we had to step around a very irritated woman hanging ribbon along the railing. I rolled my eyes when she shot me the nastiest look known to humankind – as if I was interrupting her day. Lia was probably going out of her mind.

April practically pounced on me as soon as I was through the door. “You’re late!”

I glanced from her agitated face to the clipboard in her hand and raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no, I’m not. We would have been here earlier if it weren’t for them.” I motioned out my window. “What the fuck is that?”

She only shrugged. “They’re the prep team.”

“Prep team?” Noah asked, skepticism in his voice. “Did Mom join a doomsday cult?” He winked at me when April grunted in disgust. “What? Wouldn’t put it past her.”

“Show some respect!” April hissed.

“Respect is earned, May. She hasn’t done shit to earn my respect lately.” To say Noah was angry with our mother was an understatement. He was beyond pissed off. She’d meddled one time too many for his liking, inviting people that had no business being here. And we both knew she wasn’t done. “Where’s my girl?” he asked, causing April’s eyebrows to disappear under her dark bangs. She glanced from Noah to me and then back to Noah before shaking her head and sighing.

“Last I checked, you were too much of a loser to have a girl. But if you mean Lia, I’m actually not sure. She’s hiding somewhere.”

“Hiding?” I didn’t like the sound of that. “Why would she be hiding? Everyone will be here soon.”

April nodded. Then she lifted her hand and pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “If your mom doesn’t lay off soon, I’m going to join Lia.”

“I’ll go find her.” I left the two of them, drowning out their arguments as I took the stairs two at a time. Lia wasn’t upstairs in our bedroom or in the spare. She wasn’t down in the recording studio. She wasn’t on the back porch or in the loft of the barn. I stopped in the middle of the yard, turning slowly, trying to determine where she might have gone. Inspiration struck and I headed down over the hill.

The tour bus was backed into its spot in the big barn, the one that was built just for it, concealed away from the rest of the world. As soon as I walked into the building, I heard the music. I smiled, knowing I’d found her; it was a brilliant hiding place and no one else would think to look here.

She didn’t hear the door open or me climb the stairs, and I took advantage of the surprise and stood, watching her. She was so fucking beautiful that it made my heart swell with pride knowing that she was mine. She’d grown out her hair over the last few months, had light auburn streaks mixed in around the dark ones that was piled on her head, showcasing her long neck.

Curled up on one end of the couch with her foot tapping along to the music on the top 40 station, her stunning face was scrunched in concentration as she stared at the magazine in front of her. She turned the page, narrowing her eyes, obviously irritated by something she’d read. Then, dark blue eyes met mine briefly before she glanced back down at the magazine.

Doing a double take, her body jerked a little in surprise and her hand smacked against her chest; as her eyes met mine again, she gave me a sexy smile. “Jesus, Neil! You scared me!” I chuckled and moved into the room, switching off the music as her brows furrowed. “What in the hell are you wearing?”

I looked down, forgetting for a minute. When I looked back up, she was grinning. I shrugged. “Wedding present. It’s for me to wear tonight.”

That made her giggle as she jumped from the couch and into my open arms. “You’re really going to wear that to your bachelor party?” She poked at my black tee shirt that proudly screamed to the world: #Reds4Ever.

“Hell yeah!” I spun us, sitting on the couch and pulling her onto my lap. “All the guys have them. It may be a bachelor party, but I want the world to know I’m taken.”

When Courtney told me about the shirt she had made for Mike, and the one she wanted to make for me, I’d thought it was hilarious. Never one to let an opportunity walk away, Nikki decided that every one of my band members should wear one to my last hurrah as a single man.

I’d said no, not a chance in hell. I didn’t want to draw any more attention than we’d already be getting. Nikki believed that if we were wearing these shirts, though, every woman we’d come in contact with would snap a picture and post it to Twitter, using the hashtag from the shirt. That way, she’d argued, the bottom feeders of the journalism world wouldn’t be able to skew any photos they took and create drama. And then Lia, if she wanted, could follow along and see exactly how I spent my last night of freedom.

“I’d say that would definitely do it.” Lia laughed again before glancing at the magazine she’d tossed. A line formed on her forehead. “Have you talked to Molly?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t talked to my best friend in days. “Have you?”

Lia looked worried. “Yesterday. But, she was supposed to call me for a ride from the airport. She hasn’t.”

“She wouldn’t miss this for the world, babe.” Mols had been having a rough time lately. The tabloids were destroying her, calling her a home wrecker and publishing old photos of us. We were set to go back on tour – this time, co-headlining – in just a month, but she was talking about backing out because the harassment had gotten so bad. Nothing could keep her from my wedding, though. “She’ll be here.”

Lia sighed, sliding off me and picking up the discarded magazine, holding it out to me. “I dunno. It’s horrible this time.” The headline was bad enough, claiming that Molly was begging me not to marry Red, but the pictures were worse. One was of the two of us: her visibly upset and me looking like a completely heartless douche. The second was of my two favorite girls in what looked like a bitter argument.

As if reading my mind, Lia tapped the photo, clearing her throat. “Last summer. We were making fun of the women that threw themselves at you. We weren’t arguing. We actually laughed until we cried.”

I grabbed the magazine from her hand and chucked it across the room. “Don’t read this shit, little girl. It’ll only make you worry. Molly will be here.”

