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Chapter Six
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I’m done. I’ve gonefrom standing outside the stadium roasting my ass off to standing inside the stadium still roasting my ass off. I’ve guzzled beer after beer at ten bucks a pop hoping it will provide me with some kind of relief but it’s done no good. I’m pretty sure the alcohol is just seeping out of my sweat glands seconds after I drink it.
I’m hot. I’m tired. I’m currently squished between hundreds of people not far from the stage, and even though I feel like I’ve been walking around in sky high heels for the last several hours, there’s nowhere for me to sit to get any kind of relief.
The opening act left the stage a few minutes ago. Some guy/girl group that I’d never heard of. They weren’t awful, but they weren’t good enough to make me forget how miserable I was either.
Thankfully the sun has almost fully set and while it’s still warm, without the blazing heat bearing down on me I’m finally starting to cool off a little.
The crowd around us buzzes waiting for the second act to take the stage. Meanwhile, I check my cell phone for the hundredth time wondering how much longer they could possibly take. At this rate we’re going to be here all night. I don’t relish the idea.
“Here.” I look up from my phone just in time to see Sandy peek through the crowd, holding out a beer to me.
“You’ve been gone forever,” I comment, sliding my phone into the back pocket of my shorts. I take a long guzzle of the cold liquid the second it’s in my hand.
“The lines are ridiculous.” She shakes her head. “I’m remembering why I don’t come to huge concerts like this.”
“Yeah, you and me both.”
“There’s at least twenty people back there that threatened to kick my ass on my way back here. They didn’t want to let me by them. Like one person is going to make any kind of difference as to how close they get to the stage.” She rolls her blue eyes, taking a drink of her own beer.
“Yeah, I experienced that earlier.” When it had been my turn to do the beer run I almost couldn’t get back to the group.
“Insanity.” She shakes her head, taking another long pull of her beer. “At least they’re twenty-four ounces, otherwise we’d be doing more beer runs than anything else.” She gestures to the can in her hand.
I nod, glancing around when the lights suddenly dim and the song blaring from the speakers cuts out. The crowd erupts in applause moments later as the second band takes the stage.
“Who is this, anyway?” I ask Sandy as we both turn our attention toward the stage, catching sight of my sister and her three friends two rows in front of us.
“Hudson James,” she yells over the opening chords of the guitar.
“Never heard of him.”
“He sings that Tequila Haze song that’s on the radio a lot.”
“Gotcha.” I nod my head, having heard the song a couple times recently.
“Holy shit. That man is fine!” I watch my cousin openly gawk before I follow her line of sight.
The second I locate the man she’s talking about, everything goes fuzzy. He steps up to the microphone and smiles out at the audience.
I’d know that smile anywhere.
Hudson?
“How we doin’ tonight, Nashville?” His voice rings out over the crowd and screams erupt around me, coming from every direction. I can’t move. Can’t react. Stuck in some kind of trance.
I convince myself I’m seeing things. Certainly that’s notmyHudson. Not that he was ever mine, but you know what I mean.
I squint harder, thinking maybe there’s something wrong with my eyes and that being in the heat all day is somehow messing with me.
I blink slow, reopening my eyes just as he starts to sing the opening line of his first song. The instant his voice washes over me I feel like I’ve been transported to some alternate universe. He’s incredible. Goose bumps break out all over my skin.
His sexy rasp fills the air and I know with complete certainty that I’m not the only one that can feel it. The magic. The knowledge that you’re witnessing something truly special.
I had wondered for years what happened to Hudson. Did he still play in Nashville? Was he married? Was he happy? Did he ever think of me?
