AllFreeNovel
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“Instagram?” I asked, surprised that was the thing she wanted to ask me.
“Instagram,” she confirmed. “You and me. If you let me put on that pic of us, then I will move in with you.”
“You drive a hard bargain, but it’s a deal,” I told her with a laugh. “If that’s what you want to move in, then you can take as many pics as you want and put it all over your Instagram for all I care. All I want is you, and I mean it.”
“I feel the same,” she said, looking up into my eyes with that bright smile of hers. “And I mean it, too.”
Epilogue - One Year Later
Krissy
“Thank you all for coming out tonight! It’s a pleasure to see all of your beautiful faces, and once again, this is the single off our new album. You’ll be able to buy it from the merchandise table at the back there, along with some other cool little trinkets you might like,” I said into the microphone.
Libby and several of her friends were in the front row, clapping and screaming as I spoke.
Erin and Neils were further back in the audience with Connor, sitting next to Kim and Andrew.
Even Robin, Erin’s dad, came to Islamorada for the event, which had me smiling and sparked a fluttery warmth in my chest. He was the closest thing I had to a father now, so I was overjoyed when he supported things that were important to me.
I wasn’t sure where Gavin was at the moment, but he was around somewhere.
The past year of us living together had been the happiest year of my life. I woke up every morning excited to face the day, and the confidence I felt with him as my partner made my career thrive. I thought I was going to be stuck playing locally for the rest of my life, but now I had the option to go anywhere I chose.
I didn’t exactly want to go on tour, but I made a point of going all over Florida and the nearby states playing in different venues. We traveled in our fancy tour bus that Gavin bought us. He had a picture of me and the guitar he gave me when we first met painted in real life size on our traveling home away from home. I thought it was cheesy, but he loved it. He continuously spoiled me and I was grateful every day for how lucky I was.
And after the year of hard work, we finally produced our first album.
So far, the sales had far exceeded my expectations, and they were going to people all over the country, not just those who were local. I knew Erin was doing a lot of promoting for us with her writing skills, but she often told me that the way things like this sold came from the quality of the content, not the marketing of the albums.
So, with our success growing by the day, I felt more confident being up on stage and engaging with the crowd. I felt welcomed and like I belonged here, which made all the difference in my stage presence. Erin often told me she could see the change, and it was that change that really made our popularity grow, but I felt there was more to it than that.
I had a feeling it was the quality of the music that had changed since Gavin started helping me write the songs, and additionally, the fact he played several of the instruments during the songs as well. He didn’t play with me live as much as he did when it was just the two of us, but that didn’t bother me so much.
I also learned that Gavin was a self-made wealthy man from wise investments and he used his wealth to follow his passion of music and promoting me. I was no longer a starving artist and could pour myself into my music for the sheer joy of it.
I was becoming comfortable with being on stage, and tonight had been so much fun. I wasn’t even nervous as I directed the audience in front of me.
I dove right into the song, watching as Libby and her friends sang with me. It felt good knowing that they knew the words, and with the way they were yelling and screaming and laughing as they sang, I knew they were having the time of their lives while here. And that was the goal.
I wanted to have a show that was fun for everyone, and it looked to me like the whole crowd was right there with me.
At the end of the song, the applause was deafening. Everyone was on their feet screaming and shouting and clapping their hands. I felt like I was a rockstar who was playing for a sold-out stadium despite the fact this crowd was a fraction of the size of those venues.
But that didn’t matter to me.
“That’s our new single,” I said into the mic. “Our new album is also available online for download if that’s more your style. I hope you already have the single, though. If you don’t, I hate you. Just kidding. You’re all amazing, and I know you bought that as soon as it came out, right?”
The crowd applauded once more, and I smiled.
“I don’t know, you’re not convincing me,” I said. “Let’s hear some noise in this place! I want to hear you scream!”
The crowd yelled even louder, and I laughed to myself. I felt like I was becoming a much better performer than before, and I wished I knew where Gavin was so he could see this himself. He was already proud of me and the little music group he and I had formed, but to see all these people and the way they were having so much fun right now really made me feel like we had done a good thing together, and I wanted him to see how many people were cheering.
Then, out of the crowd, he suddenly appeared.
I didn’t know where he had been, but he cut through the front line and headed right for the stage. Of course, the security guard let him pass, but I could see that there were other confused faces nearby besides mine. I wasn’t sure what the plan was, but I knew he had something up his sleeve. He always did, and considering the way he was running up here now, I could tell whatever he was doing, he had it planned out, and it was something big.
He climbed up onto the stage, not even bothering to take the stairs. It was a bit of a jump for him, but he was so tall, he cleared the space without too much trouble. The crowd was still cheering, which made it difficult for me to hear anything, but when Gavin was close enough for me to talk to. I asked, “What are you doing?”