She nodded, not looking convinced. I moved my hands to her cheeks, pulling her lips down to mine. I knew of a great way to take her mind off Molly. She smiled, sinking onto my lap once again and deepening the kiss.

The last few months had been tough. I’d stayed with Lia in her apartment for a few weeks after the Grammy’s. We had a lot of time to make up for, and the best place to start forgiving and moving on was in the bedroom. Which we’d done – a lot.

I had to face reality in March, though, when it was time to get the band back into the studio. I flew home and we spent every spare second we could together, but it wasn’t enough. I didn’t want to wait to make her mine – I’d waited long enough – and she’d agreed so we planned a June wedding.

She hadn’t wanted to give her notice to the school mid-semester, and decided to stay and finish out the year. Thankfully, we’d both wanted a small ceremony, surrounded by just family and close friends, so Lia was able to do most of the planning from Maine. April had volunteered to do whatever had to be done here.

For the last horrifically slow month, though, we’d been celibate. Red was convinced it would make the wedding night that much better. I was convinced she was trying to test me. I needed her, and I needed her badly.

I slid my hand under her shirt, skimming the silk of her bra with my fingertips when the door crashed open.

“There you are!” I groaned at the intrusion, yanking my hand back.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled, glaring at my brother-in-law.

Finn – rocking a #Nate&Lia shirt – only chuckled. “Your mom sent me to find you. Almost everyone is here. Rehearsal’s about to start.”

I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to leave our little slice of privacy. And I sure as hell didn’t want to walk out there and share her with all our guests. But the faster we got through this and the faster we made it through tomorrow, the quicker she’d be mine. I sighed, standing with her in my arms and lowering her to the floor slowly.

“Ready?”

Lia smiled up at me, offering me her hand. “Ready.”

We followed Finn out into the bright afternoon and I immediately regretted leaving our hideaway. He hadn’t been kidding when he said that everyone was here. In the few minutes I’d been tucked away with Lia, the farm had exploded with people.

“There you are!” my mother screeched from the porch, running down the steps toward us and grabbing my arm. “Lia, your mother and the girls are inside waiting for you,” she hollered over her shoulder as she pulled me away.

I let my mom lead me around the back of the house, greeting family and friends with a smile and a nod. I thought only the wedding party would be there, but my mom never did anything halfway. A buffet had been set up on the tables under the giant white reception tent on my left, waiting for us to get the show on the road.

To my right, two hundred padded brown chairs had been set in rows with an aisle between them, overlooking the valley. Someone had taken old barrels and turned them into flowerpots with hundreds of daisies sticking out, marking the spot where the aisle was to start. Two more were placed at the front of the chairs, where I assumed our party would stand. I glanced at my mother, but she only shrugged.

“She wanted rustic chic.” Then she sighed. “If your fiancée had her way, we’d all be sitting on hay bales.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at her attitude, but this was actually perfect. It was an exact mix of the two of us, and the just what we were looking for. “It looks great, Mom.” I leaned over and smacked her cheek with my lips.

“You’re welcome, Naytron.” Tears welled in her eyes and she tapped my cheek with her hand. “I love you, too, son.”

Things hadn’t been easy with Mom. She’d been angry that I’d proposed without talking to her first, and even angrier that I used my grandma’s ring. I knew that she and Lia would never be as close as I wanted them to be, but they had spent some time together, just the two of them, and neither had killed the other. Definitely progress.

Although, Lia didn’t know about all of the guests my mom had invited without our knowledge, and she didn’t know about all the shit with Noah. Those little tidbits would probably set their relationship status back a few months. I was actually quite sure she’d tell me to go to hell when she heard about the guest list, so I wasn’t telling her until it was too late for her to run away.

I pulled away from her, turning to greet my groomsmen and friends. I hadn’t been kidding earlier when I told Red that we were all wearing hashtag tees out tonight and they were all proudly showing them off now. The groomsmen and my best man all had one of a kind shirts while everyone else’s looked just like Finn’s. Mike’s told the world he was pretty, tall, and fuckable while Billy’s simply said #DrummerBoy. And Rhett’s confirmed he was a #manwhore.  Noah’s made me smile, claiming he was #BettysBitch, and poor Reb’s just said #single. No way in hell we wouldn’t get noticed.

The pastor appeared, explaining the process and walking us through the pre-wedding march duties. Then, he had the six of us line up at the front of the chairs, instructed the rest of the guests to sit, and called April to start sending the women out. Nikki came first, smiling at Finn and Emma – who were waiting patiently next to my mom – before sticking her tongue out at me. Nina came next, practically skipping down the aisle. Then Courtney, winking at my guys flirtatiously, causing more than one groan. Cora tapped her youngest son – who was sitting patiently with his dad and brothers – on the head, avoiding looking in my direction. I knew it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the man behind me, but neither she nor Carson would fess up. Whatever was between them, they weren’t talking.

Then, just as I had promised, Molly slowly walked toward me, holding my eyes. I smiled at my best friend and she grinned back. When it had come time to choose our wedding party, I’d explained that I wanted my best friends up there with me, but we’d argued over who should get Mike. Lia claimed since she’d known him longer, he should be her Man-of-Honor and I should ask Mols to be my Best Woman. We’d finally agreed to keep it traditional, and since I was asking her best friend to stand with me, she’d ask mine.