“Alright. So.... Everybody listen up for a minute.” Nick eased down onto the black wooden stool behind him and situated the strap holding his new guitar around his neck. “I want to take the opportunity to thank you guys... Well gals, most of you, for coming out tonight and making the first night of my US tour totally awesome.” The crowd cheered. “You might not know that this was actually supposed to the the second stop on my tour. We were going to do a big birthday bash in Vegas a couple nights ago, but things didn’t quite work out as planned, and we ended up pushing the Las Vegas date back to near the end of the tour.”

There was a collective “Awww....” amongst the fans.

“But-” Nick interrupted them with his finger in the air. “But--- My birthday turned out even better than it could have possibly been if I’d had a big party in Vegas, and that’s why I want to sing this next song. I did this one a few times at the Q&A sessions for a few shows on the Canadian leg of the tour, and got a really great response, so I decided to add it to the set list for you guys.” Again, the crowd cheered. “However...” He looked up at Annie, who was perched on the front row of the balcony with a perfect view. “In light of some recent changes that have been going on in my life, I’ve decided to change it up a little bit. I hope Mr. Petty doesn’t mind if I mash his song up with one of mine to reflect how I’m feeling right now.” He winked at Annie as he started to play the opening riff to the loud approval of the crowd.

“She’s a good girl. Loves her mama

Loves Jesus, and America too.

She’d a good girl, crazy ‘bout Elvis.

Loves horses, and her boyfriend, too...”

Annie swayed to the music and locked eyes with Nick as he continued to sing. He’d occasionally look around and play up the crowd, but he always kept coming back to her.

“...I wanna glide down, over Mulholland.

I wanna write her, name in the sky.

I wanna free fall, out into nothing.

I’m gonna leave this world for a while...

Cause I’m falling in love again,

I’m falling in love again

I’m falling in love again

Don’t stop baby, cause I’m falling in love again.”

Annie couldn’t help but laugh at the creative liberty he’d taken with the song, but had to admit she loved it. Many years ago, she’d dreamed about being serenaded by a Backstreet Boy at a concert, and while the guy was different, and she technically wasn’t even at a Backstreet Boys concert, the reality was so much better.