Page 130 of Dear Rockstar (Dear Rockstar 1)

“Dale…” How did I say I was sorry for… everything? Everything except loving him. And I couldn’t seem to say that either, even if it was all my heart would feel, in spite of my head’s staunch objections.

He started, somehow knowing I couldn’t. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“About Tyler?” It so didn’t matter to me anymore, but of course he didn’t know that.

“It was wrong. I should have told you. I just…” His head lowered, voice trailing off, and of course I knew why he hadn’t told me. He already doubted how much I cared about him, given my level of crazy about Tyler Vincent. How could he know it was Dale I stuck around for, and not the front row seats?

But the concert was over, and I was still here, loving him.

“No.” I touched his cheek, brushing my fingers over the stubble there, and when he looked up at me, he broke my heart. The question was there in his eyes, the one he tried so hard to hide. “I was stupid. I’ve been so stupid.”

He slid closer, taking me into his arms, giving me the reassurance he was looking for, as if by opening up to me, I might do the same with him. “I didn’t go to Holly Larson’s.”

“You didn’t?” My heart swelled to bursting. Somehow the thought of him spending a night with Holly Larson had been far worse than his sin of omission about Tyler Vincent.

“No.” He lowered his head to mine, kissing the top of my head again and again. “When are you going to realize there’s no one else for me? You’re it, baby.”

“Me too, Dale,” I whispered. It was the closest I could come in the moment.

He chuckled. “You’re forgetting Tyler.”

“No I’m not.” I lifted my head to meet his eyes, shining in the darkness.

“Wait… what are you saying?” Dale frowned, and I couldn’t resist, reaching out to touch that delicious dent in his chin. “I don’t want you to give up your dream for me.”

“What if you’re my dream?” I whispered, tracing the line of his jaw, trailing my finger down over his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. “You’re good at being a rock star. I’m good at being the world’s biggest fan. It’s a match made in heaven.”

“I don’t want you to be my fan,” he said hoarsely. “I want you to be mine.”

“I am.” I moved my hand up under his shirt, seeking the heat of his skin, wanting to feel him, solid and warm. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Why? Because you chose me. Out of all those girls who want you—out of all the millions who will want you, and believe me, they will—I’m the one you chose.”

He kissed me—the soft press of his lips, the way he breathed me in as if I was honeysuckle or lilacs or roses, the most compelling scent in the world—reminding me in an instant of his love for me, how much I had missed him and how much I was missing when he was gone.

“Sara, listen to me.” He pressed his forehead to mine, eyes closed. “Once I choose a direction, I don’t stop. I can’t.”

I nodded, loving him for it. I’d seen it every day in the way he pursued his music, how much of his time he dedicated to practice, to perfecting his craft.

“I’m like a damned freight train. Or the fucking Titanic.” He snorted, opening his eyes and meeting my gaze. “There’s no turning me away, not now. I can’t turn back.”

“I know,” I whispered.

“No.” He pursed his lips, shaking his head, looking away from me, out the window at the shadow of someone going into the apartment building. “I don’t think you do. You seem to have room in your heart for more than just me. But I don’t. For me, there is only you. Only you.”

“Dale, no,” I protested. “You don’t understand. It’s not like that for me either.”

“Shhhh.” He pressed his fingers to my lips. “I know you. Inside and out, Sara. I know you, and I’ve accepted it all. Every bit of the crazy. And I love you anyway remember?”

“This isn’t about you.” He touched the locket hanging around my neck, a constant. “It’s about me. You need to know this. I will never, ever have room in my heart for more than one woman. I used Holly to hurt you, because it was the worst thing I could think of. It was wrong and I’m sorry.”

o;And now?” John asked when I didn’t go on.

I shook my head.

Dale had told me I was putting all the wrong pieces together when it came to Tyler and he’d known exactly what he was talking about, of course.

But he’d been willing to let me find out on my own. He’d never once told me not to enter the contest, not to go to Maine.

It was all too much to take in at once. My brain was on overload.

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