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“Hey!” Morgan’s voice reached him as he put the guitar back in the stand.
Everything was set up for the show. Sterling had seen Reese flitting around, taking video for the Facebook page, but he had been sure not to make eye contact. Maybe it was immature, but it helped him not to feel so bad about everything if he didn’t look right at her face. Difficult on a tour, especially on the bus, but not impossible as he had found.
“You got my extra shirts?” Sterling asked.
Morgan held up a stack of black T-shirts. “Yep. I bought a few more since this will likely be an issue as we go this summer. Probably only the people close up will notice you’ve changed. I’ll leave these right on the side of the stage.”
Sterling nodded. “Good. Are we doing more indoor venues? This summer tour outdoors is killing me and it’s only May.”
Sterling headed for the green room and Morgan fell into step beside him.
“I know. It’s hot. We do have more indoor spaces coming up. I actually wanted to talk to you about adding more dates.”
Sterling frowned. “Extending? I don’t want to do more than two months. Last time I did a long tour I wanted to quit music altogether after I finished.”
“I don’t want to add on time. We have a few spaces that I could add shows in if we stayed one more night in a place or didn’t get a hotel and slept on the bus.”
“Why? I mean, I know adding shows means more money and all, but why are you thinking about this?”
Morgan stopped in the dark, narrow hallway and pulled his arm until he was stopped too, facing her. “Did Reese not tell you?”
Sterling looked away and shook his head. Reese didn’t tell him anything anymore. Morgan went on like she didn’t notice his discomfort. “The rest of the tour sold out. Completely.”
Sold out. Sterling met her eyes with shock. He had never sold out a tour. Maybe one or two shows at smaller venues. That hadn’t even been a goal. Especially not for this tour, where they had some bigger venues. “We sold out? Everything?”
Morgan grinned. “Every single show.”
“How?” Sterling asked. “I don’t understand.”
“I think it’s two-fold. First of all, you’re on fire. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you are kind of amazing. There’s something different about you and about how you’re playing and interacting with the crowds. It’s having a huge impact. The main show and your acoustic encores.”
“And?”
“The other part is Reese and what she’s doing. That first show in Atlanta, the video she did of your sound check went viral. She put a link to the tour on there and it started then. But she’s continued to capitalize on the live video stuff. Sound checks, your new music during the special encores—all of it. We sold out after Houston. Congratulations, big guy. I knew this tour was going to be huge for you. Looks like you can do whatever you want from here on out.”
Sterling leaned against the wall. This was good news. It was amazing. This would give him more leverage to do exactly what he wanted next. His label might even be more open to keeping him and letting him choose what he wanted to do. But if he wanted to go independent, he would have the power for that as well.
But he needed Reese.
The thought hit him like a fist to the gut. Would he continue to have this kind of engagement without the work she was doing? Could he hire someone else to do it as well as she did? Would she even want to work with him or talk to him after the way he had pointedly ignored her for the past four days? Four days felt like months on a tour like this. Everything was more ramped up when you traveled with people in close quarters. Emotions were heightened. Which was probably why he felt what he did for Reese. It wasn’t real. They would end the tour and he would be over it immediately.
Even as he told himself this, he knew it wasn’t true. His draw to her was something more, something deeper. It was the most real thing he had ever felt. Sterling didn’t want to think about the implications of what that meant.
“You should probably thank her. I’ve noticed you aren’t talking to her. Something happen?” Morgan seemed to be watching his face carefully.
“No,” Sterling said in a clipped tone. “Nothing happened. I’ll thank her.”
“Good.” Morgan stood and started walking again toward the door of the green room. “Because I really like Reese. Even when you seem to be giving her the cold shoulder and going all Night Sterling on her, she’s been working her butt off for you behind-the-scenes. You have no idea.”
Guilt choked him. He had been acting like a big baby. Reese had tried to remind him that she was there for a job and he had taken it personally. He never should have crossed a line in his thoughts or in his actions. And he never should have let Morgan nap in his bed. That crossed a line too. One that made him uncomfortable, even if it was innocent.
Sterling knew he needed to talk with Reese and thank her for what she had been doing for him. He needed to stop pretending like she wasn’t there. That was the furthest thing from professional.
Of course, his feelings weren’t professional. Period. Maybe he needed to figure out how to handle that before he could talk to her. The last thing he wanted was to drive her any further away than he already had.
* * *
Four shows in and Reese had a routine. She started every night they had a show by making her way around the tunnels and back halls so she wouldn’t get lost. She located the green room, which was always home base. Then she walked the seating areas, checking the views of the stage, taking photos as she went for Sterling’s Instagram. She’d found that the live videos did better on Facebook, but photos and quick videos did well on Instagram, in stories or just the feed.
