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“Is traffic always this bad in Tulsa during lunch hour?” Alexa asked me. We had basically been at a standstill for the last half hour. And her, being someone who has no patience, probably couldn’t take it much more.
“Mhmmm…not usually. There must be an accident somewhere.”
“Well this is really pissing me off…”
“Baby…calm down. I know you’re excited to see Jay in all, but it won’t be much longer. Besides…he isn’t all that interesting…” I said trying to get a laugh out of her. But all I got was a slight smile and not much else. I decided on saying the one thing that I knew would make her smile.
“I love you baby.”
She leaned over, kissed my cheek, and replied, “I love you too sweetie.”
“How did I know that would cheer you up?”
“I guess you’re just psychic…” she laughed.
*~*~*~*~*
My POV
We finally pulled up to the venue at 2:00 pm. An hour late, but there was also no sign of any of the buses.
“So you’re not the only one who’s late…” I said to Joe Don.
“Well at least it was because of traffic…not because I’m-“
”Lazy.” I said finishing his sentence.
“I guess you could say that.” He laughed, “The crew is here…you wanna got inside and meet some of them.
“Sure…”
“You nervous for tonight?” Joe Don asked me.
“Why do you keep asking me that?” I said annoyed, “I already told you, YES!”
“Okay, sorry. You don’t gotta get all mafia Italian on me.” He replied jokingly.
I gave him a look like ‘It wasn’t funny…’
We walked inside and watched as the crew set up the huge stage. Joe Don introduced me to a few people before we went backstage to look around to figure out where everything was. It wasn’t long before people started asking us where Jay and Gary were. All we could say was “Traffic…”
*~*~*~*~*
“Dang! Who’s Mustang is that outside and how much would you be willing to sell it for?” Jay yelled from the empty floor level seats. I looked at Joe Don, rolled my eyes and said
“Wish me luck…” making him laugh.
I walked out to the center of the stage and stopped.
“Jay! My Italian buddy!” I laughed.
“And you must be Alexa!” he replied, “Where’s Joe Don? Did you lose him?”
“No, he backstage…he trying to extend his time away from you…said it’s refreshing…”
“You’re funny…by the way do you know who’s Mustang that is outside and would they be willing to sell it to me?”
“Yes. And no.”
“Who’s is it then?”
“If you must know…it’s mine.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No she not…it runs like a beauty.” Joe Don said walking up to us.
“You let him drive that car?” Jay asked in disbelief.
“Only when I had no idea of where I was going.” I laughed.
*~*~*~*~*
We finally met up with Gary and the guys started sound check since they were already behind schedule. Me and the stage manager, Kari, sat up in the nosebleeds watching them.
“So what do you think?” Kari asked
“About what?” I said confused.
“Just all the new stuff.” She laughed, “And the guys.”
“Well, I love how huge the stage is, the whole spiny thing is cool, and who had the idea for the bridge?”
“I think it was Gary…but don’t avoid the second part!”
“Okay fine, Jay…kinda obnoxious and Gary…super sweet.”
“Agreed. And what about you’re man?” Kari asked raising an eyebrow.
“To be discussed at a later date…” I said and we both laughed.
*~*~*~*~*
After the guys and Jason Aldean finished their sound checks I quickly ran through my song I was planning on performing. It was ‘Stay’. I had only performed it a couple of times at work but I was surprisingly calm. It was just me and my guitar and it just felt so natural.
*~*~*~*~*
“Dang girl! You can sing!” Gary laughed and gave me a hug as I hopped offstage.
“Thanks.” I replied, “Better than you?”
He laughed when I said that.
“Hey JD! I’m stealing your girlfriend for a bit!”
“Okay man! Just bring her back!” we heard Joe Don yell from backstage.
“And what if I don’t want to go with you Gary?” I joked.
“You’re stuck with me…I need to talk to you about something.”
*~*~*~*~*
We walked about halfway up into the seats before Gary made me sit down.
“So…” I said
“So…” Gary replied.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Joe Don…”
“What about him?”
“Just that he tends to take things too fast…” he said with a bit of concern in his voice.
“And what’s that supposed to mean to me?” I asked.
“Just you need to let him know before things get out of hand? You know…so you don’t end up getting hurt.”
“So I don’t get hurt?” I asked questionably.
“Let’s put it this way…Joe Don is basically afraid to commit…” Gary said simplistically.
“Oh…how am I supposed to know if that’s the case with me?”
“You won’t…if he gets scared he just ends it and doesn’t look back.”
