“I know. But you deserve to know more than the scraps I’ve given you so far.”
“It’s your story, Freya. It’s okay if you want to keep it that way.”
“There’s only one person who knows my story. The rest of the world knows the one he spun, and something tells me that last night will be the same.”
“Let him,” I say, a little harsher than I intended, making Freya rear back a little. “Sorry. What I mean is, just like back then, the only people who need to know the truth are the two here right now. He can try and spin whatever line he wants. It’s not going to affect us.”
“You can’t say that. You don’t know what he’ll?—”
“It doesn’t matter what he says, Freya. He can feed whatever bullshit he wants to the media. I know the truth.”
She stares at me with hopeful, trusting eyes that makes my heart hurt.
This incredible woman trusts me. After everything she’s been through, after she’s had her heart shattered and her faith in men destroyed, she trusts me. It’s never something I want to take for granted.
“I know you, Freya. The real you. Not the woman who was on a worldwide tour and forced to live out of a bus with the press following her every move. Not the woman who was forced to follow someone around, hiding in the shadows and believing his lies and bullshit.”
She gasps, telling me that I’ve hit the nail right on the proverbial head.
Reaching out, I press my hand to her chest.
“I know the person in here. A person who should never be smothered, or hidden, or used to climb any kind of ladder.”
Tears fill her eyes, but I’m quickly learning the difference between sad and happy ones, and I’m pretty confident these are the latter.
I can accept those.
“He’s an asshole who had no idea how incredible the woman at his side really was. He doesn’t care about people; the only person he cares about is himself.”
She nods again, telling me that I’m right.
“Whatever he throws at us, whatever tale he tries to spin, we’ll let Hailee deal with it, and we’ll let it roll off our backs. His words might sting, but they can’t hurt us, not really.”
“How was I lucky enough to end up here?”
“I’m not sure, baby. But it’s a question I ask myself every day.”
I lean forward and brush my lips against hers. She hesitates, no doubt because of morning breath, but eventually, Freya will learn that there is nothing that can turn me off her. Not her past, whether it be true or not, not her present, and certainly not her future, because as long as I get my way, she’ll be standing right by my side.
“Aside from all that, how are you feeling? Sore?”
She wiggles her hips a little, testing herself out.
“Yeah, a little.”
“I’ve got the perfect cure for that.”
“Don’t tell me, get back in the saddle?”
I bark out a laugh. “That wasn’t what I was going to suggest, but now you’ve mentioned it …”
Freya shrieks when I tickle her ribs as I tug her beneath me.
Resting my forearms on either side of her head, I stare down at her. There’s a wide smile on her face, and her eyes are glittering with happiness.
“When it gets tough, remember this moment,” I say. “It’ll get easier again, I promise.”
Leaning forward, I kiss the tip of her nose before forcing myself to climb out of bed.
