Page 139 of Don't Bang a Bandmate

What’s next?

The next show. The next tour.

We go home, and then we do it all over again.

For the first time, however...

Jonah’s wedding.

The Battle of the Bands.

There’s so much new on the horizon and with it comes... so much uncertainty.

Bronson walks up behind me. His arms curl around my waist from behind and I smile, feeling safe and warm again. “Stop that,” he says.

“Stop what?” I ask.

“Whatever you’re thinking about.” He kisses my shoulder. “Stop it.”

“Hey, if I stop thinking, then who’s gonna make the decisions around here?”

“I’ll do it,” he says.

“Oh, will you?” I tease.

“Yeah, I’ll manage the band for a while. You can play drums.”

I roll my eyes. “Pretty sure I have the rhythm of a drunken mule.”

“I’ll teach you,” he says. “It’s easy. If I can do it, so can you.”

I turn myself around in his arms. “Thank you for the vote of confidence,” I say, offering my lips to him.

He takes them with a sweet kiss. “Come on,” he says after. “Let’s head inside and pretend like we were there all night.”

I laugh, and off we go.

After meeting up with the band for a long breakfast at the Botsford Plaza Miami, we all take our time checking out and making our way to the tour bus. Free from time crunch, our schedule wide open, everyone seems a little lighter. A little calmer.

Except Jonah.

Only twelve days until his wedding.

Speaking of counting down the days.

“I can’t believe your wedding is less than two weeks away, Jo,” Katrina says to him as he steps aboard the bus.

“Yeah,” he says, his shoulders tense. He releases a heavy sigh as he passes. “Me neither.”

I smile at them from my table as I chug my coffee from my faded golden travel mug.

“Are you excited?” she asks.

Jonah sits down in his usual seat. “I don’t know ifexcitedis the right word,” he says. “I’m nervous. The day always felt really far away, but now it’s so close.”

She nods, understanding that.

“But also…” Jonah pauses, his eyes full of love beneath the rim of his blue beanie. “It feels like everything is falling intoplace. Like this is all happening exactly the way it’s supposed to happen. You know?”

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