Only The Beginning (Rockin' Country) (15 page)

*     *     *

“This has been the longest damn day ever,” Garrett sighed.

He unfolded his body onto the couch that had been set up in the backstage area of the venue they were at. He coughed loudly, putting his hand up to his forehead. Thankfully, their show was done for the night, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

“You alright?” Jared asked as he walked by him. “You sounded like you were losing your voice out there.”

“I feel like shit,” he blew out a breath and rolled over on his side. “Grouchy as fuck too.”

To be honest, he didn’t feel like dealing with anyone. This was the part he hated most about touring. You did it until your body wore down and you were so tired that you couldn’t fight off the sickness anymore. What he did want to do was go collapse in his bunk and sleep for the next twenty-four hours. Better yet, sleeping in his own bed at home would be magnificent.

“Do you want us to leave you alone?” Jared asked, having a seat in the chair opposite the couch.

This was exactly why they were best friends. Jared could be one of the most compassionate people in the world. They had been through a lot in their lives together. In their teen years, Jared was the one usually getting hauled home with him in the back of a squad car.
This
was his best friend.

“When we get on the bus, yeah. I’m in a foul-ass mood.”

“Well you hid it pretty damn good out there on stage,” Jared complimented him.

“I didn’t start feeling bad until about the third song from the end. It hit me like a fuckin’ brick wall. My head hurts, I feel shaky, I’m hot then I’m cold.”

Jared took a drink of water from the bottle he carried in his hand. “That’s what you get for walking out in freezing ass cold weather to try to impress a woman.”

Flipping him the bird required way too much work, but Garrett was able to do it. “It’s worth it if I’m sick because of that. That day was one of the best I’ve had in a long time.”

The fire in Jared’s eyes dampened, and he cleared his throat. “I’m glad, man; you deserve it. I know I gave you a hard time a few weeks ago about the free booze, the free pussy, but I get what you’re saying about it being lonely. I don’t know…it just hit me hard the past few days. It’s a lonely life we live. Not many people could put up with it.”

“I miss this,” Garrett whispered from where he lay on the couch. “You talking to me like this.”

“Don’t grow a vagina on me now.” Jared bounced from one foot to the other.

“Seriously, you’re my friend. My best friend. No matter what you have going on in your life, I’m here for you. I get frustrated because I know that you could do so much better and I know that you’re not a dumbass.”

“Believe it or not,” Jared reached down and grabbed Garrett’s hand, helping him sit up on the couch, “I appreciate where you’re coming from, and I’m a lucky bastard to have you in my corner, but I’ve gotta get out of my own head. That comes on my time, not anyone else’s.”

“I know,” he nodded. “But I wouldn’t be your friend if I didn’t at least tell you how I felt. I’m scared for you. I don’t want to bury your ass, so don’t make me.”

Those last words affected Jared. He could tell by the way he stiffened and got quiet for a few moments. If one word that was said to him could change the course of his life, Garrett would say whatever he needed to—whenever he needed to.

“Let’s get you on the bus. You really do look like shit.”

*     *     *

A bus with three other people could sometimes be the loneliest place in the world, Jared decided a few hours later. Everyone else had crashed, and they had quarantined Garrett as best they could. For a group of men, they’d done a pretty good job of figuring out that he was indeed running a fever, and he had the disposition of a woman delivering a child. They were giving him a very wide berth. For the third time in the past three hours, he heard Garrett’s phone go off and again saw Hannah’s name on the ID. Making a decision, he picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I was trying to reach Garrett,” Hannah started. The voice on the other end of the line wasn’t Garrett, but it was familiar. Hannah bit her lip, wondering if she had called the right number or not.

“Yeah, Hannah, I know. It’s Jared.”

“Oh hey,” she said. Why was he answering Garrett’s phone? This was beyond weird.

“Sorry to confuse you like this, but Garrett’s sick, and he left his phone out here so he could get some sleep. I saw that you’ve called a couple of times and figured you’d be worried since you two talk every night,” Jared explained, hoping that he didn’t sound as jealous as he felt of their ability to talk to each other the way they did.

“He’s sick? Is he okay?” she asked quickly.

“He’s got a fever, and he was complaining of body aches. He’s not the happiest of people right now. Trust me when I say you’re lucky that he left his phone out here.”

She could hear the laughter in Jared’s voice. Settling in, she bit her lip and wondered if she should just go ahead and talk to Jared. Telling Garrett to relay the message now was pretty stupid. This was Garrett’s best friend. They would learn to be friends and get along themselves.

“I hope he gets better soon. When he wakes up, will you tell him I called?”

“I sure will. If he doesn’t break his fever by morning, we’ll get him to a doctor. He’s our frontman, he can’t be out of commission for too long.”

There was a small silence, and he could hear Hannah’s voice over the line. “Jared?”

“Yeah?”

