Fuck that.
“You have no idea of her motives if she found out. You two technically barely know each other, even if you have been around her media life for years. You don’t knowher,Ryker.”
I leaned back in the chair and ran a hand over my face. I wanted to do this with my whole heart. I didn’t want to be talked out of it, but Beckett was my manager. He was right about a lot of things regarding my business, but in this instance, I didn’t want him to be my manager. I needed him to be my best friend.
“I do know her. And not just from what I’ve seen on social media. I know that she is guarded in the same sense I am. She doesn’t want to be used for what she’s done in life; she just wants to be herself. If I told her, she might be shocked, but I know in my heart she wouldn’t out me.”
“And how do you know this?” The look on Beckett’s face was skeptical now. The wheels were turning in his head about how I could know all of this.
“I’ve gotten to know her. We’ve spent hours and days together.”
“My assumption that the date went well last night was correct, then.” Beckett leaned back on the couch, both legs kicked up on the coffee table, now. He was looking more like my friend than my manager now.
“Really good.” A smile crept over my face, remembering how Odette felt in my arms. How vulnerable she looked with every move we made together. She bared her past to me, not all of it, but enough for me to know who she was as a person, and I wanted—no, needed—to know more. I needed all of her. All the happy and sad together.
“So, her pussy is enough for you to reveal all your secrets.”
“Beckett,” I snapped. “Do not fucking talk about her like that.”
“Ryker!” He snapped louder back at me. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and I know your feelings for Odette, but this isn’t a game. This is your life. My life. Your empire and I won’t have you throw it all away unless you know for fucking sure that this woman won’t out you and ruin it all.”
“She won’t ruin it,” I said, my voice coming down a few octaves. “I trust her.”
Beckett picked up his coffee again, took a sip, set it back down, and then resumed his position. His head cocked to the side.
“What the fuck happened last night, Ryker? Because it sure as hell sounds like a lot more than sex went down.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
What hadn’t happened last night?
“We talked. A lot.”
“About?” Beckett fished.
“How she started writing in college, but she wasn’t supported by her family in what she wanted to do in life. We talked about how she worked in a career she hated, but did it to get by with writing. Once she got picked up for publishing, she went into gaming writing. Her struggles with her parents, with Parker; she laid it all out for me last night.” I smiled, thinking of her rambling to me as we sat in the kitchen. The reminder of her sitting there in my shirt had me wishing I was back there instantly.
“She told me how scared she was when she blew up because of the pressure of not just fans but family and what she should be doing with her life, if this was right. She didn’t want to let anyone down. And she told me a bit about Parker, but didn’t go into it much. But one thing she did let me know is how he was never there for her in her passions, and fuck, that tore at my heart.”
“Ryker,” Beckett said my name more softly this time. He knew how I was with Odette, not to mention my hero complex. It was just who I was. I wanted to save everyone, but she was one I didn’t really need to save. The opposite, I was pretty sure she was the one saving me.
“I know, but when she talked about all of this, I just knew. I needed her to know who I was. I needed her to know I wanted to be a part of her passions, her life, to cheer her on. For her to be on my arm for both her and my own accomplishments. For us to run these empires together.”
“Fuck, dude.”
“I know. I didn’t say anything to her last night or this morning because I wanted to talk to you first, but this isn’t me asking, Beckett. This is me telling you that I am doing this. With or without your blessing.”
“When do you want to do it? As much as I want you to wait, it’s clear you won’t listen to my timeline.”
“I was thinking the sooner the better, tonight preferably.”
Beckett’s eyes went wide at my thought. I continued, though.
“I only have my stream this afternoon and none tomorrow, so I can help field any questions or if anything happens, it won’t impact me.” In case I was wrong about everything, and she did leave.
“After all of that,” Beckett moved his feet off the table and leaned on his thighs as he addressed me. “You’re anticipating she hates you?”
When Beckett asked the question, a knot formed in my stomach. As much as I was ready to lay everything out for Odette, there was a part of me that was scared, worried, she would leave me, hate me for lying to her. That she would walk out my door and never come back, but it was the price I was willing to pay for her to see me. To really know me, like she’d opened up to me last night.
