Midnight Heat - Josh Kiszka

Chapter 16

Annie made her way down the hill to the already lit bonfire. She saw the perfect opportunity to take a photo in front of her. Grace and Pops were laughing about something. She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo.

She sat on a hay bale and watched as the even larger crowd than the night before swayed along to the music. Everyone was having a good time, it looked to be. She sighed, slightly sad that she would be leaving her only friend of the past few years. She knew Grace would be happy for her, but she knew it would still hurt.

Annie stood up and joined the crowd. She heard different voices. Some screaming for Sam, some for Jake. However, most were for Josh. She could understand why they were all excited about him. He was stunning. His white jumpsuit fit him perfectly. His smile was so beautiful. He owned the makeshift stage as he danced around. Annie felt the vibe he and his bandmates were producing. Josh was truly in his element. She wondered what he thought about.

Josh finally noticed Annie in the crowd and smiled even more widely than he already was. He blew her a kiss and continued to prance around. The girls surrounding her must have thought it was to them, because they all started screaming. Annie fiddled with the ring on her left hand. It didn't feel out of place, it felt right. She couldn't wait to see what he would look like wearing a ring.

As the last song played, the crowd died down. Annie grabbed five beers and carried them to her fiancé, his brothers, and Dan.

"Thank you baby." Josh said, kissing her cheek.

"You look really nice in that." She said.

"You look so beautiful, yourself." Josh smiled, taking Annie's hand.

The group sat down on the stage and made small talk for a while. Jake eventually went to find Grace.

"Wanna take a walk?" Annie asked.

"Sure." Josh stood, his hand still tightly clasped with Annie's.

They walked up to the house and sat on the porch swing. "I want to move away." Annie said.

"Okay. We can move. Where do you want to go?" Josh said reassuringly.

"Wherever you go. I just hate to leave them so soon." Annie said, tears in her eyes.

"Well. We can wait until after the tour." Josh gave the idea.

"Tour?" Annie asked.

"Oh. Yeah. Did I not tell you? Next Friday we are going to 7 different venues over the course of a month." Josh said. "You could go with us or stay here or we could find a place in Frankenmuth."

Annie was silent. She was shocked. She would be marrying him and only to have him for a week. "I-"

"I've made you upset." Josh facepalmed.

"No-well yes. I just didn't know that you'd be gone so quickly for so long." Annie admitted.

"Would that have changed things?" Josh asked, turning to meet Annie's gaze "would you not have agreed to marry me?"

"I definitely would have still said yes. It just changes my outlook on leaving a little." She laughed.

"I'm sorry. I truly thought I had told you. We can still make it work. Like I said, we can bunk together and you can come with us." Josh smiled. "I'd actually really enjoy that."

At that moment, Sam came up the stairs with a duffel bag and said "I would too. Need to get to know my new sister."

Annie smiled.

"Can I use your shower?" Sam asked. "I'll be quick."

"Of course. Take as long as you need. Make yourself at home." Annie said.

"Thanks." Sam said opening the door.

"We could move to Frankenmuth and keep your house as a vacation home." Josh said. "We could come down every three months or so."

"I'd like that." Annie smiled again.

"Will you come on tour with me?" Josh asked.

"I think I will." Annie said.