Tyler: I’m glad. I can’t wait to see this show. The new album is incredible. You’re going to kill it.
Eric: Do you mind if I call you?
Tyler: No, go for it.
I smile and press the call button. She answers on the second ring.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey,” she says, and I can hear the same smile in her voice that I know she can hear in mine.
“So, you like the album?” I ask. “What’s your favorite song?
“You expect me to choose?” she asks, sounding offended, and I laugh. “That’s impossible. Truly, Eric, this album is phenomenal. You guys should be really,reallyproud.”
“Thanks,” I say, running a hand through my hair nervously at the compliment, and we fall into a brief moment of silence.
“I’m not going to say that ‘Fall’ is my favorite,” she eventually says. “But I will say that if it’s on the set list, I won’t be mad about it. I’m ready to sing that chorus at the top of my lungs. Just imagine what seventy thousand people all singing that together would sound like. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”
I smile because I can imagine it. It’s what we had in mind when we wrote that into the song. Thousands of people singing in unison.
I make a mental note to look over to wherever she ends up standing so I can see the look on her face when we play it. I remember how she looked in the crowd the night we met. Eyes closed, hands up, neck strained from screaming the lyrics to every song. Feeling each note like I do. Absolutely beautiful.
We talk for hours, switching to video after the first hour so I can show her my home studio when she asks about it, and I can’t explain what hearing her voice and seeing her face does to me. She’s so beautiful, even though she’s sitting at home in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt, her hair up in a bun and not a trace of makeup on her face.
“Well,” she says eventually, yawning and stretching out in her bed like a cat who just woke up from a nap. “I should probably hang up so I can get some sleep before I head to the airport in the morning.”
“Alright,” I say, and neither of us moves to actually hang up. We just stare at each other and smile.
“Seriously,” she says eventually.
“Alright,” I say again, my smile growing wider.
“Oh!” she says, sitting up. “I guess the whole point of this call is to work out when I’ll be seeing you. I mean—you know, to work out the schedule.”
“Can I pick you up from the airport?” I ask, and she bites her lip to hold back a smile.
“Sure,” she says. “You have the details?”
“I do.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
NINE
Ty
? On Top of the World - Imagine Dragons ?
The flight from Pittsburgh to Dallas had been smooth and even though I usually stressed the hell out during takeoff, the fact that Eric had booked me in first class, and I had access to unlimited free drinks had me feeling anything but stressed.
After signing the contract, I’d felt a lot more at ease about the whole situation. It meant that I didn’t have to pretend to hate him or push him away because I know that we legally can’t touch each other. We’re contractually bound to be friends and nothing more. The walls around my heart might be made of paper and ink, but they’ll hold. For now.
When I step off the jetway and we lock eyes and he smiles at me like I’m the only person in this whole place, I do the same. It’s been a little over a month since I’ve seen him, but the undeniable spark I feel when our eyes meet is still there. I snuff it out, reminding myself that he asked me here to do a job.
A job that is much different than the one I found myself doing the night we met.
He crosses the distance between us and wraps me in a hug so tight that I’m momentarily unable to breathe.
