Page 81 of She's the Star

Nolan straightens and runs his hand down his face. “The gossip and drama is never going to stop if you keep feeding it.”

“You are mad,” Teddy says.

“I’m not happy.” Nolan shakes his head. “Amber is actively looking for negative press about us. And now you’re inciting a sex scandal. Where does it stop?”

“We…I…” I want to defend myself, or explain, but I had no idea he knew that I’ve been sneaking internet searches about us, and I certainly didn’t expect it to come up now.

His eyes drill into me. “You told me it makes you unhappy to read the headlines. Should I tell you to stop? Should I remind you that I don’t care if strangers don’t vote for me as your perfect match? I’ve never been in this kind of situation before and I’m unsure of how much I should intervene.”

“You saw that poll?” I grimace. Last I checked, Slater was leading. It’s preposterous because we haven’t dated since high school!

“You left it open on your phone last night.” He pauses. “I hate knowing it’s making you upset. And that I don’t know how to make it better.”

“I’m sorry.” I whisper, clinging to Maddy, not even caring that she’s getting me wet. “I wasn’t going to look, but people keep giving me hints. My parents. Your father. I couldn’t resist and then once I did—” I shrug.

Nolan reaches out, pulls us into his chest and repeats, “I don’t know how to make it better.”

“You can’t,” Teddy interjects.

He’s right, but that isn’t helpful. “I thought you don’t want to know what people say?” I ask Nolan.

“It doesn’t matter if I want to know. We can’t avoid it entirely and you care. I’ve been trying to figure out how to help while I’ve been waiting for the gossip to die down.” Nolan glares at Teddy. “Now you’ll have to endure the conversation returning to Teddy’s philandering alongside conversations about whether our relationship will survive.”

Teddy winces. “Sorry about that. I was trying to help.”

Nolan rubs his eyes. “What if we stop hiding? Take the mystery away. Amber. Teddy. Nolan. All together. In public. No drama. No artifice.”

“You don’t want to be in the spotlight,” I remind him.

“I don’t have to be in the spotlight. I simply have to be there. If we’re all together, they’ll stop wondering and speculating. And then you can stop worrying. About me. About us.”

“I’m not worried about us. Not really. I’m worried about the pressure on us. And that the speculation will never stop.”

“Maybe it won’t. But it will slow down eventually. Last night, I found those pictures of you hugging Slater that he was talking about. There was a ton of speculation even after the world found out you were pregnant, and that Teddy was the father. Then Slater started popping up all over the place with a girlfriend, and the speculation slowly died. Other than that stupid poll you’re tracking, you and Slater haven’t been linked romantically for over a year.” He studies my face and sighs. “It’s just an idea.”

“It’s a good idea,” Teddy says. “Although, I’m not sure you should be seen with me after those pictures?”

“It is a good idea,” I agree. “And as much as it pains me to admit it, the pictures can be used to confirm there’s no chance of Teddy and I reconciling.”

Teddy brightens and Nolan nods slowly, so I continue, “If Teddy stays tonight instead of going to Minneapolis, he can go to the show with us tomorrow. We can let everyone see him climb out of the same car as us, and then during the concert, he can join me onstage. We can sing a duet or two about moving on. Or being happier apart. Not our songs. Something else. Something famous. While we’re singing, Nolan can be in the audience, fully visible to the crowd. We’ll give them what they want. The three of us together. No love triangle. No drama. It’s a stunt, but also not.”

The plan is building steam in my head. The prospect of confronting the rumors and speculation directly is almost cathartic. Maddy squirms for me to put her down, completely oblivious to my enthusiasm.

“You’d let me sing with you?” Teddy asks as he barrels forward. He wraps his arms around all of us, blubbering words that I can’t understand. We let him cling to us, and it’s like a burden has been lifted. We’re all suddenly on the same page, ready to face our problems.

Maddy still wants to get down. Apparently she doesn’t like being smashed between three adults. She lets out a wail, and flings her tiny little fists above her head, bashing them into each of us. It doesn’t hurt, but it does cause us to spring apart.

Teddy retreats, sinking onto a lounger, and putting his face in his hands like he’s in shock.

I drop to my haunches and set Maddy down on the ground. She leans forward, lands on her hands, sticks her butt in the air, and starts crawling toward her father.

“Holy shit,” I say with a gasp. “She’s crawling.”

She’s been rocking on her hands and knees all week, but she hasn’t managed forward motion until this very moment. Teddy’s head whips up, and we all watch as she steadily makes her way across the pool deck. She stops, pushes back so she’s sitting on her heels, and claps her hands.

Laughter bubbles out of me. Crazy, almost hysterical laughter.

For some reason, seeing her crawl strengthens my resolve. I want to do it. I want to face the fans and the haters on my own turf in a way that makes it impossible to misconstrue. “You guys in?”

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