Epilogue
epilogue
One Year Later
jackson
The vibrations from the show we just played and the energy from the crowd reverberates through me as I step inside the tour bus. Tonight, we played the amphitheater in Tampa, and it feels surreal to perform where I’ve paid to watch some of my favorite bands.
Pulling my sweat-soaked shirt over my head, I grab a fresh one from my bunk and slip it on before walking back to the front of the bus.
The band is all talking over each other about the show with grins on their faces.
Dave and Brady sit on the couch in front of the TV with their fiancés, Lynn and Kasey, by their sides. Kasey lives with us on the bus, but Lynn still lives here. Dave usually flies back and forth between shows to see her, and tonight he’ll probably stay at her place.
Marty has already gone to a fan’s hotel room nearby and told us not to expect him until morning. The girl was waiting for him at the side of the stage, so I’m starting to think he sets up his hookups in advance. We’re busier now. We play bigger venues with less down time, so his usual tactics of sneaking into the crowd to pick up a fan are obsolete.
Mya and Brian left to pick up our leftover merchandise from the venue, but they’ll be back soon. Mya doesn’t even have to run the table anymore. Now the venue staff takes care of it, and she just picks up the inventory at the end of the night, takes count, and makes a new order.
Everything has worked out. I don’t know how the hell I got this lucky, but I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life on the road.
Then my eyes land on her . Margot sits at the small foldout table as she types on her laptop. She’s wearing leggings with a lightweight pullover, one leg folded underneath her. She’s comfortable here—relaxed. Hell, she’s at home here, with me, and I’ll never get sick of seeing her when I walk off the stage. Most nights she comes out and watches the show, but then there are nights like tonight where she works through them. Walking up to her, I place a finger under her chin to lift her face toward mine to kiss her. “Still working?”
She smiles against my lips. “Almost done.”
When I release her, those bright eyes fall back to her screen where she types a few more lines before she stops and looks at me again. “Another band reached out to me to do a post on them.”
“Nice. Which one?” She’s had so many bands contact her. At this point, it’s impossible to keep track. She writes about her life on the road, the cities she sees, the local places where we stop for lunch. She writes about everything. She wrote about a couple of the bands who have opened for us to try to get them more publicity, and it’s worked. Now other bands are catching on.
“Air Trek? Heard of them?”
I try to think. “Yeah, I have actually. One of their songs popped up on a playlist while I was working out a while back. I don’t remember much about it, but I remember liking it.”
The familiar spark of motivation shines in her eyes. “Okay, I’ll look them up. No talk about them in the industry yet?”
It’s what she always asks. I think she likes helping the small fish in the pond more than anyone else. “Not that I know of, but you’d have to ask Brian.”
She looks back at her laptop and types something else. “Okay. I will.” Glancing back at me, she adds, “How was the show?”
“Great.” I sit across from her and prop my elbows on the table. “And did you finish your homework?”
With a tight-lipped smile, she playfully tilts her head to the side, her long hair cascading down her arm. “Yes, I did.”
“Good.” I lean forward across the table and kiss her again. “Because they’ll be here any minute.”
She blinks like she might have forgotten. “Shit, that’s right. We’re in Tampa.”
I let out a breath of laughter and her eyes widen.
“We’re in Tampa!” she says again, this time with a grin.
“I know!” I say, matching her excitement.
She laughs as she shuts her laptop and puts it away.
The two couples on the couch get to their feet, and Dave puts his arm around Lynn, holding her close. “We’re headed to the Hard Rock. Want to come?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but our friends will be here soon.”
“That’s right,” Dave says with a nod. “Tell them all I said hey. I texted Brian but if he starts bitching, tell him where to find us.”
They all wave before heading off the bus, and then it’s just Margot and me. She gets to her feet, wraps her arms around me, and leans her head against my chest.
Having her here is the best feeling .
Seeing her thrive is the best feeling.
Being loved by her, is the best feeling.
It’s not a quick hug. She doesn’t pull away in a hurry to prepare for Matt and Rae. It’s a hug where she relaxes into me. One that lets me inhale her strawberry shampoo.
She looks up at me, and I kiss her. The kiss is slow and sweet, and even when we break apart, she doesn’t pull away. I brush my thumb across her cheek, tracing over her scattered pattern of freckles, and when I softly say, “I love you,” it’s nothing but a murmur against her lips.
“I love you,” she says before pushing up on her toes and kissing me again.
“Jackson!” Matt’s undeniable voice hollers from somewhere outside, and Margot’s face breaks into a grin. She ducks around me and practically runs out of the RV. I know she’s not that excited to see Matt, but where there’s Matt, there’s Rae.
By the time I reach the top step of the tour bus, she already has her arms flung around Rae’s neck in the parking lot below, and Matt has cupped his hands around his mouth to let out another, “Jack-son!”
Our favorite couple isn’t alone either. Braden walks with Matt and tosses me a wave.
The last time I saw Braden, he was knocking on Margot’s door to apologize for wanting to kiss her. It’s weird to think about, but I still like him. And Margot likes him. I’m glad he took me up on the free ticket.
“It’s about time you showed up,” I say to Matt once he lowers his damn hands.
He grins. “You’ve been crying yourself to sleep every night without me, haven’t you?”
I cock a half-smirk. “And writing in my diary.”
I step back so he can jog up the steps into the tour bus, and he crashes into me with a hug, patting me on the back before he lets go .
