Read Online The Songwriter by A. P. Jensen - Free Book Online Page A

and shoved her back onstage as Trey started Release the Dream . She walked on singing and the crowd roared in approval, not jeers. Gwen felt like a million dollars as she sauntered over to Trey. They sang Release the Dream in a blur of light, noise and his eyes grounding her when she was so lightheaded she thought she might faint from the adrenaline high.
    When the song ended , he raised a brow and she knew this was her moment. Breaking Out was practically a solo. Trey had a small part in it but the stage was hers. She walked to center stage and thrust her fist in the air on the first line.
     
    Once upon a time I questioned if I was good enough, pretty enough, smart enough
    Those days are gone!
     
    The women cheered and Gwen sang her ass off. Trey came up beside her to sing his lines and when he held his hand out to her, she slapped it away. The women hooted and Gwen tore across the stage, using every inch of it as they rehearsed. When her moment came to close the song, she stood center stage and let her voice go. It soared, filling the arena. When she dropped the last note she received deafening applause. Trey bent his head in defeat upon ‘losing’ his girl and Gwen strutted off the stage. Her stage persona lasted until the moment the light moved off of her. She collapsed on numb legs in Angie’s arms but she was too busy gushing to notice.
    “ We’ll make a superstar out of you yet, Harper!” Angie crowed. “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. You’re sensational!”
    “ Get me out of here,” Gwen wheezed.
    Angie chattered all the way to the tour bus where she dumped Gwen in her bedroom. She frowned when she noticed Gwen was still trembling.
    “ The performance is over. You should be ecstatic!” Angie chided.
    “ I need a moment,” Gwen said.
    Angie rolled her eyes and sprinted back to the arena. She was as much of an adrenaline junkie as Trey. Gwen pulled off her dress and stepped into the shower. The quiet after being in the arena was deafening. After her shower, she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head. When her phone rang, Gwen groaned. She stared at the screen and knew she couldn’t ignore it.
    “ Hey Ma.”
    “ Gwen, I haven’t heard from you in a while so I thought I’d call. How are you?” 
    Hearing her mom’s steady, caring voice made tears fill her eyes. “I don’t know.”
    “ What does that mean? Are you crying?”
    Her mom’s voice went from soothing and cool to screechy and panicked in two seconds flat. Gwen laughed, sat up in bed and wrapped the covers around her.
    “ I’m on tour with Trey Phoenix.”
    A pause. “He wants to write music while he’s touring? Why doesn’t he call you once he’s done?”
    Gwen took a deep breath. “No, Ma, I’m not writing songs with him. I’m singing on his tour.”
    The ecstatic scream on the other end of the phone made Gwen smile and she turned it on speaker and tossed it onto the bed beside her.
    “Didn’t I tell you that you have a voice like an angel? How did this happen?” Mama demanded.
    Gwen went over the events of the past two weeks.
    “Tonight was my first performance.”
    A wary, “How’d it go?”
    Gwen sniffled . “Fine.”
    “ Just fine?”
    Gwen brushed away tears and smiled. “I fucking killed it, Ma.”
    “ That’s my baby! Why are you crying?”
    “ I have no idea. I never thought I could do this and it just… happened , you know?”
    “ I’m so proud of you, baby girl. Are you coming to Montana? I haven’t seen you since… you know.”
    Her euphoria faded somewhat. There was nothing like hearing about your past mistakes to make you drop to earth with a plop. “I’m going to be on tour for six months. I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it home.”
    “ It’s going to be mine and daddy’s fiftieth anniversary. I want you to be here.”
    “ I’ll find a way.”
    “ That’s my baby! I miss you. I know you’ve always been scared of singing in front of