Page 7 of The Publicity Stunt

Brett smirks. "Read up on her, huh?"

"Every time you turn on the TV or scroll through social media, all you see is Bri Waters. It's hard not to know about it."

"Yeah, she's taking the whole getting-publicly-cheated-on thing in stride. You'd never guess she'd been humiliated by that scrawny excuse of a man just weeks ago."

Scrawny excuse of a man? "You know her ex?"

Shrugging, he keeps his eyes on Bri. "He was pretty much famous for dating her. He was in a boy band that did okay, I guess, but then broke off to be a solo country artist. He's terrible, by the way, and now that he's been caught with what's her name, he's circling the drain. He's gonna fall off the music scene, and he has no one but himself to blame."

Country music has never been Kace's genre, even being born and raised in Texas, with the exception of a few big songs. It surprises him even more that Brett's listened to Easton Duffy. Of the two of them, no one would bet Brett would be the one to know anything about him or his music. Eminem, Dr. Dre, NWA, and Ice Cube were all the man ever played in high school and beyond. He was a self-proclaimed ginger gangster.

"You've listened to his music?" Kace asks, and he can't help but catch the slight country-style in the song Bri sings on stage.

"Yeah, and he sucks. I hope he's taking songs rejected by good artists instead of being the one writing them because at least he has some plausible deniability. It really can't get much worse than him," Brett says. "No, wait, I take that back. He could add a cowbell. That's about all it would take to make it the worst shit you've ever heard."

"Since when do you listen to country music?"

His finger points to the stage. "The man dated Bri Waters. Of course, I had to listen. I get why he dated her. She's fucking amazing. And sexy, and damn near the perfect woman. But why the hell would she date him?"

"Jealous?"

"Of the guy dating my dream girl? Hell yeah, I'm jealous. He's one lucky bastard, and then he goes and screws it all up."

Kace watches her singing her heart out, and he likes her voice. He never really listened before because anytime her music was on, Sasha sang at the top of her lungs. And Sasha can't sing to save her life.

"She has a good voice."

"See, I knew you listened to Bri Waters," he says, nudging him and smirking.

It's his turn to point at the stage. "We're at her fucking concert, dude. Besides, Sasha would listen to her on repeat if I'd let her. There were certain songs I wanted to bang my head against a wall whenever she'd turn them on because she'd sing them. On repeat. All day."

"I read something funny the other day," Brett says. "There was a quote from someone, a friend of hers, I think, who pointed out her ex's initials are ED. She kept calling him Erectile Dysfunction, and I think that's the best analogy I can come up with for his music. It can never quite hit its peak."

The laugh that escapes surprises Kace. He almost forgot what it sounded like to laugh. The more he watches Bri, the more he realizes how stupid this Easton Duffy guy must be. At least from what he can see. She might not be the great person the media portrays her as. Her PR time might work double time to make sure she has the perfect image, and she's actually a raging bitch. But if she is as good as everyone thinks she is, this dude really screwed the pooch. If you're going to cheat, you're supposed to trade up, not down.

The music stops, and the crowd cheers. She's played a handful of songs, and most of them were upbeat. Bri walks towards the middle of the stage with the microphone and her guitar. Most guys will say there's not much out there hotter than a woman with a guitar.

"I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight to the opening show of my tour. How are you tonight, Texas?"

The crowd loses their ever-loving minds, and Kace laughs at the full captivation Brett has with this woman. Stage presence isn't a strong enough term to do her justice and describe what she has. For such a small person, she seems larger than life. And when she speaks, sings, or just breathes, it's like she's cast a spell on everyone in the stadium.

"Some of you may know, but I'm from Texas. Grew up not too far away from here in a little town most people haven't heard of. Texas will always hold a special place in my heart, and it's why I wanted to open up the tour here, with all of you, tonight."

Again, the crowd goes wild, and Kace can't remember hearing cheers that loud at any of his games. Even when they damn near made it to the semi-finals. If he's jealous of anything, it's her fan base.

"We're promoting my fifth album, but I also want to play my older stuff for you. Just in case anyone's been living under a rock lately, yes, I'm aware my name's been in the media. And it's not to promote my album or tour. Apparently, my personal life is much more interesting."

Boos fill the stadium, and even Brett joins in. It's been a while since Kace has been to a concert, but this is crazy. Bordering on ridiculous.

"No, my name's been tied to someone who did me dirty, so I want to apologize in advance to anyone who came out here hoping to hear love songs. I just can't bring myself to sing them with the conviction you deserve, so I hope you'll forgive me."

The entire stadium starts changing "Fuck Easton Duffy," and, again, Brett joins in. Everyone in the crowd supports this woman, and the vast majority will never meet her or know her personally. It's weird seeing how devoted these fans are. In his experience, fans drop you the moment you fall short of their expectations, but he supposes hockey differs from performing music.

"I'm not sure how long until I'll feel up to singing them again on the tour, but I changed up the set list for these first concerts. If you know, you know," Bri says, a wide smile on her face.

She has a beautiful smile, and if someone really was living under a rock, they'd never know she'd been humiliated by a second-rate pipsqueak just a few weeks before. Kind of like he was, only it wasn't public. Just humiliating.

"But!" she shouts and pauses as the room falls silent. "But... that means you get a nice surprise. At least, I hope you think it's a nice surprise."

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