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I step toward the curtain at the side of the stage and look out.

Mom and Dad are near the back with Conlin. Lachlin and Briar are closer to the stage, which surprises me considering they have a newborn at home. Then I spot Sloane beside Briar.

And Ruby.

I stop looking at everybody else.

She looks beautiful in black jeans, boots, and a tight black top beneath a leather jacket she’ll probably regret once the room heats up. Her hair is loose tonight, all that red falling down her back while she leans closer to hear something Sloane says.

I’ve seen her at the tattoo shop, barefoot on her porch, half asleep in the morning, pissed off as me, and naked in her bed.

I haven’t seen her standing in a crowd waiting to watch me play, and it feels different.

Our bassist comes up beside me. “You planning to stare at the room all night, or can we start?”

I let the curtain fall back into place. “Just checking the crowd.”

“I’m sure your fan club of hot women is out there.”

I ignore him and sling the guitar strap over my shoulder.

A few minutes later, the house lights drop, and everything else disappears.

The second I step onstage, my head clears in a way it rarely does anywhere else. There’s the weight of the guitar against me, the lights hot across my face, the first burst of noise from the crowd, and then the count comes through my in-ear monitor.

We launch into the opening song, and the room answers immediately. This is what I missed when I got home from Europe. Not the hotels, airports, or living out of a suitcase, but the stage and the moment a song leaves us and becomes something the whole room shares.

By the second song, the crowd is moving with us, and by the third, people are singing loudly enough that I can hear them over the monitors. Somewhere in there, I find Ruby standing between Briar and Sloane, a little left of center. She isn’t right against the stage, but she’s close enough that I can see her expression when the lights sweep across the room.

She’s watching me. Really watching. I turn back toward the microphone before I spend too much time thinking about it.

The set moves fast, songs we’ve been playing for years mixed with newer material we worked out after Europe, including the one Ruby helped me fix through the wall. When we get to it, I almost look for her before the first chord, but I make myself wait.

Then the chorus comes, the quieter version I’d been trying to bury under too much sound until Ruby told me I was making it brighter than the rest of the picture. It works even better with the band behind it, and when I see Ruby smile, I know she hears the difference too.

We finish the song and move straight into the next without giving myself time to think about why her reaction matters as much as it does.

Near the end of the set, I switch guitars while the drummer talks to the crowd. We always work a cover or two into local shows, especially when we know the room.

Tonight, I made the choice before we went on. The opening notes of The Chain get an immediate reaction from the crowd, but I’m already looking for Ruby. Her head comes up as soon as she recognizes it, and I meet her eyes from the stage.

I don’t introduce the song or explain why we’re playing it. I don’t need to. She knows.

A slow smile spreads across her face, and even from here I can tell she’s trying not to read too much into it. I smile back before turning toward the mic.

By the time we get offstage, I’m hot, sweaty, and riding the familiar high that comes after a good show.

The room stays loud while we put guitars away and talk to people near the side of the stage. Friends stop me. People I haven’t seen since before Europe want to know about the tour. A guy who watched us play bars years ago tells me he knew we’d eventually get somewhere.

I thank him without pointing out that he also once told me we should play more covers because nobody cared about original music.

I’m halfway through a conversation with a couple who saw us in Portland last year when I spot Ruby again.

She’s still with Briar and Sloane.

Conlin has joined them now, and Ruby is saying something to him that makes him laugh. I can’t hear it from here, but I know enough about both of them to assume I’m probably the subject.

Someone touches my arm, and I turn to find Chelsea smiling at me.