Page 132 of Pretty Obsessed

"We pay attention to what interests us," he said.

I noticed his word choice had changed from yesterday.

It wasn't 'love' anymore. I wanted to ask if it was pointed.

"Why aren't you telling him?"

"I don't think I should. I think it will ruin his mood and kill the writing, which wouldn't be bad considering. But I haven't seen him this happy in months. He has such a light. He was sitting in other sessions last night. He'd just gotten back when I walked out last night, and I cannot describe how happy he was. It breaks my heart to think of squashing all that for him. Is that terrible of me? To keep it from him?" Guilt coiled in my stomach.

"No, I don't think it's horrible. You're struggling because you don't know for sure that's what they are doing. You think, and to ruin his happiness over an assumption is hard."

"Maybe I'll tell him tonight. Or tomorrow. I don't know if we'll finish the song. We have to be back on tour. Then if I tell him, he will have time to cool off and think about it rationally before we're back in the studio. They'll probably book studio time on our days off… Oh no." I sighed, realizing what that meant for Emory and me.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"It's your job," he said reluctantly.

"And it's yours." I hated this. I hated feeling like we couldn't go back to what we were without another talk, and not one over the phone. We needed to be face-to-face. He needed to see my actions. "We'll figure it out. I'll look at my schedule when we wrap here."

"They’re boarding. I have to go."

"Call me when you land?" I asked, hoping it wasn't an imposition.

"Of course."

My mood sunk, which in any other place would have been bad but because of what Iris brought to the studio, my sad contribution worked well.

We wrapped for the night and Iris put his arm around me. "Come out with me for one drink. We need to celebrate that. It felt like we were on the same wavelength. Call Emory, we'll get you two cheered up!"

I didn't want to deny the smile on his face. "Sure, I'll go with you."

"Emory?" he prompted.

"He's gone."

Iris stopped in his tracks. "He left because of the fight?"

"No, work. He had a thing come up. I don't blame him, but now I don't know when I'm going to see him again."

"Change of plans, guys. We are getting on a plane tonight not tomorrow,” Alexander said over everyone talking.

Iris and I exchanged a look.

"Why?" I asked, when no one else did.

"Because we have some interviews we added last minute and we want to give you guys enough time to get back on their time before we jump into a week of shows. We have a packed schedule. It just makes more sense, especially if we are going to try and get more studio time to finish this song." Alexander looked between us, gauging our reactions.

There was some murmuring but no objections.

"Cool. Go back to the hotel and pack your stuff."

Iris stopped me before we could climb into the SUV with the rest of the guys. "It's only fifteen blocks. Walk with me?"

I glanced at the guys and back to him. "We're gonna walk."

We didn't give them a chance to object. In silent agreement, we began to walk.

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