Page 8 of Speechless
“Yeah, apparently things got out of hand in college, so she started going to meetings. Dropped out of school to focus on her recovery and became a tattoo artist.” I grabbed my phone off the table and pulled up her website in my browser history. “Check this out.”
His eyes widened as he scanned the image of Codie on her ‘About’ page. Of course, I’d left the site open there. I wanted to learn everything I could about my ex and her new life.
“Jesus,” he whispered. “She was always cute, but she grew up to be a knockout, didn’t she?”
“She sure did.” She’d always been a bit shy in high school, like she wasn’t sure where she belonged. But now that she’d cemented her place in the world, she exuded confidence and it was sexy as hell.
“I walk by her shop all the time. I wish I’d known it was hers, I would have stopped in to say hi.”
Nashville wasn’t a small town by any stretch, but the downtown core kind of felt like that. Same faces day after day, which made it kind of crazy to think I’d spent so much time frequenting those restaurants and bars and never ran into her.
“Well, you’ll get your chance to say hi tonight. She and a girlfriend are coming to the show.”
He grinned, revealing a chipped front tooth he got in a bar fight a few years back when some dude got too handsy with his wife. “Does that mean you guys are—”
“She’s dating Austin.” I still couldn’t believe my ex was dating my producer. It was probably cosmic payback because I’d been such an ass to her when she went away to college.
“Austin Birk?”
I rolled my eyes before downing the rest of my coffee and pitching it into a nearby receptacle. “You know anyone else named Austin?”
“How the hell did she meet him?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s got some ink, maybe she did some of it.”
“Wow.” He swiped a hand over his shaggy beard. “What are the odds, huh?”
I grunted, not wanting to think about it. I had a lot of respect for my producer. He was the reason I had hit songs and a platinum record to my credit, but when I thought about him in bed with Codie, I wanted to hurl.
“Is it serious?”
“How the hell should I know?” I snapped, reaching for my phone when it buzzed with a text. I was praying it wasn’t Codie, letting me know she’d changed her mind about the show. As nervous as I was, I couldn’t wait to see her again.
“You think you’d ask something like that before you asked the girl out, dumbass. He is our producer. The last thing you wanna do is piss him off by making moves on his girl.”
His girl?My gut clenched when I thought of someone else staking their claim to Codie. It had been years, but whenever I thought of her, she’d always been mine. “I didn’t ask her out. I invited her to a show. Her friend is a big fan of Trey’s. That’s the only reason they’re coming, according to Codie.”
Chaz chuckled. “Sounds like she still knows how to put you in your place. Won’t let your ego get too big, thinking they’re coming to see you, huh?”
“Something like that,” I muttered, getting to my feet. “I want to hit the gym before the show. You want to come?”
He laughed as he stood, slapping my back. “I burn off plenty of calories with my wife, but thanks for the offer.”
I watched him walk away, feeling a stab of envy that he had found his person, while I’d been too busy trying to pretend I didn’t need anyone. Now that I was finally getting sober, I realized how much it cost me, trying to go it alone.
* * *
I felt like I’d put on the show of my life. Maybe there was something to be said for performing sober or maybe it was the energy I felt from the dark-haired beauty in the second row who couldn’t take her eyes off me.
Having Codie there, watching me, made me dig deeper than I ever had. I hit notes I didn’t even know I could. I was even stupid enough to dedicate the song I’d written about her, to her. Looking right into her eyes as I told sixty thousand screaming concert goers that sometimes you’re lucky enough to meetthe one, but so young and dumb you push her away.
My stylist, Marisa, who was also Trey’s sister and married to the owner of my record label, Luc Spencer, was waiting for me when I finally made my way back to my dressing room.
I needed a breather. And to process what the hell just happened. It felt like a turning point in my career, like maybe I really could do this music thing without the help of liquid courage. And maybe, just maybe, I could be the guy my old man told me I’d never be.
Marisa threw her arms around me. “I hope you don’t mind me waiting for you, I just had to tell you how amazing you were!”
I laughed as I spun her around while she clung to my neck. We’d become friends while working together, and I’d come to view her as the older sister I’d always needed to step in for the mama I’d never really had.
