Turning the corner to head back, Josh exits a Starbucks a few feet ahead of me, and it all comes rushing back.
Seeing Tyler with Josh, his arm around her as he led her through the dark parking lot and onto his RV.
Breaking into Dani and Kate’s RV and stealing their bottle of tequila.
Tyler coming back to our RV and finding me shitfaced and brokenhearted.
Telling her I’m in love with her.
Tyler telling me she’s in love with me. Telling me to touch her.
Finally touching her after six long, torturous months of keeping my hands to myself.
Kissing her.
Claiming her.
Promising her I would never hurt her.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckingfuck. This is bad. This is so, so bad. We slept together. Which means we’re in breach of the contract. Whichmeans, if she’s pissed enough, she can come after me. It was consensual, but she could lie and say it wasn’t. She could—
No. She wouldn’t. Fuck, I feel like a piece of shit even considering it. I’m panicking, but this industry is full of people who have found themselves in that exact situation, and the unfortunate reality is that you just never know.
I need to find her. I need to find her and fix this.
She loves me.I love her and she loves me. That thought alone is enough to give me a second wind.
I duck into the Starbucks, ignoring Josh’s confused voice asking what the hell is going on as I rush past him and inside, ordering one of everything from their fall menu. I know her drink order by heart now, but I’m hoping she’ll remember the night we met, and how a carboard holder full of these stupid, overpriced drinks got her to open up to me. Hoping it’ll be enough to get her todo it again.
Exiting with two carriers full of drinks, I haul my hungover ass back to the arena parking lot as fast as my aching body can carry me. I climb into the RV and notice the bedroom door is still shut, so I set the drinks on the table in the kitchen and head straight for it. I knock, but she doesn’t answer, so I knock again.
“Ty?”
Silence.
I turn the handle, but it’s locked.
“Tyler, please,” I say, pressing my forehead against the door. “Can we talk?”
“I’d really rather not listen to you say anything else,” she says. Her voice barely audible from the other side of the door, but I can hear the pain in it. “You made it perfectly clear that what happened last night didn’t mean anything, so what else is there to say?”
Fuck me. Fuck me and my big fucking mouth.
“Please,” I beg. “What I said this morning…I shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry. I—”
“Just stop, Eric,” she says.
“Will you just let me explain?” I say, my voice sounding harsher than I mean it to. The door flies open, and before I have a chance to process it, she’s in my face.
“Explainwhat, exactly? That what you said last night isn’t true? Or that what you said this morning isn’t true?” I’m too stunned by her rage to speak. I open my mouth, and she cuts me off. “You know what? No,” she says. “I can’t do this again. I won’t.”
“Dowhatagain?”
“Get my hopes up. Listen to you wax poetic and fill me with all of this…thishope…just to listen to you take it all back less than twelve hours later. And you know the worst part? Iknewthis would happen. I knew I would be the one who got hurt. It’s why I did what I did by insisting on the contract. I knew I had to protect myself. So, that’s what I’m doing.” She tries to close the door in my face, but I catch it in time, pressing my hand into it and pushing so hard against it that I’m surprised my hand doesn’t go right through the thin wood.
“So, you’re just going to act like last night never happened? Like we both didn’t admit to some serious shit?” I ask.
“Youdid.” She throws the words at me, and I flinch, even though I deserve it. I reach for her, but she backs away. “No,” she says, her beautiful blue eyes finally finding mine. “I did what I came here to do—I got your story, so we’re done. This ends now. I’m going home. Do not call me. Do not text me. Do not come looking for me.”
