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He snickered. “Butt.”
“You’re such a child.” I didn’t mean that in a bad way.
“And you love it.”
“I do.”
“Thebutis Kandace,” Austin said.
There she was. Like I expected. Like I hoped. Just her name made my heart flutter. Then again, so did Austin’s. I loved him, but what I’d found with her… I couldn’t ignore that either. I couldn’t give that up.
“I wouldn’t want to do this without her. I wouldn’t want you to do this without her, whateverthisbecomes.” Austin’s words echoed my thoughts perfectly.
“So we’ll tell her as well.”
“Yes.” He yanked me closer for another kiss. “But tonight is about you and me.”
I leaned into him, tasting his lips. Devouring the low groans he made and feeling them mingle with mine. This felt incredible—in my heart and my mind. AndGodthe way he kissed.
“I love you, Joystick.” The name tasted odd on my tongue, but his kisses chased the strangeness away. Besides, if that was what he preferred, I could make the switch. Of all the things that required compromise,Joystickwas a pretty simple one, and really making this all work meant the world to me. He and Kandace meant the world to me.
27
kandace
I was exhaustedwhen I got home from work. Not in a bad way; some days required a lot of mental power, but that meant I’d gotten to solve problems and learn new things.
The last thing I wanted to be thinking about were the severed ties with vendors and contractors, or how it may be indirectly my fault, but the notion was there with no brain filters to stop it.
I had enough sense to realize this entire mess was Isabella’s doing, not mine. I’d love to give that woman a piece of my mind if I ever met her again. The fallout impacted me regardless, though. Me and those around me. If this was what happened when bad press hit, and I were to stay with Joystick, would we deal with this every time someone spread bad gossip about him?
I could probably learn to take it, but the firm…
I was too drained to think about it tonight. Making decisions at times like these was never a good idea. Stripping off my shoes, my belt, and my bra, I collapsed onto the couch in a grateful heap. After taking a few minutes to be a pile of brainless goo, I made myself move. Check the phone messages I’d ignored throughout the day.
Lucas would send me a priority message if he had an emergency, but otherwise he was fine with waiting, and not many others held that kind of priority to me.
Except that I had a text from Joystick,call me when you get a chance.
I kind of hated that I’d missed that earlier.
There was a voicemail as well. Eli and Joystick talking over each other, and really only managing to say,you need to call usagain.
The next message was from Lucas. “Hey. Didn’t get the part in Phantom. Mr. Allman said I may want to clean up my public image if I want to work in theater. No clue what that meant. Gonna spend the night with Ben and Jerry. Love you.”
The hurt in his voice made me frown. I tried to call him back, but got his voicemail. “Wallowing and no fun. Call me tomorrow.”
Poor kid. I sent him a text instead telling him I was here if he needed. I’d seen him go through the theater highs and lows enough that as much as I wanted to wrap him up in a warm mom-hug and tell him everything would be all right, I also knew he would process in his own way.
As I went to call Joystick and Eli back, Lucas’s message bounced in my thoughts.Clean up my public image.
Lucas didn’t have a bad public image. He was a Straight A college student who loved musicals and football games.
What did that mean?
I wasn’t going to be the mom who interfered in her kid’s school business—not something like this—but the words taunted me.
This didn’t have anything to do with me, did it?
