“I’ll need to tell my manager about me at some point,” I say. “Even if I don’t plan to come out publicly. But right now, I’m already in enough trouble, so it might be better if I see how things play out before I do anything else that could upset people.”
“Have you talked to your manager recently?” Andrew asks.
“Not really.”
“Then don’t you think maybe you should? Sooner rather than later? It’syourcareer. You don’t have to hide out like a criminal until they tell you that you’re allowed to go home.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I say, “Do you have to be right all the time?”
He grins. “I can’t help it. Some of us are naturally intelligent.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I take another sip from my drink, hoping for a bit of liquid courage, maybe. “I should call him. Waiting in this limbo is brutal. The thing is, though... as much as I want to jump back in and pick up my career where I left it in Nashville, I also kind of... don’t want to leave here.”
Andrew grins even harder. “Because of Addison?”
I kick him this time. “Yes, because of her. Because I’m enjoying my time with her. But I’m also happy to be spending time with you. Andspending time in Mayweather with everyone. It feels like this whole town raised me, you know? Coming back to my roots has been refreshing.”
“But mostly because of Addison?”
“Shut up.” I shake my head. “It’s not like we’re actually dating.”
“Why not?”
“Because...” I struggle to give my pestering brother an answer. I’m pretty sure there’s multiple reasons, but I settle on, “Because I’m not staying.”
He presses his lips together in a way that looks like he’s got something to say but is holding back.
“Spit it out,” I say.
“Look, Riles. I know since you broke into the music industry, you’ve had a lot of people telling you what to do. So I’m not going to be another person doing that. But I want to remind you that you’re filthy rich. You can do whatever the fuck you want. It just comes back to that tricky deal of figuring out what that is.”
My voice sounds embarrassingly pained when I tell him, “It’s not that easy.”
“I’m not saying it is.”
“And I’m not trying to jump into a complicated relationship with Addison just because we’ve had great sex.”
He makes a face. “Okay, I’m happy for you about that, but I don’t need to hear it.”
“She told me she’s not interested in a relationship with anyone,” I add, picking at the hem of my shorts. So even if I decide I want to be with her, that doesn’t mean she’ll want to be with me.
“Was that before or after you two started things?”
I consider that for a second. “Before, I guess.”
He stays annoyingly silent now. He simply raises an eyebrow at me, then takes a long pull from his drink.
And fine, I understand his point. It’s possible that Addison’s stance onrelationships could change. But I’m not cocky enough to assume that it will because of me.
“I don’t even know how I feel about her,” I say, which almost feels like a lie, but it’s true. I definitely feelsomething. A big something. I’m just not sure how to name it. “For now, what we’re doing is fun, and I want to keep doing it. But I’m not going to rush anything.”
Even if timeisa factor here.
I have a history of jumping into relationships as soon as someone pays attention to me, though. And so far, those have never turned out well. Whatever develops between me and Addison, it needs to do so naturally. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t force someone to feel things they don’t.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Andrew says. He reaches over to give my leg a squeeze. “And I’ll always be here if you need to talk anything else out, okay?”
That makes me smile. “Thanks, big brother.”
