Page 260 of Fame & Chaos

This time I stay.

No more running.

No more taking flight.

No more convincing myself that life is easier without him when every moment apart has proved exactly the opposite.

Loving Caleb isn’t always easy.

But losing him… that’s unbearable.

They say, ‘Third time’s a charm.’

I hope they’re right because this is it.

No more chances.

No more goodbyes.

No matter how difficult this road becomes, I’m staying beside him.

Through the headlines.

The paparazzi.

The groupies.

The fans.

Whatever comes next, I’m all in.

Caleb

One and a Half Years Later

Indi and I have been back together for almost eighteen months, and keeping our relationship a secret has been harder than I ever imagined.

She’s determined to protect her anonymity, refusing to let anyone know we’re together, and while I understand why, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get to me sometimes. I respect her enough to honor what she’s asking, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing I could tell the people I love that the woman I love has finally come home.

Aston is the only person who knows.

He’s also the only person I can talk to about her.

Not that he’s had much headspace lately.

Colt’s fiftieth birthday party turned into an absolute disaster. Annie finally realized Aston and Amber were together, and seeing them as a couple sent her into a tailspin. She admitted she still loved him, leaving Aston caught between the woman he’d never stopped loving and the woman he’d been trying so hard to move on with.

I told him the truth. If his heart still belonged to Annie, it wasn’t fair to keep Amber hanging on just because he was afraid of being alone. It would’ve been no different from what Indi had done with Mick, and he knew I was right.

The last time I spoke to him, he’d ended things with Amber.

After Annie disappeared from the party, I spent the rest of the night thinking about how lucky I was. As frustrating as keeping Indi a secret could be, at least she was lying beside me when I went home, and that was enough.

I climbed into bed beside her, wrapped her in my arms, and spent the entire night reminding her just how much I loved her.

I even asked her to marry me again.

She laughed.