Page 47 of Princess and Country

Dahlia

Jeff pulled Carter into a hug, “Go shine, brother. You were born for this,” he said, and they both clapped each other’s backs. My boyfriend turned to face me, and I hurried into his arms. “Princess, you’ll be amazing up there. Look at me.” I tilted my head back. “I’m so proud of you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ears.

I rose to my tiptoes. “I love you.”

With the pads of his fingers, he wiped the tears pooling in the corners of my eyes.

“I love you too.”

I looked around. “It’s kinda scary. All those people. The stage, the crowd—”

“Carter will be up there with you. You have nothing to worry about.”

Riley stepped next to us. “Okay, Dahlia, time to go. Ready?”

“I guess.”

Would my voice be shaky like this on stage?

Butterflies took flight in my stomach. The not-so-fun kind.

I walked away, my hand locked in Jeff’s, touching until our fingers broke apart.

Carter neared me and snaked his arm through mine. “It’s okay, Dah. I’m here. We can do this. Just follow my lead, I’ll take care of everything.”

Those words.

My pulse evened.

We exchanged a smile as Stud padded in our direction and put his arms around us.

“Let’s show them what we’ve got.” He stopped and pulled us into his embrace. “We’re kicking off our first world tour. How awesome is that? Let’s do this, motherfuckers.”

Stud’s longish stubble rapped my cheek.

“Oh yes,” Carter said as I replied, “Let’s make history.”

The lights of the stage blinded me. My heart sank down to my toes. “Seventy thousand people,” I said, mostly to myself. “Seventy thousand.”

My insides tightened. Carter said a few words to the crowd, but I registered none. My eyes drifted to the right side where Jeff stood. Did I look like a deer caught in headlights? My fingers shook. My head turned. My legs wobbled. I tried to breathe, but my lungs were closed for business.

“You can do this,” Jeff mouthed.

I swallowed the lump choking me.

Carter strummed the first chords of “Heart for Rent.” My heart leaped in my throat. Why did I agree to this? I loved our simple garage band. This, right here, was way too big for a White Crest girl like me. I shut my eyes, silencing my thundering heart. I could do this. I breathed out. My fingers played on their own. I locked my eyes on my best friend. He winked. No one was here except the two of us—and Stud. We were back in Carter’s garage, dreaming about getting fifty people to come see us play.

This—right here—was our dream.

I rolled my shoulders—chasing the tension away—rotated my neck and found my voice.

We played for ninety minutes, but it seemed like we played for fifteen.

The crowd cheered, whistled, and applauded.

My heart swelled, and my pulse quickened.

Carter and Stud pulled closer and, standing on either side of me, grabbed my hands.

Carter turned his head. “We did it, Dah,” he whispered in my ear, the warmth of his breath tickling the shell of my ear. I cocked my head to meet his gaze. Everything we wanted to say to each other passed through our eyes. His were a silver shade of gray tonight and full of stars. Carter’s lips connected with my temple.

“We did it,” I repeated as I emptied all the air lodged in my lungs.

With his hand, Carter motioned Jeff to join us onstage. And Riley. My man stood between his brother and me, his arms draped around our shoulders. Riley stood beside Stud.

“That was incredible,” Jeff said.

“Yes, it was,” Carter said, his smile big and bright.

The next day, still reeling from the previous night’s show, we packed our stuff and boarded the tour bus that would drive us to Portland, San Francisco, LA, and Las Vegas—the first leg of our world tour. Then we’d fly to Canada, Europe, and Asia, before coming back to the US for another two months.