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“Probably not,” Piper snorted without looking up from her laptop screen.
“About her stealing your car?”
Dave shook his head. “You know better than to believe what they say.”
“They” being the entertainment media.
Shawn pursed his lips like he wasn’t sure if he believed him or not.
Dave loved hanging out with these people. Not just Shawn and Piper, but the individuals in charge of raising them. It made for a nice break in his carefully constructed bubble of fame and notoriety.
Shawn and Piper spoke to him like he was just part of the family. So did Hannah and Johnny. And the entire XY crew.
It was nice.
He had that with his “entourage.” Which was basically just his two childhood best friends—Max and Leslie. They had been by his side since the beginning and after he’d made his first million, they hadn’t acted like anything was different.
Which wasn’t something he could say about some of the other people in his life.
“So, shedidn’tsteal your car?” Shawn asked.
Dave needed to introduce this kid to Max and Leslie because they’d get along.
“It was a misunderstanding.” It was Dave’s standard explanation for what had happened that night. It wasn’t a lie.
Mandy had misunderstood why Dave hadn’t called her back that day. He’d been sick in bed with the flu and she’d decided to take his car to get his attention.
Except it had been Max’s car and she had driven into a neighbor’s pool.
Max had called the police and she’d been arrested.
He went back to making his espresso.
“Isn’t it kind of late to be having caffeine?” Hannah asked, joining them.
Dave clutched his chest. “Perish the thought.”
Hannah bumped his shoulder with her own and he brought an arm out to hug her to his side.
Hannah was the reason he’d chosen Chicago.
After everything that had gone down in Texas a couple months ago, he’d needed to recalibrate. He’d realized he was swiftly painting himself into a corner he didn’t want to be in.
His friends could only give him advice from a perspective of protection and loyalty. They would try to be objective, but it wasn’t really possible.
His manager had one priority and that was to run the business of Sunshine Capone as successfully as possible. That didn’t always match with what Dave, the person, wanted to do.
But Hannah had been Ashton James.
She’d lived the roller coaster, had been at both the top and bottom of the industry and had somehow survived.
Plus, she was hella honest.
So, the day after Nora burned down his house, he’d called Hannah. Then he’d spent a couple months trying to make a decision as he went from Max’s couch, to Leslie’s, and back again.
Yesterday, he’d moved into the same building of condos where Hannah lived.
Decision made.
