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‘Fine! Jeez, drop the death glare. I won’t say a word. If you change your mind just let me know. It won’t get out there.’
‘My stint in rehab got out. Things always find a way out, Gregg. Drop it, please.’
Gregg blows out a long and exaggerated breath then nods. ‘Whatever you say. You’ve got an appointment in the morning with your sponsor from the clinic, right?’
‘Amazing way to change the subject. Thanks.’
‘What I meant was that I’ll drop you to your appointment, take your truck back to yours and load up your bike, then race back to pick you up.’
‘First, no racing in my truck. Second, I don’t need a babysitter to make sure I go to my meetings. Third, why get my bike?’
‘First, I wasn’t going to actually race. Figure of speech. Okay stop looking at me like that. I really wasn’t... well not anymore. Moving on. Second, I wasn’t insinuating for one second that you needed a babysitter, but now I’m thinking maybe you do.’
‘Gregg...’
‘Joking. What number are we on now? Oh yeah. Third, I’m getting your bike because it’s about time you get back to yourself. That fucker who sent the letters is not going to do this to you. And you’re not going to let him or her - whoever they are. And because I’m your oldest, dearest, and wisest friend I am going to insist you take this girl of yours out tomorrow afternoon on aforementioned bike. Show her a bit of the real you. It’s still there underneath. You just need to give it a chance to come out. This whole feeling sorry for yourself look... it’s not doing it for me.’
‘No offence, but I don’t want to do it for you.’
‘Valid point.’ He pops another sweet into his mouth. ‘Listen, buddy. You’ve sang in front of thousands of screaming fans all over the world. You need to get a bit of that Tate Archer confidence back starting by asking her out. The last two times you met her you didn’t exactly show your best side.’ He snorts to himself. ‘Fucking understatement. Falling asleep beside her doesn’t exactly scream I’m interested in you. Don’t worry about that now though. Think of it this way - it can only get better from here.’
‘Seriously? That was the worst pep talk I’ve ever heard.’
‘It wasn’t my best I’ll admit. You play guitar, you ride a bike, and you sing well enough I suppose. It’s what you’re known for. Has this girl seen any of that yet?’
‘Ah. There’s one problem with that.’
‘It’s you. Of course there’s a fucking problem. Do tell.’
‘Chloe doesn’t know who I am.’
‘What do you mean? You haven’t told her your name?’
‘No, I did. Well, just my first name. I told her my name and said I was a musician.’
Gregg raises his eyebrows. ‘And?’
‘And she didn’t recognise me.’
‘Are you serious?’
Tate nods. ‘I thought she was just pretending not to know me at first, but she’s been off-grid for the last year. What the hell was I supposed to say? Hi my name’s Tate and I’m famous. I’d sound like a right fucking dick.’
Gregg sits back and rubs a hand over his face. ‘Damn, buddy. You finally found an eligible female who doesn’t watch TV. Wow, didn’t think they existed anymore.’
Tate makes a face and sighs. ‘Tell me about it. With her, I’m just me. We have normal conversations. The last few months don’t come up at all. It’s kind of a nice relief.’
‘You need to figure out a way to tell her, you know that right?’
He rubs a hand over his face and looks across at the mountains in the distance. ‘I’m not trying to deceive her, Gregg. I just... damn it, I just want to be with someone who wants to be with me. The real me. No celebrity stuff. No cameras. No thinking they already know me because my fucking bio is on a website they read.’
‘I get that, but look at it from her side. When, and it is a when, she finds out, it’ll go down one of two ways. One, she’ll be super thrilled to be up close and personal with the legendary Tate—’
‘If you say Tate Archer I’ll deck you.’
‘Sorry. Or two, she’ll feel utterly humiliated, betrayed, and foolish because she was with the legendary... well, you, and you lied to her about it.’
‘So it’s a win-win for me.’
