The corner of his mouth tilted up. “So I’ve heard.”
Warmth seeped into my bones, chasing away the chill of betrayal. Rhys did listen to my music. He might not want to, but he did. Bolstered, I continued. “This time, I wanted to go home. I’d been sneaking back to see my family. Trips that were nothing more than turnin’ and burnin’. My manager always insisted they be quick trips. My team needs me in Nashville, she’d say.” I let out a long breath. “The day before yesterday, I went to heroffice to tell her I needed a break. I had a big plan to foster my social media and release teasers and maybe we could push the album a few months. When I got to her office, one of the receptionists told me Lucy was in her office and I could just walk in.”
My pulse kicked up and my breathing shorted. I was back in that hallway, listening to Lucy plot my life.
“I heard her telling her assistant about our conversations. They were brainstorming men to introduce me to because she might have to set me up with another loser and entice him to cheat again. The assistant laughed. ‘It’s worked all the other times you’ve done it.’”
“No fucking way.” His fingers tightened on my leg. The pressure felt so good, so reassuring. “Am I understanding this correctly?”
I nodded slowly. “She introduced me to guys with reputations, some I knew, some I didn’t, and then threw women at them until I caught them cheating. And I’d take those feelings and I’d write songs.” I wiped at my cheeks and sniffled. “I trusted her. With everything. And she was only using and manipulating me.”
The tears flowed fully now. I had thought Lucy was a friend.
“I’d forgotten what Daddy told me. ‘Never consider it a true friendship if one makes money off the other.’” I shook my head. “I was so stupid.”
His hand was still on me, strong and comforting. “Don’t blame yourself for someone else’s selfishness. You know your dad would say that too.”
Rhys always knew what to say. If Daddy were alive and I had run straight to him, he’d have said the same thing.Never be sorry you were a good person.
“I had to get away. I walked out without talking toher, packed my shit, and caught a flight the next day. Though not before calling my lawyer to fire Lucy for me.”
“Your daddy would’ve been proud. Your mom will be too.”
I had to drop my gaze back to my lap. His hand was in my view, so damn big on my leg. “I know. She’ll worry though, and she shouldn’t have to worry about me. I’m a grown woman.” Who had trusted the wrong people.
“I can tell you that it won’t matter how old you are, she’ll worry. It’s what parents do.” He shook his head, a line forming between his brows. “This Lucy isn’t going to cause trouble, is she? She can’t sue you or anything?”
“I don’t care about the money, Rhys. You know I never did.”
“I don’t know what you care about anymore, June Bug.”
Fresh, hot tears filled my eyes. That was the real heartbreak right there. The breakups with those exes had reopened a scar that had never fully healed. A wound that cracked right open when Rhys pointed out how much time and distance was between us now.
“I meant other than your friends and family,” he clarified. “I know your family will always be the most important.”
“But they haven’t always been.” To get to where I was, I’d had to put my family life on the back burner. I’d had to play the game. And I’d lost. I had traded myself for fame and a fortune that left me empty. “I have four homes, Rhys. Five with the cabin. I wanted a stable place in each corner of the country, but I remember feeling more secure in a tent with my sisters and mybirth parents. I try to write and nothing comes anymore.”
I had it all. But I had nothing.
The tears continued to fall. “I just had to come home. I have to figure out what I really want to do with my life.”
The door banged open.
Rhys didn’t jerk away from me. His back was to the girls, and I ducked my head to keep them from seeing my tear-streaked face. He looked over his shoulder. “You two wanna go outside for a little longer? I’ve gotta discuss practice times with June for guitar lessons.”
“Lessons?” Bethany’s question was full of disbelief.
“If you play outside for a little longer.”
“Yay!” they cried in unison and rushed back out the door.
He was too generous. I’d love to give lessons, but he didn’t want to deal with me. “You don’t have to?—”
“I can’t take it back, June Bug, so I hope to hell you were serious about teaching them.”
A wave of excitement cooled the heat of my emotions. “Yes, I’d love to. I miss teaching kids. I used to do that when I first moved to Nashville. Well, music tutors grow on trees out there. I was a nanny who taught music lessons.”
“I thought you worked at a restaurant.”
