No one looked his way; they were too busy taking care of their own pre-game rituals. The deed was done. Whether he liked it or not, he’d been noble and kept his promise to Emma. Yet, doing the right thing didn’t feel so good this time around. A sense of foreboding cast gray storm clouds over his head. He hated doing it, but for Emma he would do anything, even ruin the good stuff they had together. Sincerely unselfish gestures had never played a part in his past, but Emma deserved the very best he had to give, even if he suffered in the process. This personal growth shit hurt like fucking hell. Beed and his wife were in town for tonight’s Monday Night Football game, which made this as good a time as any, though much earlier than planned, being only one month into the season. Yet nothing moved fast in the music business—or so Tanner told himself—so exposing Beed and Steph to Emma’s talent didn’t guarantee they’d be whisking her off to Nashville any day soon. Steph agreed to check out Emma during Wednesday night karaoke and report her thoughts to Tanner, who’d relay them to Emma.
