Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

NOAH

O n the day of the Christmas festival, Brandon, Lewis, Jack, and I were helping set up the stage in Nashville. I still missed Gemma with every damn beat of my heart, but it looked like she was having an awesome time with her friends and I’d been looking forward to the festival today.

It had tons of gift booths, Christmas trees, hot cocoa, snow machines, and a lot of live music throughout the day. City Lights was opening, which made it an easy gig for us. We’d play first, and then we’d have the rest of the day to enjoy the festival.

“Why are we doing this again?” Brandon asked as he helped me lug a huge, pre-decorated Christmas tree onto the stage. “They have people for this kind of thing.”

“Yeah, but we’re doing our bit for charity,” I said. “A lot of the proceeds of today are going to a bunch of different organizations, and if they can sell this Christmas tree for more money because we put it here, then I’ll take it.”

He chuckled, glancing at the crowd who had already started to gather. Cheers and shouts rang out when they recognized us, but we both just smiled and waved before he turned back to me. “I’m not arguing with your logic, but this isn’t good for my image. Bad boys don’t show up early to help set up the stage.”

“Maybe not, but the ones with hearts of gold do,” I joked. “We’re just adding some depth to your persona.”

“Wardrobe wants us in the trailer, guys,” Lewis called as we descended the steps from the stage into the backstage area. “Let’s go. We’re on in an hour.”

Bypassing all the bedlam of the many other performers and staff backstage, Brandon and I followed him to a trailer with “City Lights” scrawled on a piece of paper on the side. After we were all sealed into our little sanctuary for the day, I whistled under my breath as I took a look around.

“Can you guys believe we even get to be in here? Let alone that it’s ours.” I shook my head as I took in the full-sized bed in the back, bar area, living space, kitchenette, and even our own private bathroom. “It’s crazy.”

Jack was lounging on a daybed built into the side of the living area, staring out the window with a furrow in his forehead. “What’s crazy is what’s going on out there. How many people do you reckon they’ve got onstage today?”

“A lot,” I said, shrugging as I dropped down on my ass beside him. “At least we’ll be out of here before most of them even arrive. I doubt half of them are here by now.”

He glanced at me. “I don’t remember it being this big last year. Was it as hectic, or is it worse this year?”

“They’ve been growing every season,” Lewis supplied helpfully. “More and more celebrities are getting behind the cause and agreeing to go onstage, which means more vendors, more tickets sold, etcetera. It’s a good thing.”

“It’s a great thing,” Jack countered. “I was just wondering. Are you guys ready for this?”

“To put our own spin on the Christmas classics?” Brandon beamed at him. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be awesome. The crowd isn’t ready for our version of Frosty the Snowman.”

As it turned out, his prediction had been true. We took the stage to what appeared to be thousands of people in the audience, and barely halfway through our first song, each and every single one of them was already singing along.

I grinned, loving every minute and only wishing that Gemma had been here for it. Before the end of the day, I was sure our performance would be all over social media, though. It would’ve been better if she’d been here in person, but at least she’d get to see some of it.

Why that’s important to me, I have absolutely no idea.

You know why. You’re just afraid to admit it.

Since this was a family-friendly, daytime event, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than our usual shows, and Brandon, Lewis, and I played off each other a lot more. Even Jack seemed to be having fun though, joining in our onstage banter more than he usually did and crouching close to where little kids’ parents were holding them up to wave and pose for pictures.

The rest of us followed suit, genuinely having a great time and rocking our performance as a result. I even pulled my phone out to take a few pics myself, mostly to be able to show Gemma but also because I wanted to help with the promo for next year’s event.

Once we ran offstage, it took the emcee ages to get the crowd calm enough for him to make his announcements. I grinned, holding out my fist for Brandon to bump it.

“That was awesome,” I said as we jogged down the stairs and wound our way toward our trailer.

On our way there, we were congratulated by a whole lot of people, other artists and event personnel alike, and it looked like our show had kicked the festival off on a high note. The atmosphere back here was super festive and joyful, and once we left the backstage area, I finally heard one of the announcements being made before the next performer would take the stage.

“...contest for the Giving Tree Foundation, folks!” the emcee hollered. “You’ve got all day to make your donations and whoever is the most generous out there this afternoon will get a picture in the newspaper with their favorite artist. You can choose anyone who will be gracing our stage today.”

Brandon sighed. “I guess I better start practicing my winning smile. They’re definitely choosing me.”

“You wish,” I joked, but realistically, there was a good chance it would wind up being him.

Doing our best to be incognito, we donned hats and sunglasses, keeping our collars popped and not sticking together all the time. But Brandon still didn’t make it far before being recognized and neither did Jack, but I managed to separate from them just in time, disappearing into the crowd and spending the rest of the day walking the festival and eating holiday foods with Lewis.

Brandon and Jack tracked us down eventually, but it didn’t last long before I was recognized this time and drawn into a swarm of people who wanted my attention. The other assholes disappeared on me, but I supposed I didn’t blame them. We all had our turns with the fans.

After smiling until my cheeks hurt for all the selfies and signing so many autographs that my hand felt like it was going to fall off, I made my excuses, happily finding some of my bodyguards not too far behind. We’d all told them to keep their distance in the hopes it would help us blend in, but it was good to have them there just in case.

For the remainder of the afternoon, we got together and broke apart off and on, stuffing our faces and shopping at all the various gift booths. I had less people than the others to shop for, but I still supported every booth I could, even if I was just buying something to donate later on.

