Page 76 of She's the Star

“Are you having threesomes?”

Is he kidding? “What? No.” Is it possible to use that word more frequently in a single conversation?

“What’s wrong with threesomes?” he asks.

“Nothing.” I groan. “Please stop.”

He chuckles. “Sorry. I was trying to distract you.”

“Consider me distracted. But no more sex talk. Please.”

“Fine. Fine. I thought maybe I could come to one of Amber’s shows this weekend or next.”

“I appreciate the offer, but we need less media coverage. Not more. You don’t know how to blend in.”

“My presence would divert some of the attention away from you.”

“Don’t you dare do something to divert attention. I already told you no,” I scold him. It’s the only option left. He needs clear boundaries, or he’ll ignore me completely.

“Fine.” He could not sound more disappointed. “What about one of your brothers? Maybe Nicky?”

“What about him?”

“Would it be okay if he visited?”

“He’s busy with work.” We’ve both been so busy that we’ve hardly spoken lately.

“If you asked him, I bet he would make time.” He pauses. “Listen, I know you’re fine and I promise this is the last thing I’m going to say about this.” I brace myself, but he surprises me. “You’re surrounded by people who are there for Amber. They’ll listen to her, and they’ll protect her, but that doesn’t mean they’ll protect you. Pay attention, okay? And trust your instincts. Don’t let anyone convince you to do anything you don’t want to.”

He always hits me with concern when I least expect it. “I will.”

“I’m proud of you.”

I might be an adult but hearing him say that never gets old. “Thanks, Dad. Love you.”

I click off after he says it back and toss my phone on the sofa.

Amber raises her eyebrows expectantly, so I try to make a joke. “I think I convinced him that kidnapping is out.”

She doesn’t laugh, just searches my face and then leans forward and brushes her lips against mine. “Do you think he’d actually do it?”

I grimace. “Probably, but not without my blessing.”

“That’d be a nightmare.” Her hands tighten on my shoulders. “And not helpful.”

She’s worried. Not that I blame her. “He isn’t going to kidnap Teddy. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay. He must be really worried about the fallout from the interview.” She pauses. “Is it that bad?”

“He tends to be dramatic so it’s probably not as dire as he makes it out to be. Do you want to check in with Brian?”

She considers it for a second. “No. He’ll contact me if he needs something.” She presses her lips together. “I can get a bit obsessive about what is being said about me. There are plenty of people who think my music is trash and that I’m fake. It’s easy to get sucked into.”

She’s quite good at keeping it under control because I’ve never witnessed her obsessing about it. “That’s why you hire people to handle it for you. Right?”

“Partly. I’d need a team regardless, but I also have them curate what I see.”

I smile and pull her into my chest. “That’s smart. I’m sorry if his call stressed you out. He wants to help, but his way of handling gossip is to feed it or deflect it. He doesn’t understand that I don’t want to do either.”

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