“No,” I responded, perhaps a little too quickly. I looked out the screen door, catching him throw back his head in laughter at something Gordon had said. “It’s not likethat.”
“What’s it like then? Clearly he’s into you. I don’t think he’s stopped watching you once today,” Sam commented. “Are you not into him?” she added, as if the idea was so farfetched she couldn’t comprehendit.
“We’re into each other, I guess,” I responded, surprising myself by answering her rather intrusive question. For whatever reason, I felt relaxed around Sam. I knew she wasn’t asking maliciously, she was just curious. “But there are a lot of things at play…he’s, well. A celebrity. I’m a private person, and a single mom. I don’t know…it’scomplicated.”
“Minor details,” Sam said dismissively, waving her hand. “All couples have their issues, things that make it hard for them to just be together. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. Look at Jack and Rose from the Titanic, I mean, she was a wealthy engaged woman and he was a pennilessartist.”
“Didn’t he die at theend?”
“We all die at the end,” Sam responded, shrugging. She gave me another one of her half smiles. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t live in themeantime.”
Travis
Becky leaned against her car,waiting for Aiden to finish changing from his damp clothes. She still kept to herself at social functions, like she’d done in high school. She preferred to think of herself as the wallflower, someone that faded easily into thebackground.
She didn’t know that she was the focalpiece.
With Becky, what you got was what you saw…and I loved what I saw. She didn’t need to wear makeup, her dark lashes framed azure eyes that made me think of summer skies. Her body had me going for days—slender hips, and supple breasts that spilled over my palms when I’d heldthem.
She wore form fitting clothes, but didn’t skank it up. She wore things that were comfortable and functional. She was a breath of freshair.
Becky had changed into a pair of denim jeans that clung to her in all the right places. She held a sweater in her arms, anticipating the temperature drop. Catching movement in my peripheral, I watched as Aiden raced down to hismom.
She opened the rear passenger door for him, and he hopped in withoutcomplaint.
“Let’s try and take as few vehicles as we can since parking will be ridiculous as always,” Tessa suggested. Sensing an opportunity, I tookit.
I strolled over to Becky’s car, opened the passenger door and leaned in. “Mind if I bum a ride off you?” I asked, grinning. “I don’t want to unhook thetrailer.”
“I guess so…” Becky frowned, looking over her shoulder at Aiden, who was pulling the seatbelt strap over his chest and buckling itin.
“I’ll be on my best behaviour, Scouts honour,” I assured her, slidingin.
“You were never a Scout,” she pointed out, her lips twitching with amusement. “Do you even know theoath?”
“Sure I do!” I laughed. I had no fucking clue what the oathwas.
Still laughing, my eyes locked on Becky’s. The smile on her face made my heartjump.
She turned on the stereo andAutumn Fieldspumped through the speakers. I arched a brow, a little surprised. “I didn’t know you likedAutumnFields.”
“Yeah,” she flushed, changing it to a country station on the radio. “I like a lot of differentgenres.”
I turned it back to theAutumn FieldsCD, flashing a playful grin at her. “You don’thaveto listen to country just because I’m in the car. I likeAutumn Fieldstoo. They are a talented group ofpeople.”
She smiled, still a little uncomfortable. My fingers tapped along to the beat, and when I started singing—she laughed and relaxed somemore.
When we pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later, Becky’s easy smile faded as she searched for a spot amid all the cars and trucks. She finally found one at the edge of thefairgrounds.
We barely made it onto the midway when a group of women in their early twenties swarmed us, asking me to sign tits and other various body parts that shouldn’t be on display with a seven-year-oldpresent.
I used to love every aspect of being a celebrity. I loved that people recognized me, I loved that they loved my songs. I loved that they were interested in the things I had tosay.
Hell, I loved signingtits.
But then, the rose coloured glasses came off and I realized how intrusive it is, having paparazzi snap pictures of you and people swarm you when you’re doing regular things like grocery shopping or going to a county fair, and the appeal of signing boobs wore off pretty quicktoo.
“Whoa!” Aiden exclaimed, his eyes widening at the attention I wasreceiving.
