Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
As the last chord echoed against the screams of the crowd, Jude and I shared a knowing look. This was good work. We were so fucking lucky to be able to live this life.
We went right into singing one of his songs together before I stepped offstage while he sang a solo about his husband called “Break Away.” It wasn’t a new song, but I still couldn’t help but glance at Derek, who wore a lovesick expression on his face. Jude was so lucky to have him. Derek was famous for going all soft for his famous husband, and he was also famous for continuing to guard Jude Marian with his life, despite his middle age.
I was here for all of it. The two of them had the life I wanted, and I realized maybe Jude was the one who could help me figure out how to get it.
Once Jude’s song ended, he introduced a popular German band and said we’d be back with more songs shortly. When he returned to the wings where I was standing with Derek and Bear, Jude walked into Derek’s arms for a big hug.
“Good job not falling on your face, Bluebell,” Derek teased. “I already texted Rosie, ‘so far, so good.’”
Jude punched him lightly in the stomach before reaching out to fist-bump me. “They loved it. Great job.”
“I didn’t have the guts to tell you this when we first met,” I confessed. “But you were an inspiration when I was growing up, not just for your music. Watching you thrive being out and proud in front of your fans encouraged me to be out from the beginning. I made sure I had an agent and a label who supported me because I knew it was possible from watching you.”
Jude placed his hand over his heart. “You have no idea how much that means to me. I wish I could say I should have come out sooner, but I can’t. If I’d been out sooner, I’m not sure I would have ended up with Derek the way I did.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it happened that way for a reason.” I wondered if the Ventdestinians had a point when they put their faith in the winds of fate.
“And now you can be that inspiration for the ones coming up,” he said with a smile.
As we stood together watching the German performers, Derek and Ryan moved off a few paces to talk about something security related. I didn’t realize I was watching Bear until Jude leaned over and spoke in a low voice.
“Does he know you’re into him?”
I blinked and shook my head, looking anywhere but at Ryan Galloway. “What?”
Jude laughed softly. “It’s like that, huh? Alright. Crush city, population one. I got it.”
I scraped my upper lip with my bottom teeth while I tried to figure out how to ask his advice. “What if the city had a population of two? What would you do?”
Jude looked over at the two big, muscular guys standing together. Derek’s hair was more salt than pepper, but he was still stacked with muscle and the same height as Bear. Jude turned back to me.
“I would grab onto it with both hands and let everything else fuck off. Life’s too short, Zee.”
I felt Jude’s gaze on the side of my face as I turned back to the stage to wait for our cue to go back on for the next song.
After a moment, he reached out and squeezed my arm. “I’m here if you need me. Call or text anytime. In fact… why don’t you come to Montana and see us over Christmas? I heard you were going to be in Wyoming for an event there. We’re just over the border from Majestic.”
“Ryan’s from Montana,” I said without thinking. “I didn’t know you guys had a place there.”
“My family bought up a bunch of land years ago when the kids were little so we could all have a place to spend our summers. It’s grown into a bit of a family compound at this point. One of my nephews runs a ranch there at the heart of the place, and the rest of us either stay at the family lodge on the property or have built cabins or bring RVs. It’s like a cult… only our religion is mostly pizza, alcohol, and dick jokes.”
“And old-lady poker,” Derek muttered, walking back over to us. “Don’t turn your back on anyone during a poker game there, or you’ll lose your shirt.”
Jude snickered while Derek continued with a straight face. “And I mean your literal shirt.”
Jude turned back to me. “Seriously, though. We’ll be there for Christmas, but then we have a big family wedding weekend. So check with me about dates.”
The band onstage finished their song and called us back. Jude and I performed my song “Very Much Myself” together, and I found myself hoping that, wherever he was, young Auden Salling would hear about it.