My hands trembled as I gazed out into the seemingly endless crowd. A crowd that loved Midnight in Dallas, but would they loveme? Doubt rose like bile in the back of my throat, hot and acidic, threatening to eat away at any shred of confidence I’d built up. My mouth went dry, and my entire body shivered as the opening notes of “Fortress,” the last song of their set, began to play.
“What if I mess this up?” I turned to Ella, my eyes huge with worry.
“You won’t,” she assured me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“How do you know?”
“Because you were always meant to be here, Liv.” She leaned her head against mine. “You’re going to go out there and slay the shit out of that song.”
“You really think so?” I asked, curling my arm around her.
“You were made for this, Olivia.” Tears formed in Ella’s eyes, and her voice wavered slightly. “I’ve known it since we were nineteen, and you used to sneak me in to watch you play at the honky-tonks. I knew this moment would happen one day, but you had to believe it too, babe. You were always meant to be here, and I’m going to be right by your side every step of the way. Always have been, always will be.”
“Are you ready, Liv?” Cash asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I could hear the band drawing to a close. “You’re almost up.”
“Damn right she’s ready,” Ella spoke for me, and I nodded wrapping her in a hug. “She was born ready.”
“I feel like we need a group hug up in this bitch!” Antoni pulled me and Ella into his embrace as Grace, Cash, and Katie piled in. “You’re gonna kill it, honey.”
Cash smiled. “Let’s get you plugged in.”
Luca and Derek exited the stage, each giving me a hug as Jax’s voice filled the air.
“As you all know, tonight is a special night. New Year’s Eve has always been known for new beginnings, and tonight is a big one for me. I’m about to bring someone out that’s very important to me. She’s kind of my whole world. With the help of Dallas on the drums, I want to show you something dear to me that I’ve been working on. Tonight, I want to introduce all of you to Jax & Liv.” The crowd’s screams were ear-piercing as Jax’s grin flickered over to where I stood off-stage. “Please join me in giving a warm welcome to the other half of Jax & Liv, Nashville’s own, Olivia Sinclair!”
With one last deep breath, I stepped out to the roar of deafening cheers and applause and waved to the crowd. I was afraid my knees might buckle beneath me as I crossed the stage to the mic stationed beside Jax, my dress billowing behind me. He reached for my hand, and as I looked into his eyes, I felt my worries begin to melt away.
“How are y’all doing tonight?” I asked the crowd, my voice shaking slightly. Their response thundered all around me. I gulped in a shallow breath as their uproarious excitement continued, their energy bolstering my spirit. I looked over at Jax who gave my hand an encouraging squeeze. “I’m Liv, and you already know this beautiful man beside me, Mr. Jaxon Slade, and together we are Jax & Liv!” My voice continued to tremble, but the audience didn’t seem to notice as they erupted into a frenzy. Behind us, the giant screen in the middle of the stage illuminated with one of the finalized photos we’d seen at the store a few nights before.Our names were emblazoned at the top in our signature swirly script. To our left and right sides were two other jumbo-sized screens that showed us in real-time. I felt tears threatening to form behind my eyes as a flurry of emotions coursed through me. “We want to thank you for being a part of this special moment with us, and I truly can’t imagine having our debut anywhere but this magical city I’ve called home all my life.”
“Now, I get to call it home too.” Jax grinned over at me. “The song we’re going to sing for you tonight is all about what it means to be home. Sometimes home isn’t a place. It’s a someone.”
“And sometimes that someone comes along when we least expect it,” I said as Dallas counted us off, and with quivering hands, I began to strum the melody to the sound of the blaring approval of the crowd. I closed my eyes, desperately trying to center myself so I wouldn’t mess this up.
“This song is called ‘Sweet Tequila Sunrise,’” Jax said, “and it’ll be available for download at midnight tonight.”
“We hope you enjoy it.” I looked over at Jax, and suddenly, it was just the two of us. In my mind, we were back in my living room with an open bottle of wine and the soft glow of a candle dancing across our faces.
“Rain taps on the window, and baby, I don’t want to go. I’d been living my life a lost boy, but in your arms, I’m home,”Jax sang as he gazed over at me. Our voices intertwined in sweet harmony as we reached the chorus.
“I thought home was a place, till I found you. Getting drunk by candlelight, with a hell of a view. I found home looking in your eyes. My love, my life, in your sweet tequila sunrise.”
Jax and I stumbled through the front door sometime after 3 a.m. when Brady dropped us off at my house. We plopped the guitars down in the foyer with two loud thuds.
After the show, there were several reporters waiting to talk to us about the single, and then we all spent the rest of the night celebrating back at Dallas’s new place. The champagne was flowing, and it felt so good to have all us all together again.
Our single had broken into the Top Five on iTunes within ten minutes of being released and reached number one within the hour. The performance had gone beautifully, and I practically floated off stage to the sounds of the cheering crowd. From the show and the interviews to our single making it onto the charts, the entire night still felt unreal, but nothing felt as unreal as the perfect man beside me.
I giggled while Jax kissed my neck as I fiddled with the lock, bolting it shut. Mama meowed her distaste at us from down the hall for rolling in at this ungodly hour.
“I’ve been waiting to get you alone all night,” Jax whispered between kisses, pressing me lightly against the door. Finally, he pulled back slightly so that he could take me in with his eyes. “You were amazing tonight, Liv.”
“Wewere,” I reminded him, placing a tender kiss on his lips. “I’m not going to lie, I was scared out of my mind when I first walked out on that stage.”
“No one would have ever known.” He slid his hands around my waist, pulling me closer. “You were right at home.” The butterflies whirled around in my stomach like they had the first night we met. “What’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours?”
“Everything. The last three months. Tonight. You. You’re more than I could have ever hoped for. This all feels like a dream.” I smoothed my hands over his chest and around his neck. “A dream I never want to wake up from.”
“I’ve felt like that a lot these last few weeks,” he said softly, “but you’re better than any dream I ever had for myself. Besides, if this was a dream, could you feel this?” His voice was low and sultry as he leaned in so close that his lips grazed mine. “Or this?” He kissed his way down to my collarbone, and my skin felt like it was on fire everywhere his lips touched.
