Chance Meeting

Seven

Los Angeles, California

        September, 2020

The next month was just as fun and exhausting for Bobby as it always was when he was on tour, and he was glad when the final tour date rolled around. He'd another reason why he was so eager to End the tour this Time around, though, and it'd nothing to do with the exhaustion or even his kids back home. After all, Zak and Zoe were both grown now–they might still need him in a lotta ways, 'cuz that was just human Nature, but they didn't need him quite as much as when they were lil.

        Every chance he got–whether it was between Sound check and a show, or during one of his few Days off–the Silver Fox kept in touch with both Ash and Aerin. He and the former were plotting for him to make a pit stop in Nashville before he went home once the tour was over, 'cuz he felt like he hadn't gotten enough Time with the young woman that lone Night. From what the younger bassist was saying, the feeling was mutual, but she was just stubborn and prideful enough that she wasn't gonna ask him to come see her, even once he finally could.

        Once the Day of that final show arrived, he knew that he wasn't the only one who was ready to get off the road at last. The trio of blondes that made up his band were all ready to get back home to their kids, most of whom were still minors. Aside from his own kids, Bret's older daughter was the only one who'd already turned eighteen, but the front man still missed her like she was a baby.

        "Ready to finally End this tour with a bang, guys?" CC asked as they were getting wired up for their last show.

        "Hell yeah, man," the drummer chuckled. "I'm soooo ready to get back home to Jude and Lucy, and to sleep in my own bed again!"

        "Same here with getting back home to Raine and Jorja," Bret agreed with a chuckle.

        "I know the feeling," the guitarist laughed. "Vallon's ready for more guitar lessons, but it might be a month before I can do it without my hands feeling like they're gonna fall off!"

        "Ain't that the Truth?" he chuckled, plucking a few chords on his bassta test his Sound pack. "I'm glad I taught Zak and Zoe how to play Years ago."

        "Lucky bastard," the blondes laughed, causing him to give them a cheeky grin.

        "So, aside from hanging out with those two for a while, what's your plans for when ya get back home?" the front man asked.

        "Well, honestly, I'm not planning on going straight home," Bobby admitted.

        "Wait, really?" Rikki asked, looking surprised. "But you've been acting like you're dying to get off the road, just like the rest of us."

        "And I am," the bassist told him. "But I'm planning on going to see Aerin and Ash before I head back to Florida."

        "Really, now?" Bret asked, those blue eyes wide with surprise.

        "We've been keeping in touch whenever I'd a free minute," he chuckled, nodding. "She's been too stubborn and prideful to actually ask me to come see her once the tour Ends, and he's been helping me plot out how to surprise her with just that."

        None of the blondes could help a laugh at that as they awaited their final cue to head out onstage for this tour, but they'd to admit one thing. Bobby hadn't quite been the same since that Night in Atlanta, but it wasn't like he'd Changed in a bad way or anything. He seemed genuinely happier after meeting the young woman, and they'd all noticed how his eyes'd Light up when they'd start texting, or when he got a phone call from even the younger bassist.