Page 63 of Giving Chase

She grins. "God, you two are cute. Oh, and Justin's on line one."

I grab the phone before she's finished speaking. Chase sits up, watching me with soft eyes.

"Mom?" Justin sounds like he's trying not to laugh. "So that was quite a press conference."

"Shouldn't you be at rehearsal?"

"Are you kidding? The whole band's watching. You're all over social media. Also, that Grammy kiss is everywhere again." He pauses. "You know, when you told me Chase was finally clean, I had a feeling everything was about to change. Didn't expect him to announce it to the whole industry though."

I glance at Chase, who has the grace to look sheepish. "Yes, well..."

"I'm happy for you," Justin says softly. "Both of you. It's about damn time."

"Thank you, baby. How's the new song coming?"

"Better than my love life, apparently. Although watching you two might give me some good material."

"Goodbye, Justin."

His laugh follows me as I hang up. Chase raises an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

"Apparently my son's going to write songs about us."

He throws his head back laughing just as Michelle returns, tablet in hand.

"The board wants an emergency meeting," she announces.

"No current contract with the band," I remind her. "No conflict of interest."

"Oh, I know. I already sent them a very detailed email about that. Also reminded them that you two, ahem… maintained perfect professional boundaries for fifteen years while he actually was signed to the label." She smirks. "Even included a spreadsheet of the band's profit margins under your management."

"I love you," I tell her seriously.

"I know. Also, Will's on his way up. Something about Chase owing him money?"

Chase groans. "I may have bet him I'd never have the guts to go public."

"When did you make this bet?"

"2006?"

I shake my head, but can't help smiling. My phone buzzes again – more board members, industry contacts, probably some press. I ignore it in favor of watching Chase read something on his own phone, his smile growing.

"What?"

Chase holds up his screen. It's an old article about the Grammy incident, with a new comment from Mark:About time these two stopped pretending. Though after that Grammy kiss, who were they really fooling? #IndustrysBestKeptSecret #NotSoSecret

"I still can't believe you did that," I say, remembering the shock of his lips on mine, the roar of the crowd. "No warning, no hint..."

"You're lucky that's all I did. I had this whole speech planned about howOff the Recordwas really about?—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"What? Everyone knows that one's about you. The studio at 3 AM? The black dress with the broken zipper?"

Michelle clears her throat. We both start – I'd forgotten she was still there.

"As adorable as this is," she says, "we should probably draft a proper statement. Something professional about?—"

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