“That’s all I am to you, just some piece of meat, huh?” I tease. Honestly, I don’t care what Avery wants me for, as long as she wants me.

She smiles while she backs away, and when she spins on her heels to go back to Cole and turn in her orders, I watch every step her long, sexy legs take. “I gotta hand it to you, man. If I knew Birdie was going to grow up and turn into that, I would have made a play for that piece a long time ago,” Ben says over my shoulder, the words coming out a little rough.

“Yes, I’m sure she would have found you completely irresistible,” I poke back at him. He’s trying to get under my skin; it’s his new thing. But tonight is about starting over, so I’m not going to let Ben push my buttons.

“You ready, kid?” Ray asks, his hand flat on my back. For some reason, every nerve in my body is firing, and for a brief moment, I fear my fingers are so jittery that I won’t be able to pick out a note on my guitar. I shut my eyes, take a deep breath, and look at Ray.

“Ready,” I say, turning around to get with the guys while Ray announces us to the crowd. Dusty’s is full beyond capacity tonight. It’s not just me, but the whole band. And as much as I’ve felt like a failure the last few years, it seems that the people around here think just the opposite. There are people waiting out in the parking lot, just hoping to be able to hear enough or find a way in.

“Okay, guys. Look, I’m not gonna lie. The last few times we’ve played, we sucked. We hit bottom, and we f**king wallowed in it. We’re better than that. Let’s find it again, right now. You ready?” I say, looking into their eager faces, Ben probably more eager than he should be.

“Fuck yeah, man!” Ben shouts. I just laugh and shake my head, shouting along with him. Matt and Josh grab their guitars and climb the steps to take their spots; Ben gets comfortable behind the drums, tapping out a few rhythms that make the crowd go absolutely nuts. As soon as Ray is done introducing us, I take the mic, and I look out at hundreds of faces, a few of them familiar.

“So I brought my band this time,” I smile, and the girls eat it up. I’ll never get used to this reaction, and it makes me blush. I rub my hand over my mouth and chin, hiding my red face until I finally spot Avery in the back. I wink at her, and the group of college girls hanging at the front of the stage goes crazy, screaming my name and telling me exactly what they want to do to me. A month ago, that would have had me ready to fly through the show just to get them up to a hotel room or the trailer after. But I’m so far from interested now, and I actually find them comical.

“We thought we’d play some oldies, cuz…y’all know Ray, right?” I say, drawing everyone’s attention to Avery’s dad, sitting in his usual spot at the edge of the stage. He stands up and gives a cursory wave; he hates it when I do this.

“Well, Ray…he’s reeeeeallllly old,” I joke, and Ray’s wave turns into him giving me the finger in a flash of a second, which only makes me laugh even harder. “But I love this man. He gave me my break, taught me everything I know. So tonight, Ray? This is for you.”

We launch into three Johnny Cash songs with a little bit of a modern rock twist, and everyone in Dusty’s is on their feet, moving and yelling for more. I look at Ben and nod during the last Cash song, “Folsom Prison.” He nods and smiles back. These songs were his idea, and he was dead right—we’ve never sounded better.

We play five more covers straight, ending with my version of “Wild Horses,” this time the band coming in to join me for the last half, and people are actually dancing in the middle of Dusty’s, finding space in the crowd. Avery makes her way up front for this one, and I sing the entire thing to her, my eyes not leaving her face once.

I know I’ll lose her back to the crowd soon, so I lean over and whisper to Matt that I want to play my tune next, a little out of order. He steps back and tells Ben, who just shrugs and mouths “Whatever.” Once we’re all on the same page, I take the mic again and get Avery’s attention before she can step away.

“So, we’ve been working on some new stuff. If you guys are up for it, we’d like to play a few for you tonight. What do ya say?” I ask, holding the mic up over the crowd in front of us, amplifying the screams. Tonight is good for our ego, I just hope it doesn’t go to Ben’s head.

“All right, well…this first one… I’ve been working on it for, f**k man…oh, shit, sorry Ray,” I wince, and everyone laughs. I always give Ray a hard time about his beef with my swearing. It’s funny to watch him get angry, at least it is when he’s not really angry. “Anyhow, I’ve been working on this one for months. I couldn’t seem to quite get it right. Then this girl…well, she sort of helped me see where all the pieces fit. It’s called “Perfect,” and it’s about her.”