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“He fired her?”
“I guess? Or at least she isn’t working for you anymore. Her boss hadn’t heard from her either. Maybe she went home? Probably trying to lay low after what she said to the paparazzi.”
“She talked to them?”
Morgan blinked at him. “You haven’t seen it?”
Sterling shook his head. “I’ve been ignoring everything since I left. The last time I looked at anything was a few hours ago.”
“Right. They probably aired it while you were flying. You should watch. Sit down. I’ll pull it up on my tablet.”
Sterling ran his hands through his hair, raking his fingernails over his scalp, trying to take all of this in. Reese had left this morning—why? Because she was worried about her job? Because she was upset with him? She had sent that message about praying and then nothing else. No one had heard from her, which made a queasy worry move through him.
“Here it is,” Morgan said, sitting down beside him. Her hair brushed his arm and all Sterling could think about was the day before, how he had been able to finally touch Reese’s silky hair. The sense of loss shocked him.
When the clip was over, Sterling sat stock-still, his palms on his knees. “I don’t understand.”
Morgan gave him a sad smile. “It’s genius, really. She came out looking like the bad guy, you look like an amazing guy, and she gave a call-to-action for your fans to support you and even kind of a nod to the labels to pay attention to your new music.”
Sterling could see it all, then, and it made a feeling of love and gratitude bloom in his chest. “I have to talk to her.”
“What exactly happened in L.A.?” Morgan asked. “Also, I guess we are officially not fake-together. It was nice not-actually-dating you.”
Sterling choked out a laugh, but all he could think about was Reese. Where was she? Why had she done this for him when he had been so horrible to her?
“What if she’s not okay? I mean, her phone’s been off all day. She didn’t call you, she hasn’t talked to her boss, and she didn’t take my calls. What if something happened to her?”
“Sterling, I think this seems like a goodbye.” She put a hand on his arm.
But all Sterling could see was Reese’s reaction when they asked her if she really had feelings for him. He could see it in her face. It was the only time in the interview that she was out of control. She did have feelings for him. He had hurt her, but if she was upset, she wouldn’t have taken the fall for him. He had to talk to her. Standing, he went through the bunk room and back to the lounge, where Moby was hanging out with Chuck and David.
“Moby, I need a favor.”
“Anything, boss,” Moby said.
“Can you call Staci and just make sure Reese is okay? I can’t reach her and no one else has been able to either. Not even her boss.”
Moby hesitated, then leaned forward and picked up his phone. Sterling had seen him video-chatting with Staci most of the time, but today he just called. David and Chuck disappeared back into the bunk room. Obviously, everyone knew what was going on. That was one of the things he hated most about his job. When he did become the center of the public eye, it was like everyone knew his business.
“Hey, baby,” he said, smiling. “I’ve got a very worried rock star diva over here who wants me to check on your girl Reese.”
Sterling could only hear Moby’s side of the conversation and the sound of a woman’s voice in the spaces between. He felt like his nerves were going to burn through his skin. Moby chuckled. “Yeah, baby. I know.” His eyes flicked up to Sterling. “You too. Bye, baby.”
Fists clenched to his thighs, Sterling stared at Moby as he set the phone down. “Well?”
“Reese is back in Nashville. She flew back after everything blew up. Staci said she’s cool but taking a few days off from everything.”
“What does that mean? Everything? Like, work stuff or she doesn’t want to talk to me?”
Moby gave him a half smile. “Staci said she probably needed some space.”
Sterling nodded and went back to his room without saying another word. Thankfully Morgan was gone. He didn’t think that he could talk to anyone else. The emotional tempest of the last two days was swirling around him and he was exhausted. He had a show tomorrow night and needed to get his head straight.
Space. That was the kind of thing people said when they were breaking up. Another kind of it’s-not-you-it’s-me kind of explanation.
He knew he hadn’t imagined the way Reese felt about him. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to know her. Being without her today felt like someone had ripped off his arm and now he was just supposed to act like a fully-functioning human. He didn’t know if he could pretend that well.
Even if he had only known her for a short time, even if their official “relationship” had lasted all of twenty-four hours, Sterling knew that this was different. He would not be getting over Reese anytime soon. The last thing he wanted was space. Not an hour away, not even an inch.
