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“They are. How’s it going on a more personal level? Is your heart girded?”
Reese made a face. “Uh, I’m working on it.”
“That look tells me that you’re failing.”
Reese dropped her voice. “I like him way too much. I mean, you’ve seen how charismatic he is. And how attractive. But getting to know him, he’s just really great. It’s hard. I can’t like him. Nothing can come of it.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll lose my job for one. I can’t date a client.”
“He won’t always be your client. Sounds like an excuse.”
“It’s just not … realistic. New subject. I don’t want to talk anymore about that.”
Staci nodded. “Noted. How is it being on a bus with a bunch of smelly dudes?”
“Cramped. We’ll be in hotels some nights, so I’m making the most of that. Oh, and there’s another girl here, Morgan. She’s not you, but she’s really great.”
Reese’s words felt flat and she knew that it was because of the fact that she had just seen Morgan in Sterling’s bed. That visual was hard to unsee. No matter how much she wanted to not care or not think of him that way, the immediate gut punch made it hard to deny. She was jealous. Pure, unadulterated jealousy. It was a very ugly emotion and she felt ashamed of feeling it when she had no right to.
“As long as you don’t replace me. Or run off with a rock star and never return,” Staci said.
“Ha ha. Anyway, he lives in Nashville, so if I ran off, it would be like in town.”
“So, you are thinking of running off with him?”
Reese wished that they weren’t face-timing but just talking so that Staci couldn’t see her face. Looking at Staci’s smirk didn’t help.
“Curtain.” Reese moved her open hand in front of her face from her forehead to her neck, mimicking the movement a theater curtain would make. Staci rolled her eyes.
This was their thing. A sort of personal joke that brought a close to any conversation that felt too personal or that they weren’t ready to have yet. They would call curtain, like it was the finale to a performance. The end.
“Fine,” Staci said. “Will you at least text me more? If anything changes, I want to know. Remember the little people. I miss you, girl.”
Reese thought about how much had already changed. Or, at least, shifted. The schoolgirl crush she’d had on Sterling had bloomed into real feelings for him. Her jealousy over Morgan being in his bed told her that. But Reese also felt it in the moments she shared with Sterling, both large and small.
Every time they had a conversation, he peeled back a little more of his layers, letting her know him more. She did the same, trying to remind herself that vulnerability meant strength. She believed that. But it also meant trusting someone. And she didn’t know that she could trust Sterling not to break her heart.
Physically, nothing had happened since the night in Atlanta when he put his foot on hers under the table and they had hugged on the balcony. It had taken Reese hours to fall asleep the night before when she left his room. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way his arms felt, wrapped around her. His scent had gotten caught on her shirt. As she had rolled over in bed, it would rise up to meet her, making her heart thud again and sending her thoughts down a maddening road.
“You’ll never be the little people. And I’ll try to be better about calling or texting. Okay?”
Reese wanted to tell her about the potential trip to California with Sterling. But he hadn’t said anything about it after bringing it up. Maybe he didn’t want her to come. He seemed to appreciate the offer, but that didn’t mean anything. And it would probably be weird to show up to an intervention for his little sister she had never met, right?
After she hung up, Reese curled up onto the couch. She felt like her life was hurtling forward at a speed rivaling the bus. It had to be something about traveling in close quarters with people for an extended period of time.
She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the door closing had her jolting up. Sterling froze just by the door. “Sorry! I didn’t realize you were sleeping.”
“That makes two of us,” Reese said, yawning.
“Can I sit?” Sterling asked.
Reese nodded and shifted so that her legs were pulled closer into her body, giving him room on the small couch. She wondered if Morgan was still sleeping in Sterling’s room. And how far they were from New Orleans. She wanted nothing more than to be off the bus.
“I wanted to ask if you were serious about coming to L.A. with me.” Sterling’s face looked impassive, but Reese could see a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. His fingers had that gray pick out again, flipping over his knuckles.
“I meant it. But you don’t have to take me. No pressure. Especially if you’d rather take someone else.”
