“Fine,” I say. “He might’ve had some help coming to that conclusion. And I might’ve had some help coming to the conclusion that it was my fault for beingmewhen it wasn’t. Also, he didn’t exactly apologize for it, but hehastold me that he’s older and wiser and won’t walk away this time. Not that we’ve defined whatthis timemeans, but…”
Aspen bites her lip.
“What?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“What?”
“You remember that day after I finished recording, and you walked in on the studio engineer trash-talking one of my songs, and you told me to fire him?”
“Oh my god, tell me you’re not dating him.” I cringe, because that’s exactly what Aunt Zinnia’s been saying to me all day.Tell me you’re not dating Cooper Rock again. You know he’s not good enough for you. You know he’ll break your heart again. You know you’re so high above him, he doesn’t even deserve to look at the soles of your feet. “Never mind. None of my business. I didn’t say that. Go where your heart is, do what makes you happy, and I promise to be here for you if he’s a dick-turned-knight-turned-dick-again.”
She laughs. “No. He’s a dick. Through and through. But all of that?” She waves a hand like she’s capturing my words back from the air. “All of thatbelieve in yourself, be happy, I support you? I just…do you ever…argh.”
“Do I ever what?”
She shakes her hands out, stands, and paces toward the door in her heels and her sparkly black dress. “We’re talking about you. And Cooper. And why he left. And what you’re not saying. Waverly, look, I know she’s your aunt, and I shouldn’t say anything, but all of this extra stuff she lines up for you makes you utterly miserable, and every time you follow your gut, younailit, but you don’t follow your gut without second-guessing yourself all the time because—never mind. Never mind.”
“No, don’t stop.” My body is flushing hot and cold and hot again, and it’s not from last night’s shrimpmageddon. “You think I should fire my aunt.”
Her shoulders hitch. “All I’m saying is, if she weren’t your aunt, would you still want her to be your manager?”
I swallow hard. “That’s a big question.”
“Please don’t hate me,” she whispers. “I—you’re doing so much to help my dreams come true, and I don’t think I could be your real friend if I didn’t tell you that I think you deserve better. It’s what you’ve told me every step of the way, and I know there’s still a ton that I don’t understand about the business, but you’re—you’reat the top, Waverly. You’reit.”
I grimace.
She grabs my hand and squeezes. “You deserve to be surrounded by people who love you and want what’s best for you. And on top of that, you deserve to be free to date the people you want to date, or tonotdate the people youdon’twant to date, and I get the impression that you’ve never had any of the freedom to do the things that normal people in their teens and twenties should get to do, and I want that for you. I want you to live your life foryouand make mistakes and learn from them and fall head over heels in love because it’slove, and not because you both want the same thing or someone put a stamp of approval on your love life.”
“You don’t think my aunt wants what’s best for me?”
“Please tell me to shut up.”
Of all my friends, Aspen is the newest and the one that I should be most circumspect with. Her access to my personal life should be limited, and everything she’s saying shouldn’t resonate this hard.
But maybe that’s why I need her.
Maybe she’ll tell me things no one else in my circle dares to say. The things that everyone else assumes I won’t listen to, either because they’ve tried or I’ve given off the wrong vibe in the past or they’re so used to Aunt Zinnia still being such a major part of my life that no one questions it.
I shake my head at Aspen. “You shouldn’t feel like you need to be anyone other thanyoufor you to succeed either. If being you means saying the hard things, then you should say the hard things.”
“This is awkward.”
“No, it’s—okay, yes. It’s awkward. But it’s also…good? You’re a fresh perspective. I don’t get those often.”
She bites her lip again, then grabs her phone, thumbs over the screen, and lifts it for me to see.
It’s a text from Aunt Zinnia.Tell Waverly you don’t approve of this Cooper Rock nonsense. She’ll listen to you. God knows why, but she will. You owe her this after everything she’s doing for you.
I flush all over again. “I—”
“You’re a grown-ass woman, and if you want to go screw an entire baseball, football, soccer, whatever team, then I’m gonna be right there handing them STD test kits and you industrial-size boxes of condoms.”
I make a face.
“She’s holding your personal life hostage over your career. I know, I know. She’s looking out for you. But…is she? Look at Liv Daniels. She’s theIt Girlin Hollywood, and she has a life. Avery Hart too. Your friend Levi Wilson slowed his schedule way down for love but is still making new music and doing more online events for his fans, and they love him for it. Your career shouldn’t be your entire life, and you get to make mistakes, Waverly. You get tolive.”
