When the Music Stops (Mason Brothers Book #2)

Chapter 43

JOLIE

I love being on stage, but nerves are something that I’ve always had. Even when I was little and used to do dance recitals or in school and had to speak in front of the class, the moment I stood in front of the group I felt like I was going to throw up. This hasn’t changed at all and even those the crowd at the Mason Jar is full of people I see day in and out, part of me wants to turn around and vomit all over the place.

I don’t though, because the second I start to think that I’m going to lose it, Parker starts strumming on his guitar. Unlike other nights, we’re beginning with just his guitar and our voices. I glance over at Parker and he smiles as I start to sing the first line of Bruno Mars’. “Count on Me.”

“If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea, I'll sail the world to find you. If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see, I'll be the light to guide you”

When I get to the chorus, Parker joins in with me and we sing together. “You can count on me like one two three, I'll be there. And I know when I need it I can count on you like four three two, you'll be there. 'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah.”

Parker takes over for the next verse, “If you tossin' and you're turnin' and you just can't fall asleep, I'll sing a song beside you. And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me, every day I will remind you.”

We finish the song together and we both have huge smiles on our faces. Parker leans over and kisses me on my cheek and some hoots and hollers, as well as a round of “awws” come from the crowd. 

I tuck my head into Parker’s chest to hide my blush, but he takes the mic to address the crowd once again. “Hey everybody, thank you for coming out for our little jam session tonight. When I look out into the crowd I see a whole lot of people that have been here to support us for a while now and Jolie and I are so thankful for that.”

The crowd starts to cheer for us again. “We’ve got a good variety of songs to sing tonight, so we hope that everybody will find something that is in a style that you like. Oh, and thank you to our awesome band that will be joining us for the rest of the night on stage.”

The audience applauds and the band starts to play and we go into our practiced set. I felt such a sense of joy performing on stage with Parker. Every time our eyes meant my smile beamed. I didn’t know exactly what life had in store for us, but I knew that we’d be together.

Our final song for the night was “Bruises” by Train and Ashley Monroe. The chorus to the song spoke to me when we were listening to a playlist one day. Since this was the first time we were fulling performing since that time in Boulder and since my dad was in the audience, the meaning behind the song was even deeper.

“These bruises make for better conversation. Loses the vibe that separates. It's good to let you in again. You're not alone in how you've been. Everybody loses, we all got bruises. We all got bruises,”

We sing out the last note together. Parker had opted to not play his guitar during the song, so we were holding hands and facing each other as the song came to an end. His eyes didn’t leave mine and for a moment the crowd didn’t exist, the cheering and whooping didn’t exist, just the two of us. Parker and Jolie.

The moment broke when Fletch came up on stage to help us with our microphones. We waved to the crowd and gave our band another round of applause before heading back to the office to catch our breaths and grab some water.

“Wow, Jolie, that was...wow...amazing.”

“Totally amazing. I’ve never felt a rush like that before. You sounded great, God I could listen to your voice all day.”