Page 154 of Dirty Rock

“Rhett.”

“You’re not ditching us for them.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I’m not ditching you for anyone. I’m choosing you over everything. That’s the difference.” Her palm pressed harder against my skin, and she leaned forward. “I want to be with you as your woman now. Your girl. Not your publicist. I can do that work anywhere for anyone. I’m good at it. I grew up being it my entire life on the road with Pops and his band. Let me go and be it for someone else now, Rhett. You’ve got the best of who I am. Let them have a turn at seeing what I do.”

“But we need you,” I whispered. “Youth Gone Wild needs you.”

“You don’t need anyone anymore. You just need to enjoy the ride now.”

The thought of losing her, of her being on the road with another band… shit… it fucked me up. My chest tightened and panic set in. My baby. Where would my baby be? Who would take care of them both if I wasn’t around?

Apparently, I didn’t keep those questions inside my head. I blurted them out for Julia to hear.

“I’m not leaving you,” she assured me, nestling in by my side and forcing me to lie back down. “I’ll stay with you guys on the road, but I’ll work for them. I’ve got a new girl coming in to take over my position, but I’ll be there to oversee what she does and advise along the way. I can work for FRF while being away from them. Yeah, I’ll have to fly off around the world occasionally—”

“With my baby.”

“Ourbaby.” She smirked like the words still hadn’t sunk in with either of us. “But I’ll take you with me when I do. On the rare occasions that can’t happen, we’ll make it work.”

I sighed heavily, knowing I couldn’t argue with her for shit on this. Her mind had been made up, and when you fall in love with a strong woman like Jules, you make your bed, and you have to goddamn lie in it.

“We’ll make it work, right, Rhett? That’s what you always promised me.”

“I’ve taught you to be a manipulator all too well,” I grumbled, pushing a hand through my hair and digging my fist in tight with frustration.

“No, Sinatra,” she purred as she leaned in to hover her lips over mine. “I’ve always known how to be that. How do you think I got the hottest rocker on the planet to hand his life over to me?”

When I peeked an eye open in her direction, I saw mischief staring back at me.

“You’re going to regret wanting that for yourself,” I warned. “I can be a living nightmare when I want to be.”

“Regret Rhett? Never.” She kissed me and whispered against my mouth. “I bet on Rhett, remember? I always have, and I always will. You’re stuck with me now. You, me, and this little life we’ve created. Think you can handle it?”

Could I handle it?

Hell, yes, I could.

I wanted it all with her, and as I brought her mouth back to mine and cradled her neck in my hands, brushing my thumbs along her jaw, I poured all the assurances I had for her back into her kiss.

The world had Rhett Ryan, sure.

Julia hadme.

She’d always be the one who got this version.

A little broken. Always ready. Eager to learn and desperate to please.

Youth Gone Wild was my job now. Julia Speed was my passion. And I hoped, with all the happiness straining against my wildly beating heart, that this was my forever. I’d seen everything life had to give, and the woman in my arms was the best of it.

Epilogue

JULIA SPEED

A Few Months Later

“Julia?”

I spun around to see Danny, the guitarist from Front Row Frogs, staring at me with wide eyes and a pale face. He was in his early twenties but looked young for it. Danny was the one from the band who was most unsure of himself, yet bizarrely, he was definitely the most sought after by the fans. I’d been around in this industry long enough to know that his uncertainty came from him not wanting the attention, thanks to a six-year relationship with a girlfriend back in his hometown that had been put on hold, while he focused on his career.

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