He looks around the place like he’s considering buying it, but my attention gets pulled away when Rae wraps her arms around my waist. “The show was so good tonight!”
I lift my arms, caught off guard by the gesture, and hug her back. When she lets go, I turn to Braden and nod. “I’m glad the wristbands worked.”
Matt pauses from taking in the tour bus and looks at me. “Was there a chance they wouldn’t?” He holds up his arm to show the neon pink paper band that gave them all access to come back here.
I shrug. “You never know.”
Matt drops his arm with a shake of his head. “Motherfucker,” he mutters with a laugh and my grin widens.
The tour bus has never felt more like home.
margot
It doesn’t take long for me to give Rae a complete tour of the bus, but by the time we make it back to the front, the guys are all sitting on the couch with beers in their hands. Just the sight of Jackson sitting with his elbows on his knees while he listens to his closest friend talk about his latest lacrosse game is enough to make me smile.
His eyes flick to me as soon as he registers our return, his hand casually lifting his bottle of beer with a raise of his eyebrow, silently asking if I want one.
I shake my head.
By the time Rae takes a seat next to Matt, the couch is starting to look a little crowded. I end up sitting on the floor in front of Jackson, my back nestled between his legs. His free hand lazily traces circles along the side of my neck while he responds to something Braden said, and I pick up my conversation with Rae, asking her how her classes have been.
A loud groan followed by, “For the love of God, Brian, I know what I’m doing,” has us all looking toward the entrance of the bus. Mya bounds up the steps, holding a large box in front of her. “Can someone please tell him I know what I’m doing?”
“She knows what she’s doing, Brian,” Jackson calls out before taking another sip.
“Thanks, Lover Boy,” she says with a huff. Then she looks around, realizing most of the people here are strangers to her. “Oh, hello.” She smiles, her green eyes sparkling despite the sweat glistening on her brow.
I look back at our friends, ready to introduce Mya, but the way Braden looks at her stops me in my tracks. He may have given me some not-so-subtle glances back when he had a crush on me, but he has never looked at me like that.
He quickly scrambles to his feet. “Here, let me take that.”
She looks up at him as he takes the box. “Holy shit, you’re hot.”
Braden may not know what to say back to that, but his ears are pink, and when he sets the box down and turns back around, he’s definitely blushing.
Mya blinks like she didn’t mean to say it out loud, her eyes darting to Rae. “Is he your boyfriend? I didn’t mean?—”
Rae shakes her head with a laugh. “No, he’s very single.”
That’s all it takes for Mya. She goes from slightly embarrassed and nervous to letting her eyes linger on Braden as he returns to his seat.
She shakes her head and waves to the small group on the couch. “I’m Mya by the way.” She steps aside as Brian comes up behind her, grumbling something about needing a damn golf cart to lug this shit back and forth. Gesturing to her uncle as he passes her, she adds, “And this grumpy asshole is Brian. ”
“Band manager,” he corrects as he sets his box on top of the one Braden put on the table. His suit is wrinkled from the walk, and it looks like he broke a sweat, too. He glances around the room before focusing on Jackson. “Where the hell is everyone?”
“Casino. They texted you.”
Brian pulls out his phone. “Ah, okay. You guys heading that way?”
“We’re not sure where we’ll end up yet,” Jackson says with another sip of his beer. “By the way, this is Matt, Rae, and Braden.”
Brian waves to our friends, but it’s clear his mind is somewhere else. To be fair, I think his mind is always somewhere else. He could probably use a night at the casino to lighten up a little.
Mya grins and waves to Matt and Rae.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Brian must check the message from the guys. His eyes lift to Mya. “You coming?”
“Um . . .” Her eyes quickly dart to Braden who is trying and failing not to look like his night hangs in the balance of her answer. There’s a slight lift to her lips when she says, “No. I think I’ll stay here.”
Brian nods. “All right,” he says as he quickly sends a text, probably to Dave. “You kids have a fun night.”
I expect Mya to go straight to Braden, but she doesn’t. Instead, she sits next to me on the floor and gives Rae her complete attention. “I hear you want to be a teacher. What grade are you hoping for?”
Rae lights up, ready to talk about her passion, and I settle against Jackson’s legs. I love this. I love that we can fall back into a sense of normalcy with the people we love. I love that everything about the scene in front of me is normal. This is exactly what we’d be doing if we still lived in the same apartment. Except this is better. It’s better because now we have Mya to add to the mix, and it’s better because Braden has moved on. It’s better because Jackson is happy doing what he loves, and it’s better because I get to be a part of his dreams while still chasing mine.
I love our lack of a traditional home, and our hectic life.
And I love that the people around us have become our family.
Glancing up at the guy behind me, I smile. Jackson is in the middle of telling Matt and Braden about the band pranking Brian last week by changing the autocorrect settings in his phone. I smile at the story. It was funny. They made it so that every time he texted “no,” it showed up as “yes.” Then they started making all sorts of ridiculous requests.
But the story isn’t even what pulls the smile from me. It’s him. It’s his messy hair and bright eyes. It’s the subtle curve to his lips as he speaks. It’s the way he can radiate confidence and still come across as humble.
He must feel my stare because he glances down at me mid-sentence and pecks me on the lips before finishing what he was saying. And when I turn back around, Rae is watching us with a satisfied smile.
She knows there’s no questioning it anymore.
Out of all the things I love, I love my rockstar boyfriend the most.
I just wanted to be his, but he gave me so much more.