Page 214 of Becoming Us
Atty smiled softly, a little spark of something flashing across his face before he pulled the covers over our heads. “Just us.”
I nuzzled my nose against his. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Tell me what’s on your mind.”
I exhaled, eyes slipping shut. “I’m scared of this, Atty. The whole thing.”
“Why?” His fingers kept tracing lazy circles along my necklace.
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for it. The pressure, the parties… Rock stars have a reputation, you know?”
“I know,” he said. “And that’s why so many are in recovery too. You wouldn’t be the only one. You wouldn’t be alone. And Paxton will be there.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “And you?”
He leaned in and kissed me, soft and sure. When I opened my eyes, his gaze was steady.
“I’ll always be here. I’ll always love you and wait for you. There’s no one else for me. Just you.”
“Atty…” I breathed, my voice breaking.
“I don’t want you to give up on your dreams,” he said, cutting me off gently. “You just got them. Don’t throw that away. This is yours, Noah. Fight for what’s yours.”
“You’remine,” I whispered.
“Yes, but you already have me. We can make this work.”
“How?”
His gaze flicked away for a heartbeat before settling back on mine. “We’ve got a cheat.”
I huffed a quiet laugh. “A what?”
“I’ll stop being stubborn about it. If you go on tour and you can fly me out, I’ll come. I’ll rearrange my school schedule, plan around long weekends, whatever it takes—I’ll follow you.”
The words hit me like a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My throat tightened, and my heart pounded too loudly for how quiet the room had gone.
“I can’t ask you to do that.” I wanted to believe him. I did. But that voice in the back of my head—the one that never shut up—kept whispering that something this good couldn’t last. That I wasn’t allowed to have it. That I didn’t deserve it.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. And I won’t tag along every time, but I bet we can keep the longest stretch apart to two weeks, tops. Plus, we live in LA—this is where this stuff happens. You might not need to travel as much as you think. And in a year, I’ll be done with school. After that, I can work from anywhere. I’ll make sure of it.”
“But…” I whispered, the hope too sharp to hold. Could I really have this? All of it? There had to be a catch. Something waiting to fall apart.
“We’re not choosing, Noah,” he said, threading his fingers through mine. Something in me cracked open. “We’re getting everything.”
Just like that, the whole course of my life changed.
Hewas everything.What we hadwas everything. And I wanted forever with him.
My hand clasped his hip, holding on to him. “I’m on the verge of asking you to marry me right now.”
Atty grinned and shook his head. “That’s not how that’s going to go. Let’s focus on this first. You said you wanted us to go everywhere, right? Well, I think we just figured out how.”
I was still reeling. “What about school?”
“Take fewer classes. Do what you can online. It’ll take longer, but…”
“Who the hell cares at this point?” I finished for him.
