Controlled.
Temporary.
Professional.
I wouldn’t bedatinganyone. I’d be participating. Appearing. Standing on a stage and smiling politely while people clapped for charity.
One night.
One headline.
One spike.
Nothing real can come from something this public.
My phone buzzes again. I pull over at a gas station.
KIM:They’re calling it Hearts on Ice: A Valentine’s Charity Night.
I groan out loud. “Of course they are.”
Because Nashville doesn’t just do subtle. Nashville does glitter cannons and branding meetings.
I picture it again.
The arena. The lights. The crowd chanting something embarrassing.
Me, smiling like I planned this.
My stomach flips.
Not nerves.
Annoyance.
I don’t like being seen when I don’t control the story.
But maybe that’s the point.
Maybe the problem isn’t the attention.
Maybe it’s that I’ve been trying to manage everything instead of letting anything actually happen.
I don’t love that thought.
Which probably means it’s important.
I unlock my phone and open the Outlaws’ promotional post Kim sent. It’s already got thousands of likes. Comments are pouring in.
People are excited.
They want chaos.
They want romance.
They want something to talk about.
I hover my thumb over the link to the charity page.
