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After their meal, one that thankfully was full of more laughter than Drew had seen out of anyone in his family for months, they hopped onto his bus, which Max had pulled around to the curb, and headed to the venue. Maddie made all of them laugh some more as she played with the knobs and switches on the high-tech vehicle, before turning to Ashley and asking, "How has sleeping on a bus been?"
Ashley's eyes were huge as she looked at Drew. He knew she hadn't intended to do so, but in that moment she gave them completely away.
Fortunately, Sean stepped in. "I could never get much sleep on the bus when we traveled for games. But Drew has always been able to sleep like a rock, anytime, anywhere."
"I've actually slept really well," Ashley finally answered his sister. "Drew's schedule is super busy. He's up early for radio, has interviews or recording sessions all day, and then his shows and meet and greets don't end until late. By the time my head hits the pillow, I'm pretty much out."
Except, Drew thought, when I'm keeping you up by making love to you.
"You're recording again?" Olivia asked him. "Does that mean you're writing again, too?"
Olivia hadn't said much all night, but she'd obviously picked up on the most important points. First, that Drew couldn't keep his eyes off Ashley. And second, that he'd finally busted through his musical block.
"I am."
"His new songs are incredible." Thankfully, Ashley seemed to have forgotten the awkwardness from a few minutes ago as she smiled at him and said, "I can't wait until the whole world gets to hear your new music."
"I'm really inspired, Ash." Because of you.
"Who has gotten to hear the new songs so far?" Maddie wanted to know as the bus pulled into the lot behind the venue, and James checked in with security to make sure everyone was in place for their arrival.
"Just the engineers I've been working with in the studios we've dropped into on the road...and Ashley." If his family hadn't figured things out by now, that was the final piece of the puzzle they'd need to slide into place.
They were all inside the venue a few minutes later. Drew and his father stood off to one side while Ashley chatted easily with everyone. He was glad to see that her earlier nerves seemed to have all disappeared.
"Ashley is great, Drew." His father was smiling as he said it, the first real smile Drew had seen on his face in a very long time. "She's exactly the kind of woman I was hoping you'd find one day."
Michael Morrison had always known what his kids were thinking and feeling. Even better, he'd understood them. Just as he understood Drew now, regardless of all the things Drew couldn't say yet about the woman he'd fallen head over heels for.
"I'm lucky to have found her. Really lucky. But--" Damn it, he hated having to say, "We're trying to keep things private for now. Even though I want to tell the whole world she's mine."
"I'd be nervous about being with a big star, too," his father said with a nod, as if Ashley's request made perfect sense to him. "Heck, your mother wasn't even famous, and I was still terrified about asking her out. And then when she said she'd go out with me? I completely panicked and almost told her to forget it."
Drew had never heard this story before. What's more, he hadn't heard his father talk about his mother at all since she'd passed away, as if it hurt too much even to share memories. "If Mom said she wanted to be with you, why'd you panic?"
"Because she was the most beautiful, vibrant, incredible woman in the world. And I was just me. I honestly couldn't see how it could work."
"It worked great. You had the best marriage of anyone I knew growing up."
"We did." His father inhaled a shaky breath. "We sure did." He shook his head as if to clear it before adding, "I know you would never want to overshadow anyone, Drew--"
"No one could overshadow Ashley."
His father met his gaze and held it. "Because she's the most beautiful, vibrant, incredible woman in the world to you?"
"Damn straight she is."
His father pulled him in for a hug, and they both held on tight. But Drew could see that Olivia's brain was on overdrive as she watched Ashley talking about the music business with Grant.
Ever since their mother had gotten sick, Olivia had tried so hard to step into Lisa Morrison's shoes and keep the family together. She'd done a great job, but Drew didn't want her to think she had to worry about him anymore. Not now that he had Ashley.
James gave him a hand signal to let him know he had ten minutes before he needed to hit the stage. "I'm going to see if I can grab Olivia before the show starts. Thanks, Dad. For everything."
He gave his father another hug, then headed toward his sister. "Can you hang with me in my dressing room for a few minutes?"
"Sure, I've been wanting to grab you for a private chat."
Olivia didn't say anything as they headed for his dressing room, but as soon as the door closed, she said, "I thought you weren't going to go near your professor's daughter." She parroted his words from a family barbecue a while back: 'I wouldn't touch her in a million years.' Isn't that what you said to all of us? Does her father know about you two?"
"Not yet."
She raised an eyebrow. "You say that like you're actually planning on telling him."
"I am."
"I haven't had Professor Emmit for any classes, but I know plenty of people who have, so I think I have a pretty good sense of what he's about. He likes rules. Likes everything to line up neat and straight. Especially his daughter, I'm going to guess."
His sister was too damned smart to miss a thing. "Right."
"Which means you're the very last guy he'd ever want to see her with." She held up her hand before he could respond. "You're my brother and I love you and I think you're great. The greatest. But the fact is, you're still a rock star. And life with you is the exact opposite of straitlaced and neat and tidy." Just then, screams from his fans pierced the door, and she shook her head. "Plus, it's gotten even crazier than it was before. You're really, really famous now."
He couldn't deny any of that either. But that didn't mean he was willing to give Ashley up. "We can make it work."
"How? Long distance, with her in school and you on the road?"
"If that's
what it takes. I'm not willing to give her up, Olivia." Just the thought of it made every part of him tense up. "Anything but her."
His sister's expression softened. "You're different with Ashley, Drew. Happier. And so much lighter, too. I know how hard losing Mom has been for you."
"For all of us."
"Yes. All of us." She closed her eyes, and in that moment, he watched her fall apart, then put herself back together. "Sean is lucky. He found Serena, and she's helped change everything for the better for him. And Justin always has Taylor to lean on, even if they're both too dumb to realize that they're actually in love and not just best friends."
"Things are going to hit a breaking point soon for them," Drew predicted.
"God, I hope so, because it's just gotten downright painful to watch the two of them circle each other." She pinned him with her laser-focus gaze. "Do you think that maybe what you're feeling for Ashley seems so strong because she's helped heal you?"
"She has helped heal me," he told his sister. "But that's only one of the reasons why I love her."
His sister's eyes went big. "Love?"
He'd been circling it himself for a while now. Since the very beginning, if he was being totally honest with himself. "I'm in love with Ashley." It was the biggest thing he'd ever known. And the best. If he could have shouted it from the rooftops, he would have.
"Does she know?"
Just then, a knock came at the door. "Two minutes, Drew," James called.
"Not yet," he told his sister as they both got up to head out of the room.
And he'd be counting every second until it was just the two of them alone on the bus so that he could tell Ashley she was absolutely everything to him.
"Thanks, sis," he said to Olivia. "I miss you, miss hanging out with all of you."
"I miss you, too," she said, her voice as thick with emotion as his. "But we'll always be there whenever you're ready to come home. Just like Mom always said, we want you to live your dream."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ashley was blown away by the Morrisons.
Not just because they were all so beautiful that it almost made her eyes hurt to look at them standing together in the VIP section of Drew's show. And not just because they were all so smart and successful.
