Page 109 of Love on Tour
“It’s showtime,” Matt said, walking into the room.
“Thirty minutes,” Christine said, looking at her watch.
“Stop fidgeting. It’s going to be great.” Matt moved behind her and started to rub her shoulders. “You need to relax.”
Christine let her head droop forward. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Keep doing that, and I’ll be asleep.”
“Good.”
Matt kissed the top of her head and turned back to his computer.
Julianna imitated Matt massaging her shoulders and gave Christine a thumbs-up.
Christine waved her off and whispered, “He was being nice.”
Julianna rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you go into the meet-and-greet room and get ready? I’ll bring everyone back at six and then get Austin,” Matt said, facing Christine again.
“Just a thought here, but why don’t you let Christine bring Austin in?” Julianna said.
“Hmm. That’ll make an impression. Sure. I’ll let him know,” Matt said.
“You two are the best. Thank you,” Christine said, reaching for Julianna’s hand.
“That’s what friends are for,” Julianna said.
Matt left to get Christine’s guests while Christine went to get Austin. She walked onto the bus as he was tugging on his jeans.
“Oh, sorry,” she said.
“No worries, Chrissy. Not like you haven’t seen it,” Austin said.
“Oh, please,” Phoebe protested.
“Are you ready for this?” Austin asked.
“No.”
“It’s going to be awesome. Let’s go,” Austin said, grabbing Christine by the hand and leading her out. Phoebe followed behind and Christine thought she looked awkward being a step behind them. As the girlfriend, she should be holding Austin’s hand.
The door to the meet-and-greet room was closed and Christine took a deep breath. Then she turned to Austin and grabbed his arm.
“I have one huge favor. Please, please do not call me Chrissy. It was a not-so-nice nickname for me back in high school. I need to be Christine tonight.”
Austin nodded.
Christine opened the door, immediately clenching her fists and closing her eyes. She expected to see a group of people as they’d looked in high school. But when she looked up, that wasn’t what she saw. Like her, they were older. They weren’t the cute young kids they used to be—they were adults. Christine thought about Austin saying how they had gone on with their lives, attending PTA meetings, going to work, and not giving her a second thought. The class beauty was no longer stick thin. She was still very pretty, but she had a woman’s figure now—she was a little fuller through the thighs and didn’t have a twenty-one-inch waist. The baby-faced football player now sported a mustache and a goatee. Austin was right. They weren’t here to berate her. They just wanted a glimpse of Austin.
She gasped. Her body stiffened. The big guy in the back? It couldn’t be. There was no way Bryan had snuck in. Her body felt warm, and she knew she was about to break into a sweat. But when he stepped to the left, she realized it wasn’t him. She exhaled.
She hadn’t realized her hands were clenched until she opened her fingers, relaxing them. Austin leaned down and whispered, “Say something. Introduce me.”
“Um, hello, everyone. They say you can’t go home again, huh? Well, here I am. Home sweet home.”
There was some uncomfortable laughter.
“Anyway, you aren’t here to see me. You’re here to meet the star of tonight’s show, so here he is. Austin Garrett.” The people clapped, and a few gave awhoop whoopor cheer.
