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20
SUTTON
PRESENT DAY
London is gray and dreary, which matches my current mood. I watch rain slide down the windowpane, painting the sky like a watercolor.
“People are talking,” Suzan says from her seat on the couch next to me.
We’re sitting in my room at The Dorchester, one of London’s premier hotels. I’m stuck on the fact that we’re in London. Not only is it a stop I’ve been dreading—I’m supposed to leave to meet Ellie in about fifteen minutes—but it also means weeks have flown by. My European dates are almost up. Glasgow is the last stop before we return to the other side of the pond. And waiting on the other side of the Atlantic is my newly healed guitarist. And the end of me and Teddy.
“People are always talking,” I reply.
“They’re talking about you and Teddy, Sutton.”
That’s enough to pull my attention away from the rain. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, there are fan accounts. Blog posts. The video of you two at the concert in Paris has thirtymillionviews.”
“That’sit?” I joke. “People have no appreciation for classic music these days.”
“You have a full day of press after Glasgow. He’s going to come up—a lot. We need to have a strategy in place. Are you going to share his previous influence on your music? Are you dating him? Will he have a permanent place in your band? Is there going to be—”
“I’m not going to discuss him with the press.”
Suzan purses her lips. “That’s not going to be your choice to make.”
“They can ask whatever they want. I’ll say,No comment.”
“If you wanted to keep it private, you shouldn’t have sung that song with him, Sutton.”
“I’ve sung with plenty of people and never answered a single question about my relationship with them.”
“Have you seen the video?”
“No. Why?” I ask.
“You look…”
“I lookwhat?”
“You look like you’re in love with him.”
“Well, I’mnot.”
Suzan sighs and rubs her forehead. “Fine. We still need a PR strategy. You’re going to have to address it—him—in some form.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“People love a love story. Confirm you’re involved with him and say it’s new and you want to keep it private. You share nothing and ensure every major media company is at every single show for the rest of the tour, hoping for a sighting of you two.”
“Teddy won’t be at any of the shows after Glasgow,” I remind her.
“I know that. You know that.Theydon’t know that, Sutton.”
“What about Kyle?” I ask.
Her forehead wrinkles. “What about him?”
