Page 67 of Loyalty (The Salvation Society)

“No!”

Lane looks at Kegan and I step in front of him. “Stop looking to your brother. No, Lane, it’s not okay. There’s a picture of us kissing that made fucking front page news. My career will be destroyed! I’m gonna have to leave you guys.”

Kegan grabs my arm and spins me to look at him. The anger I see on his face is like nothing I’ve seen before. His jaw ticks as his eyes narrow. “You’re not fucking leaving. I told you I’ll never let you go.” He gets closer to my face and I feel his breath blowing across it. “I love you, baby.”

I hear the shocked sounds from the guys behind me, but I can’t pull my eyes away from Kegan’s. The anger is morphing into pain and it’s starting to break me. The door closes behind me and I know they are leaving us to figure this out.

“Your job is to keep our private lives out of the headline, so do it. Fix it, baby, but don’t walk away. Don’t give up on us,” he whispers. It’s a plea for me to stay. He looks so fragile right now. His dark eyes are full of pain. The crease lining his forehead shows his worry. His fingers are digging into me, trying to keep me exactly where I am. He’s scared and it’s destroying me to see him like this.

I wrap my arms around his neck and close my eyes. My heart is cracking in my chest. “I’m not giving up on us. I’m trying to protect us and my job. I’m not walking away, I promise.”

At my promise, he pulls me against him and holds me so tight it’s hard to breathe. He’s scared and I caused that. I need to try to fix it and hope that there are no more pictures and that my grandfather or the label didn’t see it.

We just need to make it through this tour. There are only a few more concerts and after that we can figure out how to handle this.

He releases me and smiles down at me. “Get to work,” he says, giving me a wink.

I nod and go out to the main part of the bus. I grab my laptop and sit down at the table. I ignore everyone as I get to work.

“You guys good?” Lane asks.

“Fuck yeah,” Kegan says.

“So, love huh?” Everett asks.

Kegan chuckles and as much as I want to look up and see his face, I can’t. If I stop working on hiding this, I will regret it.

“Yep, I love her,” he says.

My heart pounds in my chest and my hands shake as I continue to write and retract and refute everything that was in the headline.

“I’m happy for you guys,” Lane says.

“I am, too, but I’m fucking hungover, so I’ll make a bigger deal later,” Everett says.

They all laugh, and I smile as I continue my job. I know it’s going to be hard since the picture is out there, but I need to try everything I can. Call in all my favors. Beg, plead, and promise things I normally wouldn’t. I know Kegan thinks I’m ashamed of this relationship, but he’s wrong. I hold it in such high esteem that I will do anything to protect it. He doesn’t understand the damage this can cause us. I’m trying to make sure that doesn’t happen.

After spending over an hour on the computer and phone, I feel confident I’ve taken care of the situation. I’m sitting at the table with my hands wrapped around my mug, watching the blur of cars pass as we get closer to the venue. They’ll have sound check when we get there, and I’ll need to make sure everything is exactly how they like it for the meet and greet. It takes hours to get it all done and before I know it, we’ll be getting ready for the show. It’s become so routine at this point; it doesn’t take much thought. I’m going to miss it all when the tour is over. I love the fast pace of it all. The traveling, the fun, and watching my man up on stage.

“Hey.” I look up and smile at Kegan. He sits down and reaches over, linking his fingers with mine. “You alright?”

I shake my head. “Yeah. I’m sorry about this morning. It was a shock, and I obviously didn’t handle it well.”

He chuckles, squeezing my hand. “No, you didn’t, but that’s what I’m here for.”

“I’m not trying to hide us, Kegan.”

“I know, baby. I know you’re just worried about your job,” he says.

I sip my coffee and look out the window before glancing back to him. “I am, but I’m also worried about your job. If it looks like we’ve been hiding, your fans won’t like that and believe me the label won’t either.”

“I don’t give a shit about my fans or the label when it comes to us. Our relationship is our business. It doesn’t affect how we work and that’s what they are worried about. The money. We are making more than we ever have, so they can all fuck off,” he says.

“I wish that’s how it worked, but you know it’s not,” I say, shrugging.

He reaches up and grabs my chin in his fingers. “Do not fucking walk away.”

The fear is clear on his face and my heart aches. “I’m not walking away. I will never walk away from you, Kegan.” I lean over and kiss his strong lips. “I promise,” I breathe out.

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