Best Friend's Ex Box Set

He was looking at me with something in his eyes I recognized. Desire. How could I say anything but yes? So, I did.

“Yes,” I said, sticking out my hand. He grabbed it and pulled me close to him, our bodies suddenly pressed against each other, unleashing a whirlwind of emotions as a result. It was going to be a difficult time on the road, I just knew it, but at that second, all I could do was lose myself in the moment.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Six Weeks Later

Owen

I faked air guitar as Jeremiah strummed the last bit of the song, the crowd going insane. After months on the road, I was kind of glad to see the tour draw to a close. We’d had a fantastic run, and now it was time to go home.

No more touring, no more late nights, and no more of the hassles and frustration that being on the road brought with it. We were going to take a break after tonight, perhaps a long break.

It had definitely been a wild ride, and I was beyond happy that we'd done it and pulled it off so smoothly. We were back on top, and we were all over the press and the internet. To top it off, album sales had shot up as a result. People really loved our new music, too, it seemed, even though it was a bit different from the old stuff they were used to.

For our final song, it was time for something really different.

“Thank you, Chicago!” I shouted out. “We have one more song for you tonight, and it’s a special one. But first, I need a very special person to sing it to.”

The crowd went wild with women and girls alike jumping up and down for me to pick them. Not that their enthusiasm mattered. I already had a woman in mind, the one woman who had tough

ed it out and gone back on the road with us.

True to my word, I had allowed her to do her job, sitting back and watching her work her magic for the last two months. During our downtime on the bus and free hours in the hotels, she and I had worked closely together on writing some new material for her album.

Despite the fact that over the past two months we had stuck to our agreement to keep things strictly professional between us, I had never felt so strongly about any woman as I had about her. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I wanted her in my life. Nalia was my other half. She just didn’t know it yet. She had turned out to be the kind of woman who I thought couldn't exist outside of the realm of dreams—except she did exist. She was real.

In spite of what was probably expected of me, I hadn’t fallen for some wild child, rock groupie. I had fallen in love with the girl next door, the girl that had me thinking about settling down, getting married, and raising a family. I had come to understand why rockers left the music scene to have another life outside of the craziness. While the fame was kickass, and the excitement and adrenaline were addictive, I had grown to prefer spending a quiet night with Nalia, going over scales for one of her beautiful songs, instead of partying or making appearances to maintain my rocker persona.

“I know I’ve kept you all waiting,” I finally said to the crowd, looking over at the wings of the stage, knowing she was standing there, “but I won’t make you wait any longer. Nalia, will you join me on stage? Everyone, welcome Ms. Nalia Dean!”

She shook her head as I motioned to her, a smile on her beautiful face. “Come on. Don’t be shy. Nalia, Nalia!” I shouted into the mic, getting the crowd behind me to chant out her name.

Finally, she walked out, embarrassment written all over her face. It was adorable. I gave her a grin and pulled her close for a tight, reassuring hug. “This is Nalia everyone. Nalia, say hi.”

“Hi,” she said into the mic shyly. The crowd started waving and shouting, and I grinned, pulling the mic back toward me. “Tonight is a very special night. It’s our last night on tour, and I thought we would end the show just a little bit differently.”

I turned toward Nalia and looked into her eyes, hoping she could see the love that was reflected in mine. It had been the hardest two months of my life keeping my distance and respecting the fact that we both needed some space to see if this was real. At least, on my end, it felt damn real. More real than anything I’d ever known. I just hoped that she felt the same way.

I nodded over her shoulder, and the band struck up a song we had been working on, one that reminded me of her. “This is called ‘Beautiful Disaster,’” I said, keeping my gaze on her. She blushed under the attention, and I launched into the lyrics, singing them from my heart.

“There was a time I couldn’t tell which way was up

but then you waltzed into town,

turned my whole world upside down.

You showed me love, you showed me grace,

now every day I want to chase

the love I never knew that I was after.

All I want is this beautiful disaster

that has me acting like a fool

because I’m so in love with you.