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Confirm: Jarvis is a jerk-hole. (Same confirmation from a different piece of evidence.)
Learn: Lakebend Records is also a jerk-hole.
Confirm: Val is amazing and Nash is a great friend.
I’m not sure what to say as the ugly story draws to a close. On the one hand, my heart is bursting that Val and Nash risked so much for me. On the other, everything else.
Val draws me against him as I stare at the far wall, everything they said swirling around in a painful, confusing vortex. I’ve been betrayed plenty in my life, including by the man at the center of the current one. But this…
“I’m so sorry,” Val whispers. “It was nearly impossible not to punch him in the face right then.”
“I really wish you had,” I mumble.
His gentle laugh is too much and releases a few of the tears that have been threatening for a while now. His arms tighten around me as I bury my face in his shoulder.
“We’re going to fix this,” he says.
“How?”
His silence is the only answer I need. Exactly. How do you fight one of the top artists and labels in the industry when they team up against you?
“And now we can’t even be together? When will I see you again?” I ask.
“I don’t know.”
“Wait.” I pull back and search his face. “Pittsburgh. We’re in Pittsburgh.”
“Yes.”
“That thing with your parents! Are you doing it?”
He lowers his gaze, and my stomach tightens.
“You are,” I say quietly.
“I have to.” His eyes lift to me again. “They’re not going to stop until I hear them out.”
“Val…”
“Paige is going with me.”
“I tried to go too, but he won’t let me,” Nash says.
“Yeah, because they hate you too. This is about deescalating a situation.”
I fan my palm over Val’s cheek to draw his attention back to me. “Are you sure about this? You’ve already been through so much over the last few days.”
He shrugs with a weak smile. “Exactly. What’s one more punch in the gut, right?”
I give him a hard look. “Yeah, well, I’m tired of watching you get punched in the gut.”
“I’ve been dealing with this shit my whole life. I’ll be fine.”
Will he? He always says that and I always know he’s not, but there’s no point wasting time arguing.
I slide my arms around him instead. “I love you, Val Andrews. No matter what happens, know that in my head, I’ll be holding you like this all the time. Don’t ever forget it, okay?”
“Only like this?” he teases. “I mean, we can do a little more than this in your head, no?”
