Country Singer Becca Bowen Recalls Seeing Her Boyfriend with Another Woman — at Her Own Concert

Becca Bowen has always been a whole lot of crazy, but the story behind her latest single "Son of a Gun" just might be her craziest yet.

"I had no plans to record this song," Bowen says of the song, which premieres exclusively on PEOPLE. "It was just one of those songs that came out of pure emotion."

The story behind the fiery song started with a simple friendship. The season 5 winner of the Outdoor Channel's hit competition reality series For Love and Likes, Bowen had been friends for over six years with a guy who not only lived down the street from her, but shared many of her interests.

"We both are country people," the South Carolina native explains. "We hunt and fish and all that. We had a ton of things in common, but we just couldn't commit to each other. I was always the one that wanted more out of it instead of just being friends with benefits, you know what I mean?"

A few years back, however, the two made a commitment to each other that led Bowen to believe they were dating exclusively. But as she stepped on stage to sing the national anthem at a July 4 celebration, Bowen couldn't help but notice that her so-called boyfriend was out in the crowd with another woman.

"I walked on stage, and I happened to look out into the audience, and the guy I was seeing was sitting there with another girl," recalls Bowen, who spent last year releasing empowering songs such as "Who I Am," "Glitter" and "How It All Went Down." "All I could do was put on a pair of sunglasses, so I wouldn't be able to see. But we did make eye contact, and I remember that he just threw his hands up."

He had been caught, and Bowen was livid.

"I left right after [the performance] was over, and I went home and texted him," Bowen says of the conversation that eventually resulted in a bland apology. "Even though we had been friends for a long time, I didn't talk to him for a while after that because I was just so upset."

Like any good singer-songwriter knows to do, Bowen says she took her anger into the writing room and came out with her new single "Son of a Gun."

"It came out so fast because I was just in the middle of feeling all these emotions," says Bowen of the song, written alongside Sam Woods. "My madness was turning into what my co-writer thought would make for a great country song. I think we wrote this song in about an hour, honest to God."

As a woman who claims to not ever let love easily in, Bowen admits that the whole incident still hurts. "It pisses me off," she says under her breath. "Everybody's looking for a fairytale and when that doesn't happen…"

Her voice drifts off before mentioning that time has allowed healing to take place both within her heart and the relationship.

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"I really like him as a person, but we just can't make it in a relationship," explains Bowen, who describes herself as "happily single" right now. "We are, like, best friends. We are great together. We pretty much talk every day, but just as friends now. There's no judgment between us. It's just a great friendship now."

Nevertheless, Bowen knows that releasing the song will bring up some tough feelings and potential speculation from the folks back home. But that's OK with her.

"I called him when I knew the song was going to come out, and I basically asked him not to be mad at me," Bowen says with a slight laugh. "I wrote this song when I was angry. This is not how I feel about him today. But a woman never forgets, you know? We can forgive, but we don't forget."