Page 28 of Hero on the Road
Chaos.
It was chaos, and I loved it.
Connor turned to me, still singing and smiling so hard I wondered how he was managing to form words at all, and I jumped back in and started singing with him, moving to stand back to back with him as we sang. This had somehow become our signature move, and though I thought it must look ridiculous with him being so much taller, it felt... right.
It felt fun and spontaneous, and the crowd seemed to love it.
We finished the song and took our bows, then listened as the crowd shouted out more requests. The guy at the back of the room, though—the manager, I thought—was pointing to his watch and mouthing something that was probably ‘Your time is up,’ and Connor and I looked at each other.
“Think we have time for one more?” he asked, pitching his voice loud enough for the crowd to hear it.
“One more. Let’s make it a slow one, though,” I said, playing along. “Something to wind down.”
The audience booed at that, but Connor seemed to agree with me, and nodded. “I think I’ve got just the thing.”
And to my surprise, he started playing the song I’d only heard once before—and that he didn’t know I’d heard at all. The song I knew he’d written for and about me. It was a solo piece and we’d never worked on it together, so I took a step back and watched the audience as they listened to him. It was a slow, weeping sort of song, all about loneliness and heartbreak, and I saw their faces change as they realized it. The lyrics told them about a girl he’d loved and lost, and then loved and lost again, and as it went on, they started swaying. One person put up their phone, the face lit, and then another, while the couple next to them started dancing, their arms around each other.
No one tried to sing with him. No one pretended they knew the words.
And when he finished, letting the last note echo through the gorgeous room, the audience was completely silent.
Then they went crazy. And I mean screaming and shouting like nothing I’d ever heard before. They screamed for more, they wanted an encore, they weren’t finished yet. There were only twenty-five people or so, and they were making enough noise to account for hundreds. Or at least that was how it felt.
My heart swelled and I felt tears on my cheeks. This right here. This was what performing was all about. This was why I’d come on the road in the first place.
Even if it wasn’t the tour of my dreams.
Even if it was with Connor freaking Wheating.
I turned to him to see tears on his cheeks as well, and when he rounded on me and took me in his arms, hugging me like he was trying to squeeze me to death, I laughed and hugged him back, not caring who saw it.
I didn’t know where this tour was going to go, but right now, standing up here and listening to twenty-five people who would definitely remember us when we came back, all I could think was that the Mystery Tour was quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to me.
CHAPTER16
Colin
Fam, it’s your favorite country-singer-turned-blogger here, and newly minted stalker, if I do say so myself. Coming to you with some Very Big News.
As many of you know, I’ve gone on the road to cover a new tour in town that happens to include one of my favorite musicians of all time. That’s right, Olivia Johns is in town, and I’m stalking her. Don’t worry, she knows about it already. Wait, does it even count as stalking if the person you’re following knows you, and knows that you’re following them?
What if I’m doing it in the name of reporting?
TBD on that question. Maybe I’m not a stalker, but just a reporter.
That’s Mr. Reporter to you.
Not that it would matter anyhow, because she’s not here by herself. She’s appearing on this tour with Connor Wheating, a relative newbie on the country scene, and I’m telling you, he’s acting as her personal security guard. I’ve been with them since they arrived in Great Falls at the start of the week and I’ve yet to see Olivia without Connor by her side. Which means, I guess, that even if she had a stalker, he’d protect her.
I’m just as tall as him. But he’s got more muscles.
And boy, does he have a better voice. Because let me tell you, readers, I’ve been to four of their shows so far and I’ve been blown away every single time. They’re newly matched up when it comes to music, but they sing like they’ve been singing together for years. Their voices blend. Their guitars work together. They have their harmony down pat.
And the audiences love them. I’ve seen audiences go crazy for this duo, and it’s not a big surprise. The music might be better than anything I’ve ever heard.
The details, you ask? They’re with Atomic Records and here only for a month. They’re working on negotiating a deal with Atomic, and though Olivia’s had a record deal before, this is Connor’s first time.
I know, the jokes practically write themselves.
