Heath’s glare softens when he hears the emotion in Josh’s voice. Part of me screams inside, because this is so shit. So fucking sad.
“Alright,” he says, with less snarky sarcasm in his tone. “Let’s do it. Let’s get it booked in.”
Heath gets his phone, sighing as he taps at the screen.
Josh’s pings as soon as Heath has filled in a proposal form. He turns the screen to our client in a heartbeat with theacceptbutton pressed. Seeing it on The Agency app like that feels so distant again, even though we’ve been closer than we have in months.
We schedule in the nearest possible date for all three of us. Just a week to wait this time. Venue to be decided.
“I need to get out of here soon,” Heath says. “I have a PR photo shoot tomorrow. I have to prepare for it.”
My guts lurch so bad it physically hurts. I’m plunging on the downward curve of a rollercoaster, dropping from the clouds, but at least I can see another high in the distance this time. That’s enough to keep hold of.
“I’m going to miss you every single second,” I tell my idol when I’m back in my stilettos, ready for the tragic walk down the corridor.
He holds me tight, crushing me in his vampiric arms.
“Me too, my sweet curva. Me, too.”
I watch Josh’s goodbye hug with a lump in my throat. Josh can play Mr Rational all he likes, and he needs to, but I know his heart is crying.
“I love you,Heathy baby,even when you’re being a prick,” he says. “I’m doing this for all of us, and you know it. Don’t punish me for it, please. You’ve already punished me enough tonight.”
“You’re one to talk.” Heath smirks. “You’re a much more stubborn prick than me,Joshy baby.”
“Good job I am, isn’t it? Or we’d all be losing our heads.”
Heath chuckles, his eyes warm.
“Yeah. It is. Even though it drives me round the bend.”
I’m holding my breath when Josh and I finally sneak away from Heath’s hotel suite, dashing down the corridor and back into our room. I don’t want to break down with yet another rack of sobs that need comforting, so I retreat to the bathroom to compose myself. Josh doesn’t need the overload. It’s not his job to wipe my tears every time they roll.
Just one week until we see Heath again. It’s alright. We can make it.
And we can think in the meantime. All three of us. We need to.
A rap sounds at the bathroom door.
“Nice try, Ells, but you never, ever close the bathroom door,” Josh says, and walks on in. “Don’t pretend you’re not crying.”
Only I’m not crying. Not the kind of crying I’ve become used to. My eyes might be brimming with tears, and my insides might feel like they’re panging with loss, but I’m not sobbing like a wreck. I don’t want to, not for either of us. What’s the point in dwelling on yet more heartache?
“We’ll work it out, like we agreed,” I say. “We’re on the road to recovery now, not the road to ruin. Me, you and Heath are back on track again, that’s all that really matters. No matter what form it comes in. It’s coming.”
“Very true,” Josh says and wraps me in his arms like a comfort blanket. “It’s a great place to be, isn’t it? Seeing him was the fucking best.”
I sigh against his chest. “Yeah, it is. It’s an amazing place to be. There were times I thought we’d never see him again.”
“Me, too. But that isn’t going to happen. I’m not going to click decline again, no chance. We just need to be smart about how we make this work.”
“I’m with you. All the way.”
We lock pinkie fingers when he lets me go.
“Team Josh and Ells,” he says.
“For ever.” I smile. “And you can add Heath to that. He’ll be on our team as well. He wanted to be on our team when things were at their worst. He just couldn’t be.”
