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Prologue

Colorblind

Close your eyes and you can i screens, and lighters flickering Fans screa, trying to catch a glihts, the equipment, the musician himself

He was running back and forth singing, headbanging, and playing his guitar The lyrics were jumbled His h the crowd so loudnote played I just wanted it to end

Nick Wilde had opened for the Counting Crows at the Hollywood Bowl It was his second chance—and he blew it The croas exhilarated at the start of his first song and he owned the stage but it didn’t last long By the third song he was i words He was lost in his own trance, soaked in alcohol, and no one could help himnot Xander, notbefore he even finished his fourth songand he never played onstage again

Music was his soul Music was in all of our souls When ere younger he taught us everything he couldhow to play, to sing, the right way to co by every artist We traveled to concert after concert Music was his life and it became ours

But he wasn’t happy just playing He had a drea the way his dreaot further than ned by a label and cut his first albu run they released hi the circuit—clubs, churches, weddings, birthday parties, as he waited for another big break And then, just like that, he blew his golden opportunity

Everything in our life changed after that The drinking got worse, Grandpa came around more to check on us, and Mom went back to work Every day left another kink in his chain as he lived in his oorld I was sixteen when his plan A becae, I cutto let me fail The band’s albu, it started to gain popularity

I ree We were restless We had been sitting around for hours waiting When ere finally up we strutted confidently across the stage like we had in rehearsal, but, really, ere nervous as hell The lights were er than ere used to When the guys started to play, soft, barely audible words flew out ofaround, I adjusted theme on with such enthusiasm that rown up with, the one my dad had fostered It was raw and present and soulful, and, in that moment, my music came alive The croent crazy and just like that ain

Xander struck while the iron was hot He arranged to go on tour That was the beginning of the end for me We started out small Smaller venues, shitty hotels, crappy food, and a lot of drinking We opened for band after band and the relationships I e doing what I lovedit keptto make my dad proudyeah, that, too

But touring was a constant infringement on my personal space I hated the cramped quarters, lack of privacy, constant strict schedule, never being in the sa you everywhere, people alanting soot old It was the longest year ofthe way his dream morphed into mine What I caht being on tourfamous Mine is about the music

As the venues got bigger so did the crowds, the fanfare, and I could see how you could get lost in it, caught up in it—but I was determined not to end up like my father He was addicted to the fame I’m addicted to the creative process I hope that difference between us is enough

The tour ended and rote, we played around LA, and as ti another albu it for the band and forthe albu I dreaded, at least until the day I saw her through the glass The girl who inspired our song “Once in a Lifetiirl who stole ht and then crushed it at the very same time

She was as beautiful as I relance she tooka suitcase behind her, and my heart skipped a beat I knew immediately she was the one sent to interview one I couldn’t help but watch her I wanted her unlike anyone I had ever wanted before I had to stifle a laugh when her briefcase fell off the top of her suitcase and she glanced around to see who saanted to yell, “Onlyabout you is sexy as fk”

I rushed to grab the door for her, but she pushed it forward and fell into me—not that I minded in the least I’d catch her over and over There wasn’t a thing about her that I didn’t remember from the first tiht ainsther get away so easily I’d go on a thousand tours to have her in ht in her eyes that ot a second chance—it was her But unlike hi to blow it

When she extended her hand and said, “Hello, I’m Dahlia London from Sound Music I’m so sorry I’m late,” I knew she had to be mine

Chapter 1

A Thousand Years

A glih the partially open curtains across the roo various shades of pink, red, and orange Before I know it, the sky blazes with color; it’s as if it’s on fire—just like lorious new day And I’eous lines of his body slumped over in the chair next to my hospital bed He’s asleep, but not very soundly I study hi jaw, sculpted nose, and toned body But it’s his soul, his playfulness, and his a personality that made me fall in love with him He’s so much more than I could ever have asked for—he’s my soul mate in every sense of the word

rologue

Colorblind

Close your eyes and you can i screens, and lighters flickering Fans screa, trying to catch a glihts, the equipment, the musician himself

He was running back and forth singing, headbanging, and playing his guitar The lyrics were jumbled His h the crowd so loudnote played I just wanted it to end

Nick Wilde had opened for the Counting Crows at the Hollywood Bowl It was his second chance—and he blew it The croas exhilarated at the start of his first song and he owned the stage but it didn’t last long By the third song he was i words He was lost in his own trance, soaked in alcohol, and no one could help himnot Xander, notbefore he even finished his fourth songand he never played onstage again

Music was his soul Music was in all of our souls When ere younger he taught us everything he couldhow to play, to sing, the right way to co by every artist We traveled to concert after concert Music was his life and it became ours

But he wasn’t happy just playing He had a drea the way his dreaot further than ned by a label and cut his first albu run they released hi the circuit—clubs, churches, weddings, birthday parties, as he waited for another big break And then, just like that, he blew his golden opportunity

Everything in our life changed after that The drinking got worse, Grandpa came around more to check on us, and Mom went back to work Every day left another kink in his chain as he lived in his oorld I was sixteen when his plan A becae, I cutto let me fail The band’s albu, it started to gain popularity

I ree We were restless We had been sitting around for hours waiting When ere finally up we strutted confidently across the stage like we had in rehearsal, but, really, ere nervous as hell The lights were er than ere used to When the guys started to play, soft, barely audible words flew out ofaround, I adjusted theme on with such enthusiasm that rown up with, the one my dad had fostered It was raw and present and soulful, and, in that moment, my music came alive The croent crazy and just like that ain

Xander struck while the iron was hot He arranged to go on tour That was the beginning of the end for me We started out small Smaller venues, shitty hotels, crappy food, and a lot of drinking We opened for band after band and the relationships I e doing what I lovedit keptto make my dad proudyeah, that, too

But touring was a constant infringement on my personal space I hated the cramped quarters, lack of privacy, constant strict schedule, never being in the sa you everywhere, people alanting soot old It was the longest year ofthe way his dream morphed into mine What I caht being on tourfamous Mine is about the music