Only The Beginning (Rockin' Country) (4 page)

“Put that shit away, you’re hurting my manhood. No guy with the sense that God gave him would let a beautiful woman pay for a meal when he had the time of his life.” He closed his hand over hers, pushing it back towards her purse. “I got this. It’s the best time I’ve had in a long while, and it was my pleasure to have lunch with you.”

Hannah felt her stomach flip from the words he spoke and the smile he bestowed upon her. “Okay then, next time will be my treat?”

He liked that. She was talking about a next time. “Sure thing.”

*     *     *

“It’s about time you made it home,” Shell yelled as she heard Hannah make her way into the house.

“Sorry that took so long, but we were having a great time. In fact, I’m going to their secret show tonight at the arena.”

“Yeah, they just talked about it on the radio. They said he put a picture up from the menu to the diner and everybody figured out where they are tonight. They’re starting to line up,” she explained as she sat at the counter, reading the magazine the two of them had bought at the grocery. “So, tell me…how was it?”

“Different from what I’m used to. He’s a nice guy though—he’s sending over backstage passes for me tonight and a shirt to wear. I’m kinda nervous, but I’m excited at the same time.”

Shell looked at her friend. There was a glow there that hadn’t been there in a while. Since an asshole had taken the light out of her. “Just be careful, Hannah. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

“I’m trying to take this slow, but there’s just something about him. He makes me feel like everything is gonna be alright.”

“Just tell me that you’re going into this with your eyes wide open. His lifestyle, his music, his whole being is completely different than yours,” Shell cautioned.

“I know,” Hannah nodded. “Maybe that’s what I like about it. That my whole life won’t be tied up with his because we don’t live in the same city and because he doesn’t do the same music as me. I won’t have to worry if we decide to stop seeing each other that I’ll see him every time I go down to Broadway.”

Both of them knew that she was referencing her relationship that had ended badly over a year ago. It was still a sore subject with Hannah, and she, for the most part, refused to speak of it. Shell still wasn’t exactly sure what had transpired—only knew that it had caused an ache so deeply in her friend that it had taken her spark away. That spark was back now, and she would help her do anything to keep it there.

The doorbell rang and Shell moved to answer it. “Want me to get it?”

“If you want to. You know you don’t have to do everything for me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shell shook her head as she answered the door. “Can I help you?” she asked the courier on the doorstep.

“I have a package here for Harmony from Reaper.”

“Yeah, I’m Harmony’s assistant. I’ll sign for it.”

Within moments the package was in the kitchen and on the counter.

“I’m nervous to open it,” Hannah admitted as she looked at it. She had her thumb in her mouth, worrying her nail with the sharp edges of her teeth.

Shell giggled. “Why? You afraid it’s gonna bite you?”

“No, but it’s like if I accept this gift from him and go to this show, it moves everything along.”

“Well that’s what you want right?”

“I just don’t want to get in too deep, too fast.”

“Hannah,” Shell shook her head. “He’s leaving tonight or tomorrow, and by then you’ll know if you want it to continue or not, but you have got to start living your life again. Why not start here and now? If you don’t want to wear whatever this is, you don’t have to. If you don’t want to go to this show tonight, you don’t have to.”

Hannah knew that her friend was right, but her hands still shook as she opened the package. Inside lay a couple of backstage passes and a black shirt. On the front was a picture of Garrett’s face with the words ‘Reaper’s Girl’ below it. The back was shredded so that whatever was worn underneath could be seen.

“That’s sexy,” Shell giggled. “I can’t wait to see you, of all people, wear that.”

Included were a pair of sunglasses that matched the ones Garrett wore on stage. “Are you making fun of me?” Hannah asked.

“No, I’m just saying modest little ole Hannah is gonna have a hard time wearing something where her bra can be seen, and I can’t wait to see how you pull this off.”

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Hannah mumbled. “He did say he was going to have fun corrupting me.”

Shell slapped her hand on the counter and laughed loudly. “Oh dear God, this is going to be so much fun to watch.”

*  *  *

H
annah turned this way and that in the mirror. “Do you think I look okay?” she asked Shell, her mouth screwed in a frown.

“You look great, girlfriend. Seriously. I didn’t think you would be able to make yourself look like you belong with the Black Friday crowd, but you did.”

