Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“I can help,” he says. “They’re easy to set up these days. Way easier than when I was twelve. And you have a massive social media following. If we can get even half of them to sign up, you’ll have a direct line to your most engaged fans and be able to drive streaming and download traffic on your own.”
I nibble my bottom lip. “But I’ve been terrible about keeping up with social media lately. I’ve barely posted anything since the band broke up. I went hard for the first solo track, but then…” I sigh. “Well, then, I saw how many people were sticking up for Kai in the comments. It wasn’t a ton, but it still made me so sad. So, I slunk away to hide and pretend the internet doesn’t exist.”
Archer frowns. “Seriously? What’s wrong with people? He’s a criminal. The news coverage made that clear.”
“People don’t care about news coverage. Or facts.” I shrug. “And his lawyer got him a plea deal, so he’s not a criminal. Not technically, anyway.”
“He should be,” Blue says, his voice cold. “But fuck him and them. Those people don’t deserve your new music. You’ll move on with the people who do and block the assholes. I’ll block them for you. You can put me in charge of keeping order in the comments so you can concentrate on what’s important.”
My throat tightens, and the back of my eyes start to sting again.
This man. He’s so good to me. So kind and gentle and real. So obviously the man I should hold on tight to and never let go. Only an idiot would keep fighting this, and I’m not an idiot.
But there’s one important thing we need to clear up before we take a single step down this road…
“Because you want to protect me,” I murmur.
He nods. “Yes.”
“Good. I like it when you want to protect me from the internet. A lot more than when you try to protect me from you. Don’t do that again, okay?”
His brow furrows. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good,” I whisper. “But I think I understand why you did. I didn’t before. I couldn’t believe a man like you seriously thought he wouldn’t be a good influence on a child. I thought you were just making excuses to push me away, but now…” I lean in. “That commune…it wasn’t a good place, was it?”
After a beat of hesitation, he shakes his head.
“So, it’s not just that you had a falling out with your dad. It’s that you were raised in a creepy cult by a bunch of jerks who hurt you and made you think you might not know how to be a good father. Is that it?” My throat tightens as he nods again, an even smaller, tighter nod. The confirmation breaks my heart, making my voice tremble as I ask, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried in the texts I sent, I just…” He shakes his head. “I didn’t want to make it about me.”
“It’s okay to make it about you, Archer. Sometimes it should be about you. Sometimes it has to be, so I can understand how to give you what you need.” I pull in a breath, tears filling my eyes as I add, “Love isn’t a one-way street, you know. And I’m a giver, too. Not just a taker.”
His expression lifts, hope creeping in to soften every muscle. “Yeah?”
I nod, still fighting tears. “Yeah. I love you, dummy. I have for a long time.”
“I’ve loved you since that night at karaoke,” he says, making my heart ache in the best way. “I didn’t think love could happen that fast, but then…there you were. The most amazing person I’d ever met. I’m sorry I fought it for so long. I still had work to do, and I just… I thought you deserved better. That you deserved a man who was normal and knew how to be in a healthy relationship.”
I exhale a rush of breath as I roll my eyes. “Like, I know how to do that? I mean, seriously. The only man I’ve ever loved was a sociopath. I have no idea how to do this. I’ll probably make tons of mistakes.”
He reaches under the table, hooking his hands around the back of my knees. “Then, we’ll make mistakes together. I’d rather make mistakes with you than do anything with anyone else.”
I laugh, even as I begin to tingle, keenly aware of his fingertips pressing into the sensitive skin at the top of my calves. “Anything?”
“Anything.”
“Even go to Disneyland?”
He arches a brow. “Do I seem like a man who would enjoy Disneyland?”
I laugh again as I shake my head. “No, you’d hate it. You’d rather be on a trail in the mountains, nothing but you and the sky, and nobody else around.”
“Nobody but you,” he whispers.