Page 31 of Rock My Girl

EPILOGUE ONE

CASSIE ~ ONE YEAR LATER

“It gets easier every time, right?" Ford asked as we walked off the stage.

We stood in the wings for a moment, taking a sip of water as we prepared to go back out for the second encore.

"You're right," I said quietly. "I shouldn't tell you that, though, because you'll just gloat." I smiled up at him, then ran my fingers through his hair. "Yyyyeah. That's the gloating look, right there."

"No, that's the happy look," he chuckled, sneaking a kiss as the rest of the band ran back on stage.

I couldn't believe how I'd actually become used to the spikes of adrenaline and the butterflies in my stomach before every single show.

How I'd learned to love it.

Markarian Records had sent me up with a vocal coach to train me how to support my breathing and protect my throat, so that I would never lose my voice, even after doing sometimes two shows a day.

Plus an incredible therapist who taught me there's no such thing as getting over stage fright, only dealing with it.

Thanks to her, I welcomed the butterflies. I didn't see them as a sign of nervousness anymore, they meant excitement. It wasn't terror, it was the thrill of performing to happy people who wanted to hear us.

To my great surprise, Amanda, the singer who would have replaced me, was a great help as well. She did the first round of shows with Ford when I wasn't quite ready yet. She encouraged me to sing during sound check, and eventually take a couple more songs each night.

I was delighted that the exposure helped her get picked up by another band just as I decided I was ready to take over as Ford's female vocalist.

And at every single show, he made it crystal clear to the audience that we weren't just musical partners.

The PR people said that his unabashed love for me was the extra bit of fairy dust that propelled his third album to the top of every chart. Now everyone knew he looked like a tough rock guy on the outside, yet had a mushy heart of gold on the inside.

He snuck another kiss, then took my hand as we went back out on stage. With orange and pink lights in my eyes, I waved blindly to the cheering crowd.

It was our first time playing Diamond Stadium, and the concert had sold out at record speed.

Ford kept saying that once again, it was just that some of his songs were topical and had come out at the right time. I just loved that he didn't get a swollen head about being the biggest rockstar in the country this season.

"Hey there, Diamond Stadium!" Ford called out, waving to the audience. "It sounds like you want one more song."

A roar went up, as I laughed into the microphone. "You're such a tease," I said. "Just get to the song they want to hear." He always saved his first hit Smoky Mountain Eyes for the last encore.

Ford pouted dramatically, setting up a wave of laughter through the crowd as the cameraman captured his expression for the big screen behind us.

"I don't think they're ready for the big hit," he said sassily, putting a hand on his hip.

He had been a bit quiet before we went on stage, and I was relieved that his natural showmanship had won out and snapped him out of it.

"Besides," he said, "maybe they don't want that hit. Maybe they want something else."

I gave him a flat look of exasperation, knowing that it was being caught on camera. Then I rolled my eyes and turned to the audience. "Well then, I'm pretty sure that everybody wants to hear Running Rings Around Your Heart, right?"

Another roar went up, then Ford leaned closer into his microphone so that he could speak quietly.

"Hey Cassie, you know that you run rings around my heart, right?"

The entire crowd joined me in saying, "Awww."

"And where are we, baby?" Ford asked.

I looked at him strangely, wondering what he was driving at. "Diamond Stadium. Why are you—"

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