Instead of smiling, Hannah looked at herself critically again. Her eyes took in the black leather leggings coupled with a pair of stiletto boots. The shirt Garrett had given to her was now on her body, a hot pink tank top underneath. When she moved a certain way, it gave soft glimpses and it covered everything along the shredded back.

“Are you sure this tank top isn’t too bright?” she bit her lip.

“I know you’re worried about this, but trust me. You look smoking’. I like what you did with your eyes and your hair,” Shell complimented.

Finally a smile appeared on Hannah’s face. “Really? It’s way darker than I’m used to. I don’t think I’ve ever worn this much eye liner in my life, even on stage. But I have to admit, it’s really fun.”

“I like the way it makes your eyes pop. That and your hair being super curly make you look like a completely different person.”

She worried her lip between her teeth again. “I hope he still likes me like this. Ya know? Maybe he only likes good girls he wants to corrupt.”

Shell laughed. “Trust me, you’re still a goodie two shoes under all that makeup and hair product. That’s not going to change who you are on the inside.”

Hannah blew out a breath. She knew those words were true, but it still worried her. This was so different than what she was used to. While it was nice to branch out, it was also nerve-wracking.

“Don’t wait up for me,” she grinned at Shell as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the bedroom.

“You better call or text me.”

*     *     *

Garrett’s leg shook frantically as he checked Twitter on his phone. He was more amped for this show than he normally was. He tried to tell himself it wasn’t because he hoped Hannah would be here. It wasn’t because he wanted to put on an amazing show for her. No, it wasn’t for any of those things at all.

“You sure she’s coming man?” Jared, better known as Train, asked as he had a seat next to his friend.

“She told me she was.”

His insecurities were beginning to shout in his head though. Garrett wondered what the hell he was thinking inviting her to this show. There was no way she would fit in with all of these people, and while he loved their fans, those same fans would eat her alive. Still though, he hoped she would show up. Messing around on his phone, he saw a new alert. It was from Hannah’s Instagram, and he immediately clicked on the icon. There was a picture of her smiling face, her makeup much darker than normal, her hair a curly mass hanging around her face. He could see the top of the shirt that he knew read ‘Reaper’s Girl’ on it. The picture was captioned.

On my way to @BlackFriday show! My first! Wish me luck!

Immediately the feed filled with people questioning whether they were dating or not—wanting to know exactly what was going on between the two of them. How did they explain to these people that they were normal? They were two people who had admired one another, and now they had decided to get to know each other. Not for the first time, he cursed his celebrity status.

“She’s on her way,” he told Jared. “Just posted a picture to her Instagram account and said she was coming to see us.”

“That’ll be fun to read about after the show.”

Garrett couldn’t help but laugh. “You know my mom’s probably gotten her Google alert that our name has been used by another celebrity and now she’s planning children. You should have seen the fucking text message she sent me after that picture of us showed up yesterday.”

Jared grinned. Garrett’s mom had been on him for years to settle down and give her grandchildren with a nice girl. He was pretty sure the woman was probably picking out which spare bedroom in her house she would be turning into a nursery as they spoke.

“I don’t envy you, man, but I do love your mom. When she gets something in her head, she goes for it. No stopping Marie Thompson.”

Garrett reached over and slugged Jared in the arm.

“Ouch, that’s my playing arm, fucker,” Jared groaned as he rubbed his bicep.

“Whine a little more for me.”

The two of them were just getting going when their tour manager, Rick, came in. “Garrett, they told me to let you know. Hannah’s here.”

This was it. He would see if she could hang out at the rock show or not. If she couldn’t then there was no reason for them to continue a friendship. But if she could, he planned to see how far he could take it.

*     *     *

Backstage at concerts were all the same. People ran around doing this or that, trying to beat the clock for that moment when the artist would step out in front of the hordes of fans and give them the show of a lifetime. The only difference between this one and her concerts were the way the people looked. Most of her employees were very clean cut. Here, almost everyone wore a t-shirt with the arms cut off and had tattoos covering their arms. She had been directed to this corridor and told that Garrett would meet up with her here.

She did what most everyone did when they didn’t want anyone to know they were nervous. She took her phone out and began going through the comments that had appeared underneath her post about being at this show. Hannah was surprised as most of them were positive and wished her luck. That was unexpected. With the two of them being part of two totally different worlds, she had expected some horribly bad comments. It appeared that she had been spared—this time anyway.