It kinda scared me to hear him say that. Joe Don and I took a big step last night. We had said ‘I love you’ and we’ve only been dating for a month and a half. I kept thinking to myself ‘Did he mean what he said and was it too soon?’
“But hey, if it makes you feel any better it’s obvious that Joe Don really care for you and wants to be with you.” Gary said. He could tell I was worried now.
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I think this time around is going to be different for him. Like he wants to truly mean every word he says to you.”
“Hopefully,” I said, “Because not every word that has been said to me and been meant.”
“I think the same goes for Joe Don and that’s the reason he is the way he is. But like I said, I think he’s tired of being scared.”
“Alright…thank you for telling me.” I said giving Gary a hug.
“Your welcome.” Gary replied, “I just thought you shouldn’t have to find that out the hard way.”
“So…” I laughed
“So…”
“What do you say we go get ready for the show?” I asked
“I say…lets get to it!”
*~*~*~*~*
Kelly’s POV
“Oh my god! I cannot believe I just did that!” Alexa said as she walked up to me.
“I know! I bet you never thought you would be in that position.” I laughed as I gave her a hug, “But you were amazing out there…it seemed like you’ve been doing that for years.”
“Well, I kinda have…in front of a hundred drunk people in a bar” she said, “If that counts…”
“Not really…they don’t have any idea what you’re doing up there.” Joe Don said as he snuck up behind Alexa and gave her a hug.
“Ewwww! You’re all sweaty!” she complained as he offered me a hug.
“No thanks…I’m good.” I said pushing him away. He walked off and turned around to smile back at Alexa. I hadn’t seen that look on his face in a very long time. And it was nice to see it again.
*~*~*~*~*
My POV
Me and Kelly talked for a bit about her driving my car back to Nashville instead of trying to find a flight tomorrow. I went back to designated “dressing room” which was basically a closet and changed into some sweats. I knew I wouldn’t have room on the bus. I grabbed my tote bag, turned off the light, and walked out into the hallway.
“Hey babe.” Joe Don said from behind me.
“You scared me!” I said laughing.
“Sorry…” he said adding a kiss, “You ready to go say goodbye to everyone?”
”Are you?”
“Ehh…I guess so.” He said as we walked down to meet his family.
*~*~*~*~*
I quickly said goodbye to everyone and headed out towards the bus. I wanted Joe Don to have some time to say good to everyone alone. It only seemed right. I walk onto the bus and was scared half to death again.
“Hey!” Jay said, “Shot o’ Yeager?”
“Sure” I said taking the shot, “How many have you had?”
“Only 3…”he laughed.
“ONLY!”
*~*~*~*~*
We goofed around for a bit before Joe Don got on the bus and Gary and Jay went back to the bunks. Me and Joe Don just cuddled up on the couch and attempted to find something to watch on the TV. Nothing, so he just turned it off and looked at me.
“So what did you and Gary talked about?” he asked, “Gary wouldn’t tell me.”
I swallow hard, not wanting to talk about it.
“Oh come on. It cant be that bad.”
“Well, it’s nothing I want to talk about, alright…”
“Why can’t you talk to me about it? You know you can come to me for anything.”
“Not this I can’t…”
“Tell me what it was about baby. Please.”
“Fine,” I said giving in. “It was about you…” I added looking away.
“I already know what was said about me…” Joe Don said with a sigh and turned my head to face him.
“Which is exactly why I don’t want to talk about it.”
”Well I think we need to…because we were going to have to eventually.”
“I know that…I just didn’t think it would be this soon.”
”Well, I’ll tell you what. As far as I’m concerned, my commitment issues are in the past. I’m sick of being afraid. I’m sick of worrying that things won’t work out. I just need to live in the moment…love for the time being and pray for the best. I just need to love you with all my heart and not hold back.” He finally finished.
“I don’t even know what to say…” I replied on the verge of tears.
“I’m gonna say something to you and I mean it one hundred percent.” Joe Don said, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I replied with tears streaming down my cheeks. It was at that moment that Joe Don wiped the tears from my face and kissed me. I could feel his love for me with every passing second. He then pulled me into a hug and spoke.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you cry.”
”I know…can we just get to bed? I’m tired…it’s been a long day.”
We stood up, walked back into the bunker and climbed into Joe Don’s. I pulled the blanket up over us as Joe Don wrapped his arms around me and kissed me goodnight. It wasn’t long before we both fell fast asleep.
Cherry bombs and cherry wine!
