Page 52 of I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life

Kam was laying out all the toppings for the cocoa bar, as I looked around and saw Mary-Marigold handing out ticket baskets for the booths. Everything at the Festival cost tickets, including the food and the drink stations, and the more tickets everyone bought, the more money was raised.

By the time the Festival started, despite the disaster it had been in the planning stages, everything felt perfect. Families walked around, playing games and doing activities. Everyone flocked to the ice skating rink, which was blasting the same ten winter songs over and over.

Cassidy and her friends checked in every so often, each of them on a sugar high from the amount of sweets they were consuming. And while Kam forced Cassidy to eat a burger from one of the food trucks, I wasn’t sure any of her friends actually had real food.

It was loud, it was friendly, and it was Briar Hill.

But the best part was the number of people who came up to Kam just to talk. Mr. Robinson asked if he wanted any books on order, a huge difference from when he had tried icing Kam out months ago. And I was pretty sure, he gave Kam permission to finally call him "Frank." Mayor Silas came to thank Kam for all the work he’d done, and made sure Kam planned to listen to his speech later. Even Peri told him she took the permanent ban off him checking out books from the library, which had probably shocked him the most.

It was nice to see he was no longer an outsider, and that by taking on so much with the Festival, he’d charmed his way back into the hearts of Briar Hill. I needed to thank Misty for the tip she gave him; it was inspired, and I could see her giving Kam smug “I-told-you-so” looks from the bake sale tent across the aisle.

The hours passed quickly, and while I was cold and tired, I couldn’t stop smiling. Every so often we’d have a lull, and Kam would sneak in a kiss, and I was certain both my best friends noticed. But I didn’t care; it felt right. It wasn’t an official hard-launch to our relationship, but I wasn’t afraid of what would happen if people did see.

In fact, for the first time, I believed Kam was right: I’d punished myself too much for things that weren’t my fault. And I wouldn’t have to let him go; he’d find a way to protect me like he’d done for his daughter. I sighed, letting myself be at peace, and for what felt like the first time, I didn’t feel guilty about it. I wanted him to be my boyfriend. I wanted to figure out where things would go. I knew we’d be able to figure it out, even if it scared me.

My therapist was going to be so proud.

As we started to shut down the tents, the time came for my favorite part of New Year’s. With so much of the National Forest so close to us, we weren’t allowed to do fireworks, so instead we had the Annual Candle Wish. Everyone got one of those cheap candles, worked together as a town to light them, counted down to the new year, and then we all blew them out and made a wish at the strike of midnight. And, of course, Mayor Silas always made a speech during the event, which really was an excuse to give everyone time to grab their candles.

“It’s times like these we see Briar Hill truly come together,” the mayor started, talking into what was probably the most basic of microphones. “The Daisy Chain Apartment fire was one of the biggest setbacks our community has faced. And tonight, I’m happy to announce we raised five thousand dollars to help the victims of the fire!” I was truly shocked by the number; the most I’d ever heard of raising in a single night was around two thousand.

“Now, I know we have candles to light and wishes to make,” the mayor continued, “but tonight couldn’t have happened without two very special members of our community. The first, to nobody’s surprise, is my amazing wife Mary-Marigold,” everyone politely clapped, as they did every time she arranged one of these events. “However, it’s the second who I want to thank the most. I know this town has a very complicated relationship with the band RaineFall, and most of us remember how insane our tiny town got when the band took off. It was great for tourism, and terrible for everything else.”

Misty gave me a nudge, and I knew the mayor was putting it lightly. But he was right; it wasn’t just me who suffered. The hiking fans were pushed out of their resort and campsites, the RaineFall fans swarmed the town without actually buying anything that didn’t have the boys’ faces on it. Nobody was happy, and we were all glad the “visit where RaineFall grew up” trend didn’t last longer than the first summer — when most fans realized that unless you liked trees, you wouldn’t have much to do here.

“But Kameron Raine has more than proven that he belongs in this community,” the mayor continued, as everyone turned and smiled at him, “He could've used his celebrity to turn our town into something it’s not. And instead, he’s focused on making sure he and his little girl have a home here. This Festival wouldn’t have happened without him this year, and I, for one, am grateful to have him back.”

There were louder cheers for this, as I watched Kam blush. There were plenty of people who looked at him and saw Kam Raine the rockstar, but I was glad the town saw him just as Kameron Raine, with his big heart and his obnoxious need to try and fix whatever he could.

We lit our candles and counted down to midnight, ushering in the new year as we blew them out and made our wishes. This year, I wished that Kam and I would make it. That I'd be this happy for the rest of my life. With him beside me.

Chapter forty

Kameron

With the Festival over, it meant I’d finally get the chance to rest. I’d planned on sleeping in, but my body’s autopilot had me up at my usual time. I was still half-asleep when I realized I needed to take the trash out, only to be blinded by an obnoxious amount of paparazzi. I stared at them as they took pictures and shouted questions, looking down at my pajama-and-snow-boots combo, annoyed they’d definitely be published. But in the end, I decided to completely ignore them, throwing the bag in my trash can and attempting to figure out what I’d done to deserve this.

“Why is there a swarm of photographers outside my house, Mel?” I asked the moment she picked up my call. I already knew I didn’t have enough coffee to deal with whatever this was, and if Mel picked up this fast, it meant she already knew.

“Happy New Year to you too, Kameron,” she sarcastically answered, “How much do you know about CelebScoop?”

“Isn’t it that weird social media page with an ice cream theme and got all those people trying to date me at the town meeting last month?” I asked, figuring it sounded somewhat familiar.

“That’s the one,” Mel scoffed. “It’s the absolute bane of my existence. People submit anonymous tips about celebrities, and they post the ones they think might be credible. It’s right about 50% of the time, but that’s enough that any time their tips go viral, it’s hard to contain. And you, my dear Kameron, went viral.”

“Mel,” I sighed, trying my best not to wake up my girls, “Obviously I’m going to hate it, so just tell me.”

“Short version,” she said, “You’re dating Nalini Rana. It’s serious enough you’ve moved in together. They had pictures of the two of you kissing at some Festival thing…”

“That was last night!” I exclaimed, “How did it leak that fast?”

“Power of social media,” Mel said. “Anyway, they also scooped you and your brothers have been thinking about getting RaineFall back together, which usually is easy to dodge. Somehow they also had the video of the three of you playing at Christmas. So, their version of the story is Nalini forced you to keep RaineFall from coming back, using her villain reputation to cancel your reunion before it ever starts. Someone figured out that the Festival pic was from Briar Hill — especially after they sent the fans there before, and next thing you know, it’s a mess.”

“How did that manage to be both right and…” I paused for a moment, knowing there were exactly five people who’d seen that song. “Mel, how did they get the video?”

“That’s what I am mad about. Loved it when you sent it to me, but we have a short list of could even leak it,” she said, “Unless CelebScoop somehow started hacking devices. I’ve already sent them a cease-and-desist, and they’ve taken down the post. But it’d spread too much by the time I got to it.”

“I should be able to get the photographers out of my driveway, but we need to fix this,” I sighed, trying to think of a solution. But this was Mel’s realm, and I was more worried about how Nalini would react when she found out.