Page 47 of Stay A Little Longer
Trent realized he’d been pacing the small confines of the trailer he’d spent less than a half hour in since coming to Fate, Texas. He huffed but did as she said. He dropped into the chair opposite her and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to say all the same things his logical, reasonable side, had been telling him for days.
“What?”
“Don’t get defensive with me.” Lemon sighed. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Fine. Talk. You’re not going to say anything that’ll change my mind.”
“I don’t want to change your mind. I just want to understand.” Lemon frowned, “Just… walk me through it. How did this happen? And what do you mean you’ve been with him since you got here? Shane and I just introduced you two… didn’t we?”
Trent winced as he remembered the awkward greeting that Lemon and Shane had witnessed. She thought that was the first time Trent had met Lance. But he’d known him longer than that, since the night he arrived in Fate, and hefeltlike he’d known Lance even longer.
He knew there was no getting out of this so he told her the truth. He told her about how he’d confused the trailer that first night because her directions sucked. Told her about how he and Lance had ended up in bed together both confused and fumbling to piece together what had happened, and then, after his sweet gesture with the gun, calming Trent down from his panic, how they’dtrulyended up in bed together.
He told her all of it, or at least most of it. There were things he didn’t share. Personal things. Intimate things. Things that weren’t his to tell about the man he loved. Things that Lance wouldn’t want him to tell, not even to his best friend, and he kept those special, private moments to himself.
He didn’t mention Lance’s past or what it really meant. He didn’t tell her how much time they’d spent just staring into each other’s eyes, completely silent, just content with each other. He didn’t tell her about Lance’s apology for holding back, for not knowing how to deal with what they shared just like he didn’t tell her how worried he was that one misstep would make Lance push him out of his life completely. He didn’t tell her just how worried he was that Lance would never be ready to accept that what they had was real.
But he told her everything else and when he was done, Lemon was still frowning. Her brows were furrowed and her lips were thin. He’d told her that he loved Lance, that he’d fallen in love with him recklessly and hopelessly and he couldn’t imagine losing him now. Couldn’t imagine not waking up to that gorgeous face every morning, couldn’t imagine not falling asleep with that sexy body wrapped around him every night.
When Lemon finally spoke, she didn’t say anything along the lines of what he was imagining, instead she asked, “What about Nashville?”
He tilted his head, “What about it?”
“Trent.” She all but growled his name.
“What? What’s there to say about it? I’m not going back to Nashville. Not right now. Maybe not ever. There’s nothing left for me there, Lemon.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is and we both know it.”
His career was done. Nobody wanted a gay man in Nashville singing love songs. They weren’t ready for that and honestly, he didn’t know if he was either. He’d enjoyed the spotlight. Enjoyed the fame. But he didn’t feel like Nashville was where he was supposed to be anymore. Not since he wound up in this tiny little West Texas town and found everything he’d ever wanted in a man, in a partner.
What he wanted, what he needed, was here. Not in Nashville. It was here, in Fate, with Lance.
“No, I don’t believe and neither do you. More importantly, neither does Rick.”
Trent’s eyes whipped up from where he’d been staring at his hands, picking at his nails, when she said his manager’s name, “You talked to Rick?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m here actually.” Lemon rolled her eyes, “You’re not returning his calls so he called me and sent me looking for you.”
Trent’s temper flared again and he growled. Lemon wasn’t his keeper. Neither was Rick. He could do whatever he wanted. Go wherever he wanted. Be who he was. He was out and his career was over and he was fine with that. Fine! Why couldn’t they accept it as easily as he had?
“I took one day. One goddamned day! One day off from the real world and my incessantly ringing phone, to spend time with the man I’m falling madly in love! And Rick couldn’t just leave a damn voicemail? He sent you here to find me? Why?”
“You’ll have to take the why up with him.” Lemon raised her eyebrows when he growled, “But I think you’re missing the point.”
“What? That my manager is miraculously still my manager?”
“No. One day. It tookone dayfor Rick to track you down through me when you didn’t answer. To call me looking for you. He couldn’t reach you and he called me because he thought that maybe, just maybe, I knew where you were hiding out.” Lemon shook her head, “Yeah. If Rick can figure it out in a day, it’s not going to take much longer for other people to start putting it together and figure out you’re hiding here in Fate too.”
He groaned, “Damn it. No. I’m not ready to go back to the real world.”
“Well the real world isn’t just going to let you disappear, Trent.”
“I don’t owe them anything. Why can’t they just leave me alone?”
“Because you do owe them. Maybe not Rick or the label but you owe yours fans the truth, the real truth. And if you want to disappear after that, I’ll try to help you do that. But you owe the people that’ve supported you throughout your career the truth and you know it.”
