“I got you,” he said. “I got you.” Over and over he said, “I’ve got you.”
She wished he did. But no one really had her. She was toxic, and he was goodness, and how could something so toxic not poison something as good as him?
Chapter Fifteen
TANNER
Tanner knewthings must’ve been bad on her side of things for her to run the way she had. He hadn’t known it’d been so awful as all that she’d just shared.
She was only a kid who wrote a song.
At one point, he’d been that kid, too. Had the shit that went down with her happened to him? Well, he’d have been well and truly fucked. There was nothing Dan could’ve said or done to make it better.
A deep-seated rock sat on his chest because he’d been just like the others in the world—he’d made fun of Sami Jo and her mozzarella sticks.
O-o-oey, g-o-o-ey, che-e-esy and fried!
He and Catiana used to make loads of fun of it.
That realization made his heart hurt, because this girl in his bed deserved better than him. Deserved better than the hand the world dealt her.
“I’m okay,” she said, the tears drying up, her voice returning to the usual cadence.
“You are more than okay,” he assured, kissing the salty wet of her cheeks. “You are perfect.”
She snorted in response, and even her snort was adorable.
“I get it,” he assured. “I won’t push you to come out to L.A. or on the tour. I’ll miss you like hell, though.” This last part he said against her hair, and that got a whole new slew of wet hitting his.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, breaking apart and wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Given that he couldn’t exactly spill his guts on this one, he went with something he’d been thinking about since he first found out she was Sami Jo. “That youcansing. Like, fantastic.”
The girl had pipes. The song was just—hysterical.
Mozzarella sticks on M-o-o-nday.
All the days.
Cheese and batter and melty goo.
At least, he had thought the song was hysterical. But with Sam holding onto him like she was drifting at sea and he was her lifesaver, he realized he’d got it wrong.
“I’ll get you a set of keys for here if you want? Need a place to escape the Peony sometimes?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“If it means you’re here when I get back, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”
That bought him a smile.
“And I’ll introduce you to Dan. He’s… he’s basically my dad. He lives two floors down. If you tell him when you’re stopping in, he’ll keep an eye out for you. Since I won’t be able to.”
“Dan lives in the building?” She didn’t seem surprised, merely curious.
He nodded. “That’s why he got me a kickass deal on this one bedroom.”
“Like you need a deal,” she said.
