I grinned. “I know. Growth, right? But seriously, it was easy. I kept waiting for something to feel off, and it never did. Everyone actually seemed happy to be together.”
She reached for a fry. “So, when are you going back?”
“No clue. Schedule’s insane now that the tour’s back on, but he wants to meet up after one of the shows next week.”
Her eyes lit up. “Wait, he’s coming to you?”
“Apparently.”
“Ellie, that man definitely likes you.”
“No, he doesn’t. It’s fake. We’re fake, remember?”
But fake isn’t calling me Ellie baby in that voice that could melt steel.
Or winking like he invented the gesture.
Or opening my door when no one’s watching.
“Bullshit,” she said. “A man doesn’t fake date a pop star and bring her to a family dinner in the middle of nowhere for good press.”
I tried to roll my eyes, but a smile tugged at my mouth anyway. “It was to convince his family.”
Rachel narrowed her eyes. “You like him too.”
“I don’t know.” My voice betrayed me. “I mean…I barely know the guy. I like being around him. He’s kind—and not pretend kind, actual kind. And with him, I don’t feel that weird, icky static, like someone’s only talking to me because of who I am. I feel…stupid giddy. Like a teenager with a crush.”
My voice dropped. “But after Harold…I don’t know if I can ever fully love someone again.”
“That’s fair. You thought he was your forever.”
She was right. I wrote songs that practically signed a blood oath to that belief, but Harold loved the Ellie everyone else saw, the version of me with perfect hair and a million-dollar smile. In reality, I was quieter, goofier, and a little chaotic at times.He never cared to see the me who burned dinner wearing old sweatpants or stayed up way too late writing lyrics.
“It just…sucks,” I whispered, leaning my head back against the pillows. “Maybe I’m meant to be the girl with the guitar and a broken heart, destined to sing about love but never actually get the real thing.”
She peered over at me. “You’re so much more than that, El. I believe with everything in me that someone’s out there who would move mountains just to see you smile.”
And I was afraid I already knew who that someone might be.
“But maybe the real question isn’t whether Sawyer likes you. Maybe it’s whether you’re ready to let someone in again.”
Her words landed like a stone to my chest.
“Yeah…maybe.”
I was pretty sure no one could ever want the person I was once the curtain closed—not even someone as ridiculous and big-hearted as Sawyer.
THIRTEEN
Sawyer
Have you had any food today, or are you surviving on vibes and caffeine again?
Just vibes and caffeine
Ellie
Yes?
