He made it sound so simple. I hated him for it, yet loved him for saying all the right things. He looked down at the table and then back at me as he slid the contract towards me. His blue eyes filled with such love I could barely stand it.
“Go. We’ll hold down the fort.”
* * *
It took everything in me to get the courage to talk to Tate about it. I knew he wasn’t going to be happy about my decision. And he wasn’t. We spent an entire evening fighting about it. But eventually, the realization sunk in with him that whether we took one offer or the other, eventually we would have to tour. We might as well take the contract we liked more.
Everyone else was on board the moment we approached them with it. We then contacted the rep from the label, and they told us they’d be at our show tonight to sign the contract.
“Well, this calls for a party!” Dallas declared.
“Tonight? After the show? Where?” Ronny asked, growing just as excited as his counterpart. Over the last few months, the pair had grown thick as thieves. Ronny had actually moved out of Cash’s place and was staying with my brother. I tried to ignore most of their tales of late-night debauchery but I knew they were living the dream. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
“What about Rag Dolls? I can call Uncle Derek and ask if he’ll keep the club open for a private party.”
I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. Our uncles owned a club that they let us use for stuff, but usually we had to ask in advance.
“You think they’ll go for that with no notice?”
He made a sour face at me and grabbed his phone out of his pocket.
“I can always ask.”
I couldn’t decide whether to be happy or annoyed that they told him it was alright to invite people over after our show tonight. Dallas always got his way.
This show was going to be spectacular with all the energy we were putting off going into it. Felicia came by and picked up Cara to take her to Gabby and Shane’s for the night. As soon as she left, we started getting packed to go.
Thankfully, the show was in L.A. so we wouldn’t have to travel too far. We wouldn’t have too many more of these in our immediate future. The tour we were joining started in less than a month. Cara would be just about seven months old.
As I started packing my bag with what I was going to wear on stage, Tate joined me in the closet.
“Look at you, taking extra care tonight. You got a hot date or something?” he teased. I rolled my eyes as I lifted two pairs of stockings in the air, trying to decide whether to go with the fishnets or black with polka dots. He pointed to the fishnets, so I stuffed them in my bag.
“Maybe. Potentially,” I laughed. “I want to make sure the label doesn’t back out at the last minute like last time. Show them they’re getting someone who doesn’t just sing good. I look good too.”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and reached up to squeeze my breasts in a playful manner.
“The whole package. You know what would look good with that?” He motioned to the blue cardigan in my hand. “That spider necklace you have. You know, the one you got during the legacy tour. Where’s that?”
I stiffened, unsure of how to respond. The innocence on his face told me that I never told him how I came to acquire that piece of jewelry. I had taken it off months ago and placed it in my jewelry box.
“The choker? Oh, it’s around here somewhere,” I feigned confusion, as if I didn’t know exactly where it was.
“You should wear it. I always thought it looked good on you,” he said casually before leaving me to finish getting my things around. I waited for a moment to make sure he was gone before I went to my dresser and grabbed for the box. I opened it gingerly, and sure enough, there it lay.
I lifted it up and examined it. Simple, but beautiful. It was a black band with a sapphire spider charm that dangled right against my throat. My heart skipped just looking at it. Ronny had given me this necklace on tour. Back when I was crazy about him. When being with Tate wasn’t even really on my mind. Tate came back into the bedroom as I was still looking down at the necklace.
“You found it? Here, let me help you put it on.” He came forward and took it from me, lifting it to my neck. I let him put it around me and clasp it in the back. I turned to smile at him afterwards and he leaned in to kiss me. “Beautiful.”
My hand went to the spider. I loved this necklace but hated how it reminded me of my time with Ronny. Or rather, how we ended. When he had bought this for me, I envisioned an entirely different future for us. Was I surprised it didn’t turn out that way? No. But it was still sad. This necklace and the person who gave it to me would always have a place in my heart.
When we pulled up to the gig, it was the first thing Ronny noticed. He stiffened when he saw me, his gray eyes growing large and his face going from surprise to sadness to annoyance.
“I didn’t realize you still had that,” he snickered as he walked past me to open the doors to his van. I followed him and the rest of the crew to start loading in. He snatched a pair of amps out and purposely avoided looking at me, directly behind him.
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s still important to me.” I grabbed out a guitar case and turned to go inside with him.
“Is it? Could’ve fooled me.” We were let into the building and we waded backstage with our equipment. I waited until we dropped our things off before I spoke again. I pulled him aside as Tate and the others moved past us to drop their stuff off.
