Page 119 of Everything In Between

Bethany grabs my hand and leads me up to the stage, where the DJ hands her a microphone. Bethany gets everyone’s attention and thanks them all for coming.

“We have a wonderful evening planned for you all. It means the world to Jersey and our whole team that you all showed up this evening to celebrate her and her new album!” Bethany looks at me, giving me a loving smile as she and the rest of the room clap. “So now, the moment you all have waited for. It’s my pleasure to introduce Jersey Matthews to the stage to sing for you tonight!”

I move to center stage, accepting the microphone and scanning the crowd. People cheer my name and hold up their phones as they snap photos or take videos of this moment to share later.

“Well, hi there,” I say, my lips curving up. They all cheer again. “I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. This album means a lot to me, and what means even more is that you’ve stuck with me over the last year during all the changes and the radio silence. Saying thank you is one thing, but I’d like to pay you back by singing a few songs. What do you think about that?”

I laugh when they all cheer again. One of the stage managers hands me a guitar and moves a stool out for me to sit on before positioning the microphone at the proper height. After getting comfortable, I strum a few chords and then look out at the crowd again.

My breath catches.

When I’d agreed to do some live performances of a few songs off the album, I didn’t think I’d be holding everyone’s attention. I’m a little taken aback at how everyone is zeroed in on me. Of course I’ve played much larger audiences in much larger venues, but this is the first time I’ll be performingmy songsfor anyone other than Mickey and Preston and the few patrons at Red Zone.

For the first time in a long time, everything feels the way it should. I finally get to share my personal words with them. They get to know a part of me that in the past felt so intimate. I never thought those words ingrained in my being were ever worthy of being sung. Now, that part of me knows it deserves to be heard, and I think that’s pretty magical.

So I do what I was born to do, and I sing.

As the words and the melody leave me, I scan the crowd, searching for the pair of amber eyes that I know are watching me.

When I find him, my heart skips a beat. The sheer level of pride and love in his expression is overwhelming, like he’s never seen anything quite like me before. Holding his gaze, I think in the back of my mind that I’ve never known success until this moment. It has nothing to do with the division championships, the Super Bowl, or best-selling self-titled albums.

It has nothing to do with any of that, and everything to do withhim.

Without him, none of it would matter. The life that Hayes and I have built together is the greatest thing I’ve ever achieved.

Together, we’re unstoppable.

The End.