“That’s you,” I correct.
She looks at me differently after that. Not surprised. Not embarrassed. Just softer.
“You planned this before the doctor said your shoulder was ok,” she says after a minute.
“Yes.”
“You were that sure.”
“I was that hopeful.”
She reaches for my hand again across the bar like she doesn’t even notice she’s doing it anymore.
“I’m really glad you didn’t wait,” she says quietly.
“Me too.”
Outside later, the city is still loud and bright and alive in a way that makes it feel like midnight doesn’t exist here the way it does everywhere else. As we walk back toward the hotel, she slips her arm through mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“You know,” she says softly,“this might be my favorite trip I’ve ever taken.”
“We’ve been here less than twelve hours.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s a strong review.”
“I stand by it.”
I stop walking for a second. She turns back toward me immediately.
“What?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I say.
But that’s not true.
Because somewhere between the concert and the singing and the way she looked standing in the crowd tonight, like she belonged there, I realized something I probably should have admitted to myself earlier.
I didn’t bring her here just to celebrate my shoulder.
I brought her here because anywhere she’s happy starts to feel like somewhere I want to stay.
Chapter 28
Lisa
The street outside the venue is louder than it should be for how late it already is. Still, Nashville doesn’t seem interested in quiet the way most cities are after midnight. The music spilling out of every open doorway feels less like background noise and more like part of the night itself, like the entire place exists just to keep moments like this one from ending too quickly.
“I don’t want tonight to be over yet,” I say as we step onto the sidewalk together, my voice still slightly hoarse from singing louder than I meant to for most of the concert.
“Good,” Blake says easily.“Because it’s not.”
“That’s confident,” I reply.
We walk slowly without deciding where we’re going, which feels exactly right somehow, because the energy from the concert is still sitting somewhere inside my chest. I’m not ready to let it settle yet. I’m not ready to go back to the quiet of the hotel room and pretend this night already belongs in memory instead of the present.
Every street feels alive.
