“Oh.” My stomach plummets, thinking about how it must’ve felt to be in Sophia’s shoes. To learn that type of information from someone else, not the man you love.
“The online hatred of me was already pretty strong. No one wanted me to be with Luke because it made him unavailable. Probably the same shit you’re experiencing.”
“Yep.”
“It all came to a head when I didn’t travel with Luke for a few weekends in a row because I was attending a friend’s wedding. This lovely piece-of-work decided to frame their past encounter as one that had recently happened. Claiming Luke had left me for her.”
My mouth drops open. “Holy shit,” I gasp.
Shaking her head, Sophia looks up briefly, almost like she’s remembering exactly what she went through in detail. “Luke was trending on social for weeks. All the gossip sites picked it up. The only positive was that the online chatter about me became equally split between people who hated me and those who genuinely felt bad for me because Luke had allegedly cheated on me. It took months before the story died down. And for a long time, every weekend I’d stay home from his tour would lead to more outrageous claims.”
Every muscle in my body tenses, my hand covering my mouth in disbelief at what she experienced. Terrified I could go through something similar. Not that Jake would cheat. But then again, Luke didn’t either, and the perception was he did.
“So, my best advice is to show up every weekend for as long as you can. Once it’s clear to the fans you’re not going anywhere, there’s less of a risk of taking time off from touring with him. Until then, the haters will use your boyfriend’s previous womanizing ways to create drama if you’re not around.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” I reply, unsure what else to say.
“I’m over it, for the most part—it happened such a long time ago,” she replies calmly. “As for determining the meaning of life and what to do with yours. I’d love to lie and pretend you can have a successful career on your own. Maybe that’s possible when you’re dating or married to a celebrity in a different industry, but not in country music. There is an unspoken expectation that his career should come first. It’s a combination of old-school beliefs and the realities of this job.”
“Great. So, I’m not crazy?”
“Nope. Welcome to the super special club where you’re expected to be independent to prove you’re not a gold digger when you’re dating, while prioritizing his career over yours. It does get better when you’re married. The online hate simmers down a tiny bit.” She winces before continuing, “It didn’t take long before I couldn’t keep up with my sales career and spend the amount of time I wanted with Luke. I quit my job less than three months after we got married.”
I chew on the corner of my lower lip, pulling my legs to my chest. “Was that your decision or Luke’s?”
“One hundred percent mine. Luke would’ve never asked me to do it, and I highly doubt Jake would pressure you to give up anything. But that doesn’t mean you won’t feel the need to make changes, especially if you’re already feeling the struggle.”
Yep. Definitely feeling the challenges of balancing my career and my personal life. And questioning how I can balance the two long-term.
“I’ve droned on about the negative side of this lifestyle and probably could for hours. There areso manybenefits in addition to being with the man you love. Girl, the clothes. Wait until your first red carpet. You’ll feel like a goddamn princess.”
Sophia and I chat for another twenty minutes, brainstorming how to make this transition easier on me and ultimately coming up with no real solutions. At the end of the call, I realize it’sunrealistic to assume my life won’t be majorly impacted by being with Jake. Instead, I need to focus on things I can influence and worry less about everything else.
There will always be someone or something out there wanting to destroy what we have. I just can’t ever let that happen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
jake
Loungingon a picnic blanket in a park with Kate by my side is the perfect way to spend a few hours before the concert. “I can’t believe you worked with Alex and Max to plan all of this for us,” I say, reaching out to tuck a stray piece of Kate’s hair behind her ear. There’s almost a luminous glow to her with the way the sun’s hitting it—making her look even more angelic than usual.
A soft smile grows across her face. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to do something different since we’re in the same city for two days. This seemed like the best option to give us some privacy.” She leans her head against my shoulder. “I wish we could do this every weekend. Be able to see more of the cities we’re visiting. Not just the inside of the bus and the amphitheaters.”
I chuckle, knowing exactly what she means. I felt the same way when I first started out, thought I’d be able to explore new cities. Life on the road is the complete opposite. At least now I get to travel in a luxury bus by myself, rather than sharing one with the rest of the band or, even worse, the van we used for the first few years. Fuck. That was a horrible experience.
“I imagine traveling for my work is probably similar to yours.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asks, her brow furrows slightly as if she can’t fathom how the two could be connected.
“How often do you get to explore when you’re visiting clients? Do you get to see the sights, or is it mainly the inside of conference rooms and a hotel, with a nice dinner occasionally thrown in?”
“Huh. I guess you’re right.”
“See, our jobs are basically the same,” I tease, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to me. “We should plan to do something like this every other weekend. I’ll make Max and Alex figure out how to make it happen.”
“That would be really nice.” She sounds wistful.
“We can make that one of our goals. Visit as many parks as possible so we know the best ones to take our kids when you all join me on the road,” I say casually.
