Page 4 of Country Heat

My heart aches as I watch her stop at the edge of the stage. She’s talking to herself, hyping herself up.

This girl is not phoning it in. She’s preparing herself so she can give the fans a real show.

It feels like I’m witnessing something private, something intimate, but I can’t look away. I just stare at her while jagged cuts tear through my hardened insides, ripping me apart like an earthquake. The old dried up and broken Cash crumbles to pieces, falling to the ground as a new awake and aware Cash emerges from the wreckage.

I’m trembling all over as she bounces onto the stage, looking buoyant and full of life. The crowd adores her. They cheer and holler, ready for a great show.

She says a few happy words into the mic that I can’t quite hear over the vicious pounding of my heart in my ears.

Something is happening to me. I feel something taking over as I watch her sing.

I feel different. I feel… revived.

It’s her.

I feel like everything is changing with every second my eyes are on her. I’m being reborn as I watch her play.

The old way of doing things is over.

It’s time to give a fuck again.

It’s time to care.

And it’s time to get that girl and make her mine.

CHAPTER TWO

Lola

This is crazy. There are so many people.

It’s like an ocean of faces smiling at me, singing my songs, dancing along to my music. This is incredible. It’s amazing.

It’s so loud my insides are vibrating to the sound of the cheers as I finishMy Soul’s Match. I can feel the vibrations through my feet. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much as I stare out at the roaring crowd in awe.

I turn to my drummer Rachel and smile. She gives me a wink. I was freaking out a little backstage since this is by far the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to and she helped calm me down.

“It’s not about you, Lola,” she said to me. “It’s not your job to get nervous. It’s not your job to focus on yourself. They’re here to have fun and to dance to a rocking show and it’s your job to give it to them. Focus on them, not on yourself, and you’ll be fine.”

I wink back at her and turn to the crowd with a deep breath. There’s just so many of them. I still can’t believe this is happening to me. That my dreams are actually coming true.

It’s so wild. I must be the luckiest girl in the world. That’s how it feels anyway.

“Anyone here like Biscuits and Brandy?” I say into the microphone.

The crowd erupts in front of me.Oh wow. I feel my cheeks getting hot. A lightness in my chest. Energy and adrenaline rush into my veins when the music starts playing.

I didn’t even know anyone knew this song. It’s not one of my singles. It’s just a fun track that I liked, but didn’t think anyone else would. But by the way the crowd is dancing and having an amazing time, you’d swear it was the track of the year.

It’s a hard one to play and I get a little nervous as my part comes up. I clutch onto my guitar, kind of wishing I had taken my mom’s advice to let Sasha play my part instead. I’m a pretty good guitarist, but with all of my nerves ringing me out like the Liberty Bell, I’m a bit shaky.

“You can keep your whiskey,

You can keep your candy,”

Oh my god! They even know the words!

I’m so touched that tears flood my eyes as one hundred thousand people sing the song I wrote in my childhood bedroom back to me. This is the most amazing moment of my life.

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