“Arrange what, exactly?” If she thinks she’s getting away with not telling me every single detail, she’s crazy as hell.
Her eyes flit around the room, trying to settle anywhere but on mine. “Arranging for Syndi to be Luke’s PR rep. Syndi was supposed to make Andi doubt Luke, make her jealous enough to leave the tour. I thought she’d put him first before her singing career.”
“Which one of you is responsible for leaking all the fake pictures and hype about Andi and me before there was even anything to talk about?” I ask.
“I did,” Katelyn admits. “When I realized that Andi was serious about keeping her commitment to the tour, I thought maybe Luke would demand that she choose him or the tour.”
“And when he didn’t, when he supported her and believed in her, you just had to up the stakes even more. Right?” I yell and they both cringe.
“I didn’t know that Syndi would be seen wearing Andi’s ring and necklace,” Katelyn says while glaring at Syndi.
“Luke gave you those?” I ask.
Syndi looks extremely uncomfortable. “No, he doesn’t even know I have them. I took them from his hotel room when he was at the gym.”
“You meant to get caught with them, didn’t you?” I know she did. She knew that would drive Andi further from Luke—and right into my bed.
“Sort of,” she admits. “Katelyn had already told me that you and Andi were getting closer. I made sure Luke stayed as busy as possible so he wouldn’t have time to call her.
“I didn’t really think my plan through, though, because Luke still doesn’t know I have them. When he finds out, he’ll be furious. I haven’t been able to put them back with John staying in his suite now. I thought Andi would give it away when Luke threw the necklace at her earlier.”
“It doesn’t matter that Andi didn’t give it away,” I reply matter-of-factly. “Becauseyou’regoing to tell him yourself what you’ve done.
“You don’t fuck with other people’s hearts like that and think you’ll just get away with it. Your actions pushed her further away from Luke, but they also helped me fall even more in love with Andi. Now I know she’d still be with Luke if it weren’t for the two of you. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I’m sorry, Travis. None of this was supposed to happen this way,” Katelyn says. “I didn’t mean for any of this to go so wrong.”
“That’s just the thing, Katelyn. My love life isn’t yours to orchestrate. All you manage is the tour schedule. Not my life, not Andi’s life, no one’s life but your own. You’ll finish out this tour because we’re so far into it, but then you’ll have to find another band. I won’t tour with you ever again.”
Walking back to the bus, I try to think of a way to break all of this to Andi. Knowing the three of us have been manipulated and played by people we trusted is a hard pill to swallow. But knowing that her decision to move on without Luke—and into my bed—was made because of the underhanded actions of others is the worst.
Andi will be devastated when I tell her the truth.
I can’t help but wonder if it will change her mind about our relationship. Will she run back to Luke when she finds out he didn’t give her ring to Syndi? I can almost understand Syndi’s desperation over not wanting to lose Luke. It’s the same feeling I have right now about losing Andi.
It’s excruciating, because I know she doesn’t love me like she does him. All night, her eyes, her mind, and her heart were drawn to him. While she sang, while she talked to others, and while she allowed me to put my arm around her, I still felt him standing between us.
As I climb the stairs to the bus, my feet feel like I’m wearing cement boots. Each step is harder to take than the last. Every step I take that brings me closer to Andi will end up taking me further away from her. I’ve never dreaded a conversation as much as I do this one.
Andi is sitting in our spot, the two-seat portion of the sectional, when I step into the room. She looks up at me and smiles sweetly. “I was beginning to think you got lost.”
I wish I had. I wish I’d never gone to find Katelyn. I wish I’d left her like my subconscious tried to tell me to do in the first place.
Andi pats the seat next to her. “Have a seat, Travis.”
Sitting beside her, I take her hand in mine and kiss the back of it. Then I take my time kissing each of her knuckles. Leaning over to her, I kiss her sweet lips. I don’t even care who’s watching us. All I know is I’m about to lose her and my time to experience these moments with her is extremely short.
“What’s wrong, Travis?” she asks, worry lacing her voice.
“There’s something you should know, Andi,” I start.
“Okay. Tell me.”
“I’m completely in love with you. I love everything about you. There is not one thing I’d change. I love you,” I tell her sincerely, keeping my emotions choked down. “I don’t expect you to say the same. I’ve had time to accept these feelings, and you’ve barely had time to recover from your breakup with Luke.”
“Our split has been hard for me to accept for many reasons, Travis. That doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings for you, though.”
“But, if all things were equal, you’d still choose Luke over me. Wouldn’t you?”
