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I cringed. “Why?”
“Because it’s important to show that you and Lena are not a publicity stunt. We need more intimacy shown between the two of you. Pack on the PDA while on the carpet, and it’ll help solidify that it’s real. I would send the two of you off on vacation, but we don’t really have time for that right now.”
“She’s going to hate that.”
Genna shot me a glare. “She won’t hate anything if you’d just pay attention to her. Dote on her. Buy her a new gown. Take her out to an exquisite dinner. You get what I’m saying. Think to yourself, if this was real, how would I treat her?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know the answer to that, because there’s no way in hell I’d ever get married.”
“You’re lying to yourself. Imagine that you met the perfect woman, Jackson. How would you treat her?”
I blinked at her, falling into silence for a few beats. “I. Don’t. Know.” My bandmates snickered beside me, and it only served to prove the point. “I don’t care about relationships. I don’t want one.” Women leave you broken. Just look at my dad.
“I guess I’ll have to send over some relationship guidelines for you then,” Genna grumbled. “This act that you’re putting on is only going to last so long.”
“Fuck you, Genna,” I spat, pushing back from the table.
“Jackson,” Tim warned me as I stood to my feet.
“No.” I stopped him from saying anything else. “I don’t give a shit what you all think about me, but don’t try to tell me I’m just putting on an act. I don’t do relationships because they fuck you up for life if they don’t work out.”
“I’m sorry, Jackson.” Genna’s voice lowered. “It just can be frustrating when I have to tell you every single step to take in a relationship. I get that it’s fake, but we have to portray it like it’s real—and that’s easier to make the public believe if you do things like you would in real life.”
“Yeah, and I’m telling you that I don’t know what the fuck I’d do in real life, because I’ve never done it. I’ve never even entertained the idea of marrying a woman. I mean, yeah, maybe if the right person just walked in and blew my mind, I might consider it. But I don’t think that’s happening.”
“It might.” Tyson’s voice was a near whisper.
I let out a heavy breath. “Is this over now? Because I have shit I need to do.”
“Yeah, we’ll reconvene later,” Genna snapped.
Perfect.
Spinning on my heels, I shoved open the door and took off across the lobby. The whole fucking meeting was a waste—and only put together to hound me about how to be in a relationship.
“Jackson, wait,” Tyson called after me, his Vans squeaking across the floor. “Don’t just take off like that. What she said was low, but she’s just trying to help us.”
I didn’t stop walking, not until I was outside, breathing in the fresh air. Well, mostly fresh air. However fucking fresh Los Angeles air can be.
“Dude, you’re acting ridiculous,” Tyson huffed, grabbing my shoulder. “Seriously.”
“Okay,” I finally snapped, facing him. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I’m in a fake relationship. I’m sorry I’m not jumping up and down with joy. I just want my normal life back.”
“But you like Lena?” Tyson reasoned, looking confused. “Don’t you think you’d still be hanging out with her even if there wasn’t this fake relationship element?”
I hesitated, trying to picture what it would be like if we weren’t forced together. “I don’t know. I might’ve never talked to her again.”
Tyson sighed. “I don’t believe that. She got under your skin too much. I could tell from the moment you met her. She’s different to you.”
“No, she’s not.” I shook my head. “The only difference between her and all the other girls is that she pisses me off more.”
Tyson laughed. “So yeah, she is different. She gets under your skin, and she’s stayed there.”
I didn’t want to argue with him. I didn’t even really wanna talk to him about it anymore. “Everything is always about relationships, and I’m tired of it. You wanna hang out and make music, then come on. Otherwise, I don’t want to talk right now.”
“Jeez, Jackson,” Tyson grunted. “I’ll let you go.”
Okay then.
