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As the lights dim, I leave the stage. A stagehand passes me a bottle of water and takes the microphone from me. I jog over to where Cassie stands near the curtains, watching the fans filter out of the arena.
I pull her into a tight hug and kiss her shoulder. “You were amazing.”
Cassie laughs and turns, throwing her arms over my shoulder in a tight hug. “That was incredible. My fingers are aching, but I forgot how good it felt to be out there.”
“Well, you’re going to have to get used to the ache soon. The tour starts in a couple days and you’re going to be there with us.”
A throat clears behind us. I spin to see Tony standing there in a suit, his arms crossed over his chest. The owner of White Hot Records stands beside him, a matching glare on his face.
Keaton shoves a stack of pictures at me. “What the hell are these, Tyler?”
I take the pictures from him and flip through them. There are pictures of me and Cassie at the club, wrapped up in each other. The further down the stack I go, the more pictures I see. Someone has been taking pictures of us for weeks.
“Keaton, Cassie is my girlfriend. She has been for several weeks now. These pictures are a violation of our privacy. I don’t know where they came from, but I suspect you’re going to find more.” I hand the pictures back to him and loop my arm around Cassie’s waist.
“And what was that about Cassie rejoining the band?” Tony asks, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. “I never agreed to bring her back to the band or talk to Keaton and the other execs about it.”
“We’ll deal with that in a moment.” Keaton steps closer to me, shoving the pictures into my chest. “What the fuck are these? You’re single. You’re not supposed to be out and about with her. It’s not an image that sells. The media is already blowing up with this.”
Guilt claws at me when I glance at Cassie. She pulls her shoulders back and stands taller, but I can see the little quiver in her bottom lip. She’s going to pretend that this isn’t bothering her.
I want to say something to defend the two of us, but I knew this conversation was coming. I knew that the moment White Hot found out I was settling down, they were going to lose their shit.
“These pictures ruin the image we spent years building for you.” Keaton pulls his hand back and lets the pictures fall to the ground. “Do you even know what the public relations team is going through right now? They’re trying to find a way to spin this that makes you look like you’re still single and available.”
“Well, they need to stop,” I say, my tone sharp as I hold Cassie a little tighter. “I’m not single.”
“Oh yes, you are.” Keaton scowls at Cassie. “And you, do you think this is a wise move on your part? Trying to weasel your way back into the band by sleeping with the lead singer? That’s pathetic.”
“Fuck you.” Cassie spits venom with her words, shaking off my arm and stepping closer to Keaton. “And fuck you for thinking that Tyler has to be single. You can take those pictures and shove them up your ass.”
Keaton rolls his eyes. “Enough with the dramatics. Tyler, this is your career we’re talking about.”
My mouth goes dry as I look between the two of them. Cassie stares at me like she’s waiting for me to take her side. Keaton looks at me like he’s going to ruin my life if I don’t go along with him.
Gilded Cage is my dream. It’s the career that saved me. Keaton is threatening to take that away.
I swallow hard, trying to figure out the right thing to say. I just want this to go away and work itself out on its own.
It won’t, and I know that. I need the next tour to go well. I just need one more tour and then I’ll have enough money to give Cassie the life she deserves. I’ll be able to walk away from the band if I need to.
But I can’t do that yet. I need enough money to walk away from this life if that’s what it takes.
“This is your choice, Tyler,” Keaton says. “But I can tell you right now that Cassie will not be joining the band.Andyou will have to recover your image. The female fans need to see you as single. It’s what keeps the records selling.”
Cassie shakes her head, a pink flush spreading across her cheeks. “I’m not going to stand here while history repeats itself. Fuck this.”
She takes off through the backstage area, already heading to the emergency exit. She pushes the door open and it slams behind her.
I glance between Tony and Keaton, a thousand different words on the tip of my tongue. I don’t know what to say right now. There doesn’t seem to be a right answer.
Whatever I need to do, I know it isn’t with them.
I take off running after Cassie. The door slams open into the cool night air just as a flash of red dress disappears around a corner. I take off in that direction, running until I catch up with her.
“What do you want?” Cassie asks as she spins around to face me. She plants her hands on her hips, looking like she’s out for blood. “You want to tell me whether or not you were lying the other night? You said that you want me, but in there, you looked like you were going to go back to being their puppet.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Cassie. You know that I want to be with you.”
