DREW

DREW: So, what if I told you I'm in Charleston at the concert?

I hold my breath as I press send and watch for the three dots.

DANI: Whatever. You're full of it.

I look over and see her looking down at her phone.

DREW: You just said this would be the best way to meet. Were you serious? If you're not, it's okay. I'll go about my business and enjoy the concert I came to see.

I look up to see what she's doing. I give her an out if it was just the beer talking. I hope she doesn't. She's so close, but I'll walk away and watch Luke Combs with my sister if she freaks out and doesn't want to. I see her looking around and saying something to the women with her.

"Did you tell her you're here?" Kim asks next to me. "Where is she?" She looks around. "What does she look like?" Kim keeps shooting questions at me.

"Hold on, Kim." I look over at her, and she looks down, typing on her phone, and I'm still waiting for Dani's response

DANI 

My heart is beating so fast that it might pop out of my chest.

"Are you okay?" Gabbi asks me. "You've turned white as a paper."

"I'm not sure," I respond, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"What's going on?" Carla asks, sitting next to me.

"Not sure; hold on." I look down at my phone to respond to Drew's last text. Could he really be here?

DANI: Really, you're here? I want to meet you, but I'm a little scared. This is different for me.

DREW: For me, too, but if you don't want to, that's okay too.

DANI: Who are you with?

She has to ask if he's here alone; that might be borderline creepy. Who goes to a concert alone?

"Dani, you're scaring me a little," Carla tells me.

"I'm fine. Is just this guy I've been talking to." I give her a vague explanation while figuring out if I want to meet Drew.

DREW: With one of my sisters. She loves country music as much as I do. If you don't want to meet, no worries. I'll finish this beer with my sister and enjoy the concert.

I look up from my phone and look around.

"What the hell is going on?" Gabbi asks again.

"What guy? You never mentioned you were dating someone."

"I'm not dating him." I get up from the bench I've been sitting on. I explain to my friends how I met Drew and how we've been talking over text for the past few months. And they both look at me like I'm crazy.

"Okay? So, what's going on with him?" Gabe replies. "Why are we talking about him now?"

"He's here with his sister and is wondering if I want to meet him." I see Carla's brow raise.

"He's here with his sister?" Carla is asking.

"Yeah."

"I'm trying to figure out if this is creepy or romantic," Gabbi says, taking off her hat to look up at me from the bench she's been sitting on.

"I think it's creepy," Carla interjects.

"He says it's okay if I don't want to meet him." I sit back down next to Gabbi.

"But you want to, don't you?" Gabbi knows me well. Second, to Nikki, she's one of my closest friends.

"I do.” I look up at Carla since she doesn't like the idea. “Is that bad?"

"Well, if you feel you know him well enough, then I guess this is as good a time as any. At least we're in a public place with many people around." Carla finally agrees.

"Okay, I'm going to do it then." I take a deep breath and respond.

DANI: Let's meet. Where are you?

I look at the three dots on my phone, and the butterflies take flight in my stomach.

DREW: Lookup.

As I look up from my phone, I see him standing just a few feet away. My first instinct is to get up and run to him, which is precisely what I do. He catches me in the air. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he puts his arms around my waist; it's a fantastic feeling to be this close to him finally.