Love at The Bluebird

“Can you fucking tone it down, dude? You’re making it hard for us other men.”

I laugh at him, since he has no trouble getting the ladies with his good looks and charm. Which is exactly why I want him to stay far away from my cousin.

“All seriousness, Gav. She’s a good girl. Don’t fuck it up,” he warns me with a serious look in his eye.

“I have no intention of letting her go,” I respond with my own seriousness.

He nods in acknowledgement. “I’ll see you around. I’ve got some other people to say hi to. I’ll see you at Ripley’s.” He says goodbye and leaves the suite.

The rest of the people standing around congratulate me on an amazing performance, and I plaster a smile on my face and try to make my way to Aly, whose head I can barely see in back of the crowd. Finally, the sea of people parts and time seems to stop as she walks toward me with tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. I open my arms and she embraces me, burying her face into my chest.

“What did you think, baby?” I ask, wrapping my fingers around her jaw and lifting her chin up with my fingers so I can stare into her eyes. At first, I’m worried she’s embarrassed that I dedicated the song publicly to her and hold my breath.

“That was the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me,” she tells me, and my breath catches when I see happiness glowing back at me from her beautiful eyes.

“Thank fuck.” I grin then groan when she grabs my face and pulls me forward to kiss me with raw, unashamed passion. We get lost in each other and it isn’t until we hear someone tell us to get a room that we break away, breathing heavy.

I hold her face between my hands and look into her eyes, not giving a fuck who is watching us. “I meant every fucking word, Aly. Every. Single. One,” I growl, referring to the words of the song, before giving her one more swift kiss. She’s smiling as she nods at me, a silent promise filling her eyes that’s telling me that tonight is just another memorable night in our future together.

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I look at my watch, feeling aggravated when I see it’s only been five minutes since the last time I checked it. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here, but Aly refuses to leave her friend. I look across the table at Willow, who looks just as bored as I am. I can see she doesn’t want to be here any longer and is completely unimpressed with Brodie Larsen, the guy Aly is trying to hook her up with. A man who’s currently standing at the bar, talking to another woman, and has been for the last ten minutes.

We’ve been at Ripley’s for an hour already, and the loud music and party atmosphere is starting to grate on my nerves. This was my scene when I first moved to Nashville—late nights at the bar, drinking, loud music, and trying to pick up women. The shit got old fast, and when I saw it was starting to affect my career, I went cold turkey, preferring to stay at home and work on my craft. Right now, I’d rather be buried deep inside my girl instead of being here.

“Babe, when are we leaving?” I ask Aly for the third time. Her eyes plead with me to stop asking and she bites her lip, making me growl out in frustration, because I want to be biting that lip.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go home too,” Willow says, confirming another reason why I like her. She’s not into the party scene either. Willow tried to go straight home after the game, and Aly had to beg and plead with her to stay and have one drink with us. Willow pushes her chair back and stands up, causing Aly’s eyes to widen in panic.

“Where are you going?” Aly tugs on her arm, attempting to urge her to sit back down, but Willow stands firm and pulls her arm out of Aly’s grip.

“I’m going home. I’m tired and there’s no reason for me to be here, not to mention your guy is ready to go.”

“Please stay,” Aly hisses and looks at me with weariness before speaking to Willow. “I really think you and Brodie might hit it off.”

“Please tell me you’re not trying to set me up with the douchebag over there who has barely said one word to us since he’s gotten here.” She glances at Brodie before she looks at Aly with an incredulous look.

“Maybe,” Aly says, sounding unsure.

Willow snorts in disgust. “Seriously, Al? You thought I would be attracted to a guy like that?” She dismisses him with a wave of her hand and shakes her head. “I don’t know if I should be really disappointed in you for thinking I’m that desperate or just pissed.”