Page 17 of The Music of Love

“Staging, lying.” I shrug. “What’s the difference?”

“There’s a difference,” Josh chimes in.

“Not to me,” I reply. “And not to the girl I’m actually falling in love with.”

Kathleen lets out a blood-curdling cackle that sounds like a wicked witch from the depths of a dark forest. It makes my skin crawl. “Falling in love with?” she repeats as if she just heard the most insane thing of her life.

I, on the other hand, simply stare back at her, letting her know I’m serious. “Yeah, you heard me.”

Even Josh, who is normally a lot less invested in things like this, looks like he’s trying not to laugh. Maybe it does seem a little wild to the two of them, but I know how I feel about Reese, and nothing is going to change that.

“Okay, this is ridiculous,” she says, throwing her hands up. “Did I just step into a Hollywood rom-com or something?”

“Look, we’ve got to get out of here and back to Los Angeles,” Josh says. “The jet’s all ready to go–”

“Call it what you want.” I shrug. “But the Jenni Hinderman thing is off the table, and I’m not heading back to Los Angeles today either. You two can feel free to go, but I’ll be sticking around for a while.”

“Wait?” Kathleen replies. “For how long?”

I turn and look at her. “A while.”

12

Reese

I’m sitting nextto Sarah on the couch while she watches some thriller about a guy super-agent that I’m barely even paying attention to. All I know is he’s doing his best to save the country from a toxin. Or is it a bomb threat? I honestly couldn’t say. I’m so preoccupied thinking about Cal that the only way I could pay attention to this show right now is if someone put a gun to my head.

I’ve been lounging around the apartment all day like a slug, replaying last night’s events over and over in my mind, wishing I had actual physical copies of everything that went down. But I was so wrapped up in what was going on that all I have is a twenty-second clip of the show that I recorded from backstage and that’s it.

If only I had recorded what we did on the couch…

“Oh my God, I love this actor,” Sarah says, stuffing her mouth with more hot chips before offering some to me. I take one. She gives me a funny look. “What, that’s it?”

“I can’t handle all the spiciness you’re into.”

“Unless it’s the spiciness of a certain guy?” she replies with a sly wink. I let out a deep sigh and nod as all of my feelings come rising up like a warm wave.

“Oh, I can’t handle him either.” I grin, feeling suddenly giddy.

“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Sarah smiles. “Here I was thinking you were going to be single forever. And who do you end up dating? The world’s most famous rockstar. Ridiculous!”

“Yeah, well you never know how life’s gonna go–”

My phone buzzes beside me. I pick it up and gasp when I see a message from Cal.

I’m outside, let me in.

Panic grips my chest, and I quickly turn to Sarah, who can tell instantly that something’s up. “What?”

“He’s here!”

“Who’s here?” she asks.

“Cal!” I rocket to my feet. Oh, God, this is bad. I’m wearing shorts and an oversized T-shirt. I haven’t showered, my hair’s a mess, and I have absolutely no makeup on. “I can’t let him see me like this! Keep him busy!”

I rush to the bathroom and hear Sarah shouting at me, “Keep him busy?!”

I’m turning the shower on when I hear the door to the apartment open and Cal’s deep voice. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but I can hear him and Sarah conversing as I practically hurl myself into the water and take the fastest shower I’ve ever taken in my life. I blow dry my hair as best I can and am just reaching for my makeup when the bathroom door opens and Cal walks in.

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