Chapter 23
Thankfully, I didn’t encounter any other concerning fan interactions after that first night in Pittsburgh.
The second night had gone by without a hitch, and I was glad to have it squarely in the past. The security had let the fan off with a warning, and he’d apparently been apologizing profusely to both the security team and to Van, pleading with them to relay the message to me.
I accepted the apology, I just didn’t want to ever experience that kind of fear again during the tour.
Life became pretty routine for me. I would play the shows during the evening, spend my days either writing new music, doing radio interviews, or getting railed by Van. My nights were reserved for me, decompressing after the show by watching TV in the hotel with Fawcett and Thiessen.
After Pittsburgh, we’d played Columbus and Louisville and then back to Pennsylvania to play in Philly.
After that I’d gone to New Jersey to play two nights in East Rutherford, and then straight to Massachusetts to play three nights in Foxborough.
It’d been almost three weeks since that wild experience with the fan coming up on stage, and every show had flown by without a single disturbance since.
The next show was tomorrow night in Charlotte, meaning I would finally be back in North Carolina to play three nights in the place closest to my hometown.
Now that so much time had passed since the whole phone call with my mother, I was glad to be back in Phoebe.
We’d arrived here late last night, right after the show because I was eager to spend my one day off here in town.
I’d practically had to beg Xoah to fly at night instead of in the morning so I’d be able to spend as much time in Phoebe as possible.
He’d been bribed when I said I’d take us all out for breakfast after we got some sleep.
After breakfast with Xoah, Priyanka, Blue, and Van, I made a pitstop over at Kit’s parent’s house and was able to catch up with him.
He’d also had good news for me. I’d gotten a call from him after the Louisville show that the owner of my mother’s trailer had agreed to my cash offer, so I’d made a swift investment of acquiring the trailer.
Kit had helped me by hauling the trailer to a junkyard and FaceTiming me so that I could watch it be destroyed.
177 Spider Way was officially gone and out of my life.
The landlord could acquire another trailer and put it there, giving birth to a new place with the same address.
But my 177 Spider Way was dead and gone.
Then, he’d told me about a potential house that I might be interested in seeing while I was in Phoebe.
It was a massive house, definitely bigger than my place in Nashville, and it was super secluded.
The house was sort of a mini mansion, sequestered in the roaring hills of one of Phoebe’s colorful forests, only ten minutes from the center of town.
We made plans to check it out before I left for my next tour stop.
Leaving Kit’s place, I was eager to meet back up with my friends at the only recording studio in Phoebe. I’d been writing what felt like non-fucking-stop the past couple weeks, and I was itching to get some studio time in. Especially if I was going to execute my secret little plan.
Being back in this studio felt amazing. I’d saved up at my retail job for years to acquire the money to cut some demos back when I’d been undiscovered and unsigned.
I had a piano and guitar at Kit’s parent’s house at the time, but I’d wanted to make pop music and I needed a studio for that.
This recording studio had honestly been the start of my dreams coming true.
An hour droned on of me being in and out of the recording booth, making sure I got the vocals just right for this new song.
It was actually the song I’d been messing around with back in Nashville when Van had interrupted me before taking me to the club, the same one where we’d announced the music video for Birthstone Baby and officially announced tour.
Stepping out of the booth for, hopefully, the last time, I sat down beside Blue, who was overseeing the mastering, per usual.
Priyanka was in the corner, tapping away on her iPad with her two forefingers with a smile, and Van was sipping on his coffee that I’d ordered for all of us when we’d met back up at the studio.
“Ready?” Blue asked me, arranging my latest take and readying it for me to hear along with the piano and synth track he’d constructed.
“Hit it.” I beamed, glancing at the screen so I could watch the waveforms.
Thankfully, this was the take I was needing. My voice sounded exactly how I wanted it to for this song, making it the ballad I was hoping it would become. I was so excited about how fast we’d been able to make this song. And now that this song was done, I was ready to enact my master plan.
“That’s the one.” I nodded, slapping Blue on the shoulder. “It’s perfect. Can you get it mastered in time?”
Blue scoffed, running a hand through his silver-dyed hair. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” He smirked playfully and I couldn’t help but match his laughter.
“Thanks, Blue.”
At that, Priyanka looked up from her iPad with renewed interest. “Wait, mastered in time for what?”
“Oh, nothing.” Blue cleared his throat, giving me a sideways glance and pairing it with a wink.
“I saw that,” Priyanka chipped as she set down her iPad on the chair next to her and crossed her arms. “What’s going on?”
“You know, you don’t need to know everything, Pri.” I managed to say without completely laughing through it.
“As your publicist, that’s technically false.” She wagged her pointer finger in the air at me, but her lips curved upwards exuberantly.
“Don’t worry, Pri. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Her brow turned into an irritated squiggle. “I don’t like this, Alistair.”
Blue chortled, clearing his throat to cover up the fact that he was laughing at Priyanka’s pain.
I couldn’t help but stifle my own potential enormous laughter.
I caught a glimpse from Van, realizing that he’d been watching me with such a content smile on his face.
When he looked around the room, noticing that anyone could interpret the way he was looking at me, he wiped the look off of his face and resorted to the blank look of interest he usually wore.
It was adorable, and it made my heart rattle inside my chest. The fact that he’d looked so…
comfortable when he watched me. Somehow, Van had managed to see me in a way that no one else had before.
He just understood me, even when we weren’t talking.
Maybe that’s why the sex between us was so damn good.
We saw each other. And that made exploring each other’s bodies a hell of a lot easier, it seemed.
Standing up from my chair, I gave Blue a knowing nod before turning around to address Priyanka. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, I promise.” I walked over to the lounge chair that I’d draped my grey faux leather jacket on and scooped it up with my arm.
That really rattled Priyanka. “Wait, where are you going?”
“Out.” I said simply, feeling every bit like the teenager I never got to be when I was at that rebellious age. I tilted my head toward Van. “Don’t worry, Van’s coming.” I wasn’t that worried about being swarmed by fans here in Phoebe as I had been in Nashville, but safe was preferred to sorry.
At that, Van lifted from his seat and tightened his black suit jacket before sweeping across the room to stand by my side.
“You’re leaving?” Priyanka inquired, despite the very obvious intention I had already launched.
I shrugged. “I’d like to explore town with the rest of my day off.” And it was true. Now that we were back in Phoebe without any holiday plans, I wanted to see the parts I hadn’t been fortunate enough to see the last time I was here.
“But—”
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to him, Priyanka.” Van swore, an oath of my safety lingering invisibly in the studio.
“I mean, I know you will, but—”
“I’ll be back soon.” I placed a hand over my heart. “And I won’t get into trouble. Promise.”
Before I could hear the beginnings of Priyanka’s rebuttal that I needed to keep my public appearance as clean as possible, I sauntered out of the door after thanking Blue again and wishing them well.
Van slid into step behind me until we managed to make it out onto the street. Just seeing the perpetual Halloween decorations lining the sidewalk outside warmed my heart, making me feel like I really was home.
Phoebe hadn’t felt like home to me in a long time. And for the first time in recent memory, I was allowing myself to let it into my heart and soul again without fear that my mother was going to ruin it.
“I assume you wanting to get out of the studio wasn’t just to annoy Priyanka.” Van chuckled, slipping his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Do you have any specific places to visit?”
“Sort of.” I said evenly, looking around at the practically empty sidewalk, and enjoying the moment of peace. “But I’d like to walk to get there, if that’s okay with you.”
Van scoffed. “No complaints from me.” He gestured lightly behind me. “Lead the way.”