Page 42 of Veiled

“That you’re in love with him.”

I rear back as if he slapped me right across the face. “What? I am not in love with him,” I sputter.

“You’ve been in love with him for a long damn time, Waylon.” Grady says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and I feel like I can’t catch my breath.

“No. I haven’t. He’s a client.”

He just shakes his head. “No. He’s not. He never was.”

I just stare at Grady. My friend. My family. “Of course he was. You think I took advantage of him? That I had other motives for becoming his agent?”

“Of course not,” he says softly. “You’re the best manager anyone could ask for. You were fantastic for Immoral, but there was something different between you and Justin. There always was. And it wasn’t one-sided.”

I shake my head like a lunatic. “That’s not true. It was a professional relationship, and when he got sick of being famous, he ran off. I needed to check on him. That’s all. I would do it for you in a heartbeat.”

Grady places a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me. “I know you would. All I’m saying is you two have been in love for a long time. And because you’re a professional, I know nothing happened. You wouldn’t let it. You guarded yourself from those feelings, but when he left...”—he squeezes my shoulder gently—“I thought maybe you two were going to go for it. That you’d follow him and confess your love.”

“You’ve been watching too many movies,” I say, but I still feel like I can’t breathe.

“You’re being an idiot,” he says quietly. Not angry. Sad.

“I don’t love him. I crossed a line with him I shouldn’t have, and I’m making up for it, but it isn’t love. I don’t have time for love,” I say, my deepest truth coming out. I told myself a long time ago I was going to be successful and would do anything I needed to, including putting my love life on the back burner.

I didn’t need it. Love isn’t a permanent thing. My parents had conditions for their love. My. Parents. The people who should have loved me most just... didn’t.

He’s looking at me with so much pity now, it feels like it’s crushing me. “Make the time. Life is too short, Waylon. You deserve to be happy.”

“I am,” I say it but don’t feel it, and it’s not convincing. “I’m fine,” I try again.

“Please don’t do this to yourself,” he says, and I swear I see his eyes glistening a little bit. “You’re one of my best friends in the world. I want to see you happy.”

“Not everyone needs love to be happy,” I say because I believe that. Some people are perfectly happy never being in a relationship. It doesn’t make them any less fulfilled, damn it.

“That’s true,” he agrees, and I feel slightly triumphant, but then he opens his mouth again. “But you do. I’ve seen the way you look at him. I see the love there. Don’t be stupid.”

“Drop it,” I say bitingly because I can’t have this conversation anymore. I’m trying to move on and heal.

I need to move on.

Thankfully, he just purses his lips and gives me a pinched, pained looked before calling for the kids to help him set the table. They run into the dining room excitedly, and he walks out of the room.

Ryan comes in after them, but stops at me, his eyes on my face. “You okay?”

I shake my head, too tired to lie. “No.”

He hugs me like he was expecting that, and then we head into the dining room to join the family. I’m grateful he doesn’t push it and that Grady doesn’t bring it up again even as we’re saying goodbye.

I go back to my home with my dog, and I try like hell not to think about how quiet it is. How empty.

This is not like me. I love my home. I love the quiet.

I don’t need to complicate my life. I’m not Ryan and Grady.

Damn them.

Chapter Twenty-One

JUSTIN

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