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“What was he like growing up? I know you said he was always an introvert. Was he always broody?”
Morgan laughed. “A little bit. I mean, honestly, there have always been two sides to him. He was a bit angsty. Especially after his dad left. I think that’s where all the music comes from—all that pain. But he also was a ton of fun. Nobody could make me laugh like he did.”
Reese tried to reconcile this idea with the guy she had met and with what she knew of him publicly. It was hard to imagine. That was the second time that Morgan had mentioned his dad. Reese’s parents were still married and were overall great people, but Reese always felt like she was living under the shadow of her older, beauty-queen sister. Her parents tried to keep things even, but it felt like everything revolved around Rachel. Always. If that had an impact on Reese, Sterling having his alcoholic dad leave had to be incredibly traumatic.
“How did he make you laugh?” Reese asked. “I mean, are we talking good sense of humor, class clown type stuff, practical jokes?”
“He’s witty. And he could also be really goofy. I miss that side a lot. I’m not sure if he matured out of it or if he’s sort of settled into what people expect him to be. I’m looking forward to getting to know him again, you know? It’s been years.”
“You guys didn’t stay close?”
“He got signed our junior year and we didn’t always do so well keeping in touch after he left for Nashville. He hardly came home. I started working with bands in Los Angeles. Grunt work at first, then worked my way up to managing. He and I had similar lifestyles, but in different places. It’s easy to let things fall away.”
Reese smiled. “He’s lucky to have you. I’m sure it’s refreshing to have someone you know you can trust.”
Morgan gave her a smile as she tied her hair into a messy knot on top of her head. “Not to be cheesy, but I’m glad to have you. There’s enough testosterone on the bus already and you seem like someone trustworthy as well.”
“Try to convince Sterling of that, will you?”
Laughing, Morgan looped her arm through Reese’s. “I’ll make it my personal mission. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Can I help now? What do you need as far as setting up whatever you need to do? I don’t really engage a lot on social, so that’s not my area of expertise.”
“I’ve done a preliminary sort of audit on his social accounts, just looking at what’s working and what’s not working. I need to sit down with him and go over questions that will help me tailor a strategy for him.”
“We should probably do it soon, right? That way he can post while we’re on tour. Or you can post for him.”
“Yep. The sooner the better.”
“I’ll tell him. Maybe we can do it once we’re on the road. Don’t look so nervous.”
“Sorry. I’ll calm down. We just had such a bad first meeting. I feel the need to prove myself. I’m usually pretty confident. I like to be the best at what I do. It was hard to start out with him thinking of me as some kind of raving weirdo fan.”
“Want my advice? Pretend like the first meeting never happened. He’s just another client. You’ll be amazing.”
They caught up to Moby and Sterling at the crosswalk. Reese knew that Morgan was right. She had to stop thinking about the fact that she made an idiot of herself the week before. But it wasn’t just the bad first impression she had to get over. It was the feelings she wished that she didn’t have and the hurt she still carried from him saying that she wasn’t his type. That should help, honestly, since he was being clear about his lack of interest. Maybe once she got over the hurt, it would help. Her feelings would die off, killed by the moody rock star who clearly didn’t like her.
Plus, her feelings so far were all physical. She wanted something more: a man of character. One that she could trust. A man who would go to church with her and pray with her. Sterling would probably be horrified to realize that she was still a virgin. Good thing they weren’t going to ever have reason to talk about things that personally.
Twenty minutes later they were back on the tour bus. Sterling stomped to his room and came back, handing Moby a hundred-dollar bill. “I don’t have change,” Sterling said, practically growling.
Reese found herself giggling, maybe because of the look of pure joy on Moby’s face. “I think we need more betting on this bus,” he said. “Yep, definitely more betting.”
“What happened?” Chuck asked.
“A mom asked Sterling to sign her arm,” Moby said. Chuck and David chuckled and Sterling rolled his eyes.
“At least it was just her arm,” Morgan teased. Sterling looked like he wanted to murder someone. “Betting on tour is fine, but keep practical jokes to a minimum. Especially on the bus,” Morgan said, passing out sandwiches to Chuck and David. “Too easy to get out of hand.”
Sterling grunted and flopped down in the seat next to Moby and the other guys. Even though he still looked moody, she caught a quick smile when he didn’t realize anyone was looking. The tension in his shoulders had evaporated, even if just a little. Morgan and Reese sat under the TV across from the guys.
“Sterling,” Morgan said in a sing-song-y voice. “Don’t be a sore loser.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m plotting my revenge.”
Everyone laughed and Sterling flashed a grin at Morgan, the first genuine one that Reese had seen. The way it transformed his whole face and lit up his eyes sent her heart careening. She forced her gaze down to her sandwich. The only thing that steadied her was the fact that he had been smiling at Morgan. If he ever looked at Reese with that kind of smile, she would be past the point of no return. She would be stick-a-fork-in-me done.
