I collapse against her back, both of us panting. “That was unbelievable, Kate. I’m never going to be able to spend time in this room again without thinking about how you rocked my fucking world tonight.” I pull out of her before spinning her around to face me as I caress her cheek.
“See what kind of reward you get when you write a girl a few songs,” she teases, running her hands through my hair.
“What do I get since it’s an entire album?” I ask, raising my eyebrows so high they’re almost touching my hairline.
“A lifetime ofthis,” she whispers, laying her head against my bare chest.
Talk about the best fucking gift in the world.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
jake
“It’s been a long time, man,”Luke says, getting up from the table, shaking my hand, and pulling me into a one-arm hug. “We need to find time to hang out more often, especially since you’re finally settling down with a good woman like me.” He winks, stepping aside to let his wife, Sophia, get out of the booth.
“Definitely,” I reply, placing my hand on the small of Kate’s back and bringing her closer. The restaurant has seated us in a back corner, away from peering eyes. Doesn’t mean no one will see us—just less likely to be bombarded with requests for photos and signatures. It’s become nearly impossible to go out in public these days without someone taking a photo or capturing us on video, quickly posting it on social with the hopes of going viral and gaining followers. “Let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Kate.”
Fuck. I love that way that sounds. The only thing better would be to call her my wife.
After a quick round of introductions, the four of us sit in the cozy booth, glancing over the menu as the waiter takes our drink and dinner orders. My goal in organizing dinner with Luke andSophia is to introduce Kate to more people who live a similar lifestyle to ours. Give her a network of friends in Nashville. People she can relate to and lean on for support. Everything I know about Luke and Sophia makes me confident they’re the type of people Kate would love to have in her corner, and I know they’ll be honest about the benefits and challenges they’ve experienced over the years.
“So, how did the two of you meet?” Sophia asks, taking a sip of her white wine.
I nod at Kate, giving her the go-ahead to tell the story. I’m curious to hear how she talks about our past and how we became a couple to someone who isn’t familiar with it.
“We lived next door and were childhood best friends,” Kate answers with a soft smile. “We were only friends until last year, when things changed, and we fell in love. And now here we are.”
Short. Sweet. Intentionally avoiding how I broke her heart when my career started to take off fifteen years ago, or how we broke up not too long after getting together the first time. Is she leaving out those heartaches for my benefit or hers?
“Aw! I love a good friends-to-lovers trope,” Sophia gushes, leaning her head on Luke’s shoulder. “How are you adjusting to life on the road? It can be—how do I put this nicely—a doozy?”
Luke chuckles. “I think what my wife meant to say is her first year on the road with me was a complete shitshow. We must have broken up and gotten back together three or four times.”
Sophia smacks Luke’s arm. “Don’t scare her away! We’ve just met her.” Sophia shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “He’s not technically wrong, though. We were very on-again, off-again for the first year or so, but we eventually got into a good rhythm.”
Kate tenses slightly as her lips press together in a thin line. I can sense she’s starting to get anxious about what Sophia is sharing, worried we might experience the same thing. The exact opposite of what I was hoping would happen tonight.
Time to steer the ship into calmer waters.
“Weren’t the two of you a lot younger when you started dating?” I ask, hoping I’m right, and their age and maturity account for some of the drama in the early years of their relationship.
“Oh yeah. Sophia had recently graduated from college, and I was in my mid-twenties when we first met. We didn’t date very long until I had her move in with me in Nashville and join me on the road every week. Probably not the smartest decision at the time, but I was head-over-heels in love,” Luke says wistfully, gazing at Sophia with an enormous amount of adoration in his eyes. “Your experience will likely be completely different because you’ve been friends forever.”
“Exactly,” I parrot, wanting to make sure Kate understands how different our situation is from theirs. Under the table, I lace her fingers with mine and squeeze them. “How did you handle all the media attention when you started dating? It’s been aninterestingride, the past couple of weeks.”
Luke and Sophia share a conspiratorial look and chuckle. “Not very well,” Sophia answers, shaking her head. “It’s hard to be thrust into this lifestyle without intentionally choosing it. Luke wanted the fame. He had time to adjust to the media scrutiny as his popularity grew. I didn’t have that luxury. One day, I was minding my own business, in love with this man, and the next day, vultures on the internet were dissecting what I wore. It was unnerving to say the least.”
“Tell me about it.” Kate leans forward. “I had to delete all social media apps from my phone so I couldn’t see what people were posting about me or read the comments. Never knew you could get so much hate for wearing skinny jeans.”
Sophia laughs, tossing her head back. “Oh God. I know. Heaven forbid I wear the same outfit twice or don’t put on makeup when I go to Target like every other woman. It’s insanethe standards fans hold us to when we’re just normal people. I’ll never understand it.”
Kate nods silently, a solemn look on her face. Sophia perfectly described what Kate’s been going through. The invasive nature of the interest. The double standards. The unwarranted negativity. While I hate that Kate has to experience any of it, I hope she realizes it’s not just her. This is how every woman in a relationship with a public figure is treated. Not that it makes any of it right. The whole situation is so goddamn infuriating.
“Any chance you have pointers on how to deal with it?” I ask, curious whether they know any tricks to improve it.
Luke sighs. “No. That’s what sucks the most. The more you try to fix it by doing or saying something, the worse it seems to get. And believe me, I didallthe wrong things and lashed out many times. Never helped.”
Fuck. Another grin-and-bear-it scenario. This industry is full of so many of them.
