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“Oh, I’m just fine, thank you. Bobby and I have three kids now.”
“That’s great. Congratulations.” I gave her and her two minions a sweet smile, but I knew what was coming next.
“Harrison and I are married with a couple kids too,” Jenna Sue said from Bella Mae’s right.
Margaret Ann—because yes, apparently it was a requirement to be friends with them to go by two names instead of one—lifted her bony chin. “And Campbell and I also married, but we have five children.”
I felt Riley shift awkwardly beside me. Either he didn’t know where this was going and was totally lost, or he did know—and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
“How about you two lovebirds?” Bella Mae asked with feigned concern. “You’re together, but you’re not engaged or anythin’?”
“Nope. Just happily … together,” I replied, taking Riley’s hand only because it felt like I should.
“Well, I suppose it makes sense,” Bella Mae drawled with a wave of her ring-clad left hand. “There’s nothin’ wrong with waitin’ until you’re even older to get married, honey. You’re a career woman, after all.”
And there it is.
I gave her a smile I could tell made me look a little like I was on the loose from the nuthouse. “I sure am, Bella Mae. And by the way, I love the way you’re wearin’ your hair nowadays. It looks so much better.”
When Bella Mae opened her mouth to offer up something probably a lot nastier than what she’d already said, Riley cleared his throat and tugged on my hand. “Come on, darlin’. Let’s go see if Paisley has those drinks yet.”
“Good to see y’all,” I preened, letting him pull me away.
When we were clear of the trio, he let out a short laugh and leaned close to my ear. “That was somethin’. But uh, maybe we should stick to talkin’ to people you actually liked in high school.”
My eyes immediately searched the room, landing on Everett and his friends standing in a loose circle with beers in hand. They’d been my only refuge in high school. It was slim pickings in the friend department back then, and sure, I had my sisters in the lower grades by the time I was a senior, but the rest of high school? Most of the girls were in some clique or another, so I spent my time with Everett and his friends instead.
But there was no way I wanted to bring my fake boyfriend over there to hang with them no matter how badly I wished I could.
“Let’s just wait here until Paisley’s done,” I told Riley, nodding at where she stood at the bar ordering our drinks.
“Fine by me. It’s your show, Lane.” He braced the bottom edge of his guitar case on the ground in front of him, then crossed his arms over the top in a lazy pose that looked a heck of a lot like the way he’d posed on his last album cover.
“Speaking of shows,” I said with an eye roll, “the paparazzi were in rare form tonight. I swear I thought they were gonna dent my daddy’s truck, they were thumpin’ the fender so hard.”
“Guess it’s a good thing you wrecked the convertible. Imagine if we’d rolled up in that. Shew, no thanks.”
He had a point. I hadn’t been chased by the press back when I’d bought that sporty little car. It’d been right after I was signed, and the label thought it would be just the right kinda car for someone with mostly teenage girls for a fan base. But I rarely drove it these days since I couldn’t go anywhere in Nashville without the paparazzi seeing me coming from a mile away. That dang pink billboard of a car was a dead giveaway, and with no roof other than the soft top they’d likely put a hole in with their assault, it didn’t offer much protection.
He chuckled. “I’m just glad our security teams set up that barricade outside the parkin’ lot. It probably would’ve been fun for all these people to see that nonsense, but at least we can relax a little.”
I nodded in agreement, but with Everett standing over there looking so tall and handsome and manly that I wanted to climb him, the last thing I felt was relaxed.
“But listen, Lane, I’ve been thinkin’ … do you think there’s a way we can get outta this whole mess?”
Riley’s question brought me up short and I blinked up at him. “Get outta what whole thing?”
He looked around nervously, then offered me a sideways smile. “Look, I know your history with Everett and how he doesn’t know what’s up with us. But after seein’ the way you two look at each other … I can’t help but feel like this ain’t right. For either of you.”
“Riley, what are you goin’ on about?” I whisper-shouted.
“I’m givin’ you an out. I’ll talk to my manager, you talk to Pais, and I’m sure there are plenty of ways we can sell albums without actin’ like we’re together. We’ll figure it out. But you guys have somethin’ we don’t, and we both know it. We’ve known it this whole time, but now that I’m seein’ it …”
Suddenly it felt like the packed gym didn’t have a lick of bought air running through it, and I put a hand on my chest to make sure I still had lungs. “I don’t think it’s that simple, Riley. Even if we do call this off, Everett and I can’t just erase everythin’ that’s happened and get back together.”
Riley looked over at Everett, straightening with a nod. I followed his gaze and found Everett looking back at us with fire in those deep-brown eyes of his, and my tummy did a cartwheel. Dang it.
“Listen, if you ask me, you’re makin’ it more complicated than it needs to be. If you don’t wanna break us up and risk the fallout, fine. I’m down to keep it goin’. Lord knows I don’t have anyone I’d rather be with—for real or otherwise. But man, if I had somebody lookin’ at me the way he’s lookin’ at you, I wouldn’t want some publicity stunt to get in the way of it.”