“I know I told you the other day that I wouldn’t give you Shell’s number, but you came up in conversation and she said that she wouldn’t mind if you had it. If I give this to you, I’m trusting you not to hurt her.” She held back what she really wanted to say, and he could tell by the tone of her voice.

“Just go ahead and say what you want to. If Garrett trusts you enough to tell you my secrets, then he really cares for you, and if he cares for you that much, you’re a really good person. I should go ahead and say that I’m sorry about what I said to you. Sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble, and I should know better at my age but I obviously don’t sometimes.”

She blew out a breath. “He did tell me, and I want you to know that I don’t think badly of you, at all. Things happen in life, and people react to them in different ways. What I do care about is if you hurt my friend and if you hurt Garrett.”

“I’m trying to be better…”

She cut him off. “Why not just
be
better instead of trying?”

The no-nonsense tone of her voice wasn’t degrading; it was simply asking a question.

“It’s hard for people who don’t live the addict lifestyle to understand, and I don’t expect you to. Just know that I am doing the best I can with what I have. I’m going to kick this one day. I have too.”

“As long as you’re making progress,” she relented. “I’m giving you this number, and I warn you—she is my very best friend in this whole world. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“I could say the same to you. Garrett is my very best friend in the whole world, don’t screw him over. Don’t play with his head.”

They were quiet for a moment, both of them weighing what the other had said. Curiosity got the better of Hannah.

“Does your telling me this have anything to do with the other woman he brought out on tour with him?”

He laughed, but it was a hollow sound. “We never got along, she and I. I like you. You don’t make him choose between us, you let him make his own decisions. Just like you coming out to the bar with us, you chose to do something fun. I respect that. He’s never had a girlfriend like that.”

“We’re not putting labels on it,” she told him quickly.

This time he laughed flat out. “Yeah right.”

“Well there ya go,” she told him dryly. “You and Shell have something in common already.”

A few minutes later, Jared hung up the phone, happier for his friend and himself than he’d been in a very long time.

*  *  *

G
arrett groaned as he rolled over in his bunk. His body ached and he was freezing. His head pounded as he fought to lift himself up, causing his vision to swim.

“You alright in there, man?” he heard Jared ask as he pushed the curtain back.

“I feel like death, I mean literal death. What time is it?” He saw bright sunshine; it definitely wasn’t the middle of the night anymore.

“It’s almost noon. I was just coming to check on you. We just pulled into Dallas. Did you want to see a doctor? Rick said if you do, we need to go now. If we’re gonna have to cancel the show, we’ll need to do it as soon as possible.”

“Cancel the show, my ass,” Garrett grumbled as he flung his feet over the side of the bunk and attempted to stand. He swayed and Jared reached out, grabbing him around the arms.

“You need to see what a doctor says first before you start talking out of your ass,” Jared scolded. “Do you need help or what?”

“No.” He stood for a second and gathered his bearings. “I got it.”

“If you’re sure.” Jared stood behind him, following him up the narrow hallway.

Jared watched as Garrett grabbed a blanket and put it around himself before collapsing on the couch. “Can you tell Rick that I do need to go to the doctor, but he’s got to give me a minute.”

“Sure, I’ll be right back.”

Garrett saw his phone lying on the side table and grabbed it. Frowning when he saw missed calls from Hannah, he noticed someone had spoken with her for fifteen minutes the night before. He’d have to figure out who jacked his phone. It appeared he had notifications and a couple of texts from his mom and one from Hannah too. Scrolling through, he immediately clicked on one that showed it was from Instagram from Hannah’s feed. What popped up was a picture of her smiling, making a heart with her hands in front of the camera. She wore the ‘Reaper’s Girl’ shirt and what she had put below it made him crack a semblance of a smile.

Really hoping @ReaperBF feels better! The boyfriend needs to not be sick!

Boyfriend? So she had finally done it. She had finally allowed herself to put a label on it. He liked that. He liked that a lot. Flipping back to his texts, he saw more of the same from her, telling him that she hoped he felt better.

Your boyfriend feels like shit. I’m going to see a doctor here in a bit. I’ll let you know what they say. Cute pic btw!

Knowing what time it was, he didn’t expect a response from her very quickly. Country radio was different than rock radio. Most of his interviews were done at night, most of hers done in the afternoon. Not even bothering to read the text from his mom, he just dialed her number.

“How are you? I saw Hannah’s post that you’re sick.”

“Hey to you too, mom,” his voice was rough, even to his own ears.

“You sound like crap there, son. You going to the doctor?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to get up the energy to put on clothes so that I can,” he admitted to her.

“Do you have a fever?”

“Pretty sure I do. I’ve had the chills off and on all night, and my whole body hurts. My throat feels rough, and my head is so heavy it feels like it could fall off my neck,” he complained. Even though he complained, it felt so good to complain to his mom, didn’t matter how old he got.