Read Online Behind the Strings by Courtney Giardina - Free Book Online Page A

and it was going to be a fun one. I had been invited to a party for a friend of mine, Kat Moore. It was an invite-only party for industry executives and I felt pretty special to be on the guest list. Kat had recently signed a publishing deal and wanted to celebrate. I met her at the same songwriter night where I met Brendan. We’d kept in touch since then and I was so excited to see her again. This was the perfect event for my next blog feature about the tidal wave of women in country music that was happening lately.
    One frozen dinner and a few twirls of the curling iron later, I was all dressed and on my way to the cocktail party. Logan and I hadn’t made any set plans after our burger date, so when I walked into the quaint bar down at the end of Nashville’s famous Printer’s Alley, my cheeks flushed when he caught my eye.
    He proudly wore one of those long-sleeved button-ups that I remembered fondly. He filled it out much better than he used to. His hair matched the neatness of his appearance and the smile he gave me from across the room completed it. I threw him a gentle wave before I pranced over to the bar where I found Kat amongst of group of execs.
    “Celia, you made it!” she said as I squeezed behind the curtain.
    “Of course I did. I wouldn’t have missed it.”
    I handed my camera to her manager as Kat set herself beside me for a picture. We both smiled, then squinted, blinded by the flash. From what I could see through the stars in my eyes it looked to be a good one. Perfect to include beside my blog post. I asked Kat and her manager a few questions and said my goodbyes just before she was pulled away for another interview.
    “Well, don’t you look stunning tonight?” I head a familiar voice say from behind me.
    I turned to see Logan, as expected, looking even more handsome up close, but he had not come alone. The voice I recognized was Jesse’s. His hair still flowed freely, but his face was freshly shaven and I couldn’t help but smile at his neatly ironed attire. He cleaned up well in black dress pants. My mind quickly wandered to the buttons on his shirt and what it was I would find underneath them. Again, I could feel my heart start to race with him in front of me. Thankfully the heaviness of each beat jerked me back into realty.
    “You okay?” Logan asked.
    Fumbling, I said, “Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
    “I don’t know, seemed like you left us for a minute.”
    “Oh no, not at all. I’m here, right here, surrounded by all of these people, in a completely public place.”
    Logan said nothing, nodded slowly and pursed his lips as he digested that last sentence. I said it more to remind myself than anything. I needed to get a grip on whatever impure thoughts tried to weasel their way into my head. I knew better than that, and blamed it solely on the lack of action I’d been getting lately. Jaycie was always throwing jokes my way about how I “just needed to get laid” on days my attitude was more frantic than usual. Even if she were right, right now was not the ideal time to be yearning for anything.
    “I didn’t know either of you two knew Kat,” I said.
    Logan looked over at Jesse, who shook his head toward the ground. Clearly there was something I was missing. The two of them laughed softly to each other before letting me in.
    “Good old Jesse here used to date her,” Logan said.
    “Oh,” I said. “Well, I can see why. She’s a really great girl.”
    I tried my best not to sound the least bit jealous, but I could feel it inside of me. I didn’t know why, but I cared. I looked over at Kat right as she threw her head back laughing. She was deep in conversation. Her natural auburn hair fell off her shoulders to reveal her glowing skin. I cringed at the fact that I was secretly comparing myself to her as if there was a need to do so.
    “Great girl, she is,” Jesse said, “just not a one-man kind of great girl.”
    “No way,” I said. I leaned in further toward him as he