“Whoa, whoa, whoa.Tate, breathe,” he says through a laugh.“This is not a joke.Your parents already know about it and are probably loading up the car as we speak.I just wanted to see you and give you a good send-off, but we both know you don’t need it.”
He stands and makes his way around his desk, hand out to shake mine.I look at it and then back to him, emotion spilling from me in heavy, ugly tears as I wrap my arms around him in the most unprofessional way.
“Thank you.”I say, looking back at him.
Like he predicted, the old Suburban was loaded down and ready to go when I pulled up to the house later that afternoon.Dad and Mom were in the front, and I could see Callie’s arm hanging from the open back window.As soon as I slammed my car door closed, Callie sprang into action, sticking the majority of her torso out of the car window before yelling, “Get in, loser, we're going to NASHVILLE!”A nod to one of our favorite movies, Mean Girls.
Chapter 31
Levi
“I’m sure happy youdecided to come back for Christmas.It’s lonely in this old house without you,” my mom says from across the cab of my truck as we navigate out of the busy Nashville airport.
I don’t know if it’s the two and a half months spent in California, where people pay a lot of money not to age, but my mom looks older.When I first saw her at the luggage pickup, I was surprised.One, because I told her I would get an Uber, and two, because she just looked so thin, so fragile.I bump my hand into hers until she holds it and I fight the scratchy, tight feeling at the back of my throat.
“So, Son, what’s new?”
“Not much, Ma.It’s pretty routine.We get our songs on Mondays, play on Thursdays.Then the whole thing starts over again the next Monday.”
“Hmm,” she hums.“Well, that’s good.You’ve always been a man of routine.”
I think about that as I change lanes to merge onto TN-255.I do like routine.Order.Knowing what happens.Tate’s words find their way into my thoughts...“Even if you don’t win everything, it will still be ok...”
“And what about you and these girls?”It’s like she hears my thoughts.“One minute you’re locking lips on stage, the next you’re on a date with someone completely different.I half thought you would bring one back with you.”
I choke on my own tongue.
“Did you really?”I ask when the coughing subsides.
“No, but I had hoped.It’s not good for a man to be alone, Levi.”
“I’m not alone.”
“No, but you’re not together either, are you?”
“Who, me and Gabriella?”