The sun was already starting to set by the time I found a booth where I finally spotted something I could buy for Gemma. She was at the very top of my shopping list this year, but so far, I hadn’t been able to find anything that really felt like it would mean something.

A charm bracelet booth changed all that. The lady working behind it squeaked when she saw me, but mercifully, she didn’t draw any attention to us and she smiled, clearly sensing an easy sale if she kept her cool.

“Noah Parks,” she said softly. “That was an amazing show earlier. What are you looking for? Just something special to remember it? I’ve got some gorgeous new Christmas-themed charms if you’re interested.”

“Actually, I’m after something a little more specific,” I said, looking over the selection of bracelets hooked to a velvet-lined box first. “Which one would you recommend for a girlfriend?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “A girlfriend, huh? That’s the first I’m hearing of it.”

I mimed zipping my lips. “In that case, I hope you can keep a secret. I’d prefer to keep her on the down-low for now.”

While I knew that Gemma would eventually be in the public eye to a certain extent herself if she stuck with me, I didn’t want to thrust her into the spotlight by being careless. I’d already done that when we’d arrived in Nashville.

I should’ve thought to tell her to go ahead or to wait for a moment instead of walking out with me, but I hadn’t even thought about it. In fact, if it was up to me, I’d shout about her from the rooftops, but I desperately didn’t want her to decide I wasn’t worth it if we got caught in a media storm.

The jeweler smiled at me and lifted a delicate bracelet out of her collection. “Your secret is safe with me. How about this one? It depends on what she likes, but this is the least chunky and it’s still sturdy enough for as many charms as you’d like to put on.”

I looked at the intricate little links of silver and nodded. “That’s perfect. She’s pretty small, so I’m not sure chunkier than that would work. I’ll take it.”

“She’s going to love it,” the jeweler assured me. “It’s white gold and the clasp has never failed me before.”

“Excellent.” I grinned, leaning over to start inspecting the variety of charms she had on offer.

I hadn’t really been sure what I was looking for, and yet, as my gaze slid across the little silver charms, I knew exactly which ones to add. I picked them up one after the other, not even glancing at the prices as I handed them over. In the end, the bracelet held something representing all Gemma’s favorite things.

A coffee, an airplane, a yoga pose, a sun, and a guitar.

This is so fucking perfect. I couldn’t stop smiling at the lady after she’d attached all the charms for me. “Thank you. She’s going to love this.”

“You’re very welcome and I’m sure she will.”

Walking away from the booth after I’d paid, I was convinced I’d gotten Gemma the best gift ever. It felt like it was already burning a hole in my pocket as I made my way back to the backstage area. The winner of the contest would be announced soon, which meant we all had to be there just in case one of us got chosen by whoever had donated the most money today.

When I walked into our trailer, the others were already there, and once again, Brandon had bought what appeared to be the entire festival. I laughed. “Shit, man. How many people are there really in your family?”

He winked at me. “We’re doing a big Christmas again this year. Everyone is coming from everywhere. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and all that. Besides, I already told you. I enjoy spoiling them now that I can.”

“It’s not like you haven’t bought whatever he left out there,” Jack said, nodding to my own bulging shopping bags. “What the hell is all that?”

“Stuff.” I shrugged, but before I could explain that I’d tried to support as many booths as I could by buying things to donate, the emcee announced that it was time for the results.

All four of us left our trailer together, moving closer to the stage. He called the name of the person who had won the contest. “Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Hillary McBride, our most generous donor this year.”

“Wonder how much she gave,” Lewis muttered.

Brandon smirked. “Wonder who she’s going to choose to take a picture with.”

As we neared the stage, the emcee came into view along with Hillary McBride who, to my surprise, wasn’t some old bat who’d dropped a ton of cash to show off for her philanthropic friends. The girl was young, probably around Gemma’s age, and she looked like a supermodel.

With long, bleach-blonde hair and legs from here to Mars, she took the mic from the emcee with ease and tossed the crowd a confident smile. “Thank you, Adam. It’s such an honor to be able to donate to such an incredibly worthy cause. There’s really no incentive needed, but who’s going to pass up the opportunity to get close to Noah Parks ?”

I groaned, smacking my palm over my face. Brandon moaned and made a face. “Wow, really?”

“I’d rather it was you,” I said.

He burst out laughing beside me. “Hey, man. At least she’s hot. Go make a pretty smile for the camera.”

Lewis slapped me on the shoulder, chuckling as he gave me a little push forward. “Go on. Get up there and get it over with.”

I scowled playfully at both of them but then pasted the expected, trademark smirk onto my face and headed for the stairs. Jogging up to the stage, I waved at the crowd, taking a few bows as they chanted my name.

The woman and the emcee were laughing and talking among themselves as they waited for me, but when I reached them, Hillary turned all her attention on me. She flashed me a blinding smile and held out her hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said, surprisingly composed for someone who had chosen me out of so many artists. I’d half-expected her to be a super fan, but she seemed pretty chill. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anytime,” I said as I shook her hand. “It’s for an incredibly worthy cause. Just like you said.”

“Alright, guys. Hillary. Noah. Look at me please!” a photographer called from the front of the stage where a little booth had been set up for him after the final act had left. “Perfect. Lovely. Big smiles and…”

Right before he took the picture, Hillary slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close and pressing a kiss to my cheek. My smile didn’t falter, but I knew this was going to come back to bite me. Maybe she and I were complete strangers, but I was willing to put money on it that by this time tomorrow, there were going to be rumors that we were together.

I just really had to hope that those rumors didn’t reach Gatlinburg—or the ears of the only woman I ever wanted to be with again.