Page 85 of Saving the Rockstar

I felt Jared's hand tighten in mine, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in a silent, reassuring caress. I leaned into him, my heart so full it ached.

As we approached the table, Mason and Dylan looked up, their faces breaking into matching grins.

"Well, well, well," Mason drawled, leaning back in his seat. "If it isn't the lovebirds themselves. Decided to grace us with your presence, did you?"

Jared chuckled, pulling out my chair with a flourish. "As if we'd miss the chance to watch you two make heart eyes at each other all night. It's better than cable."

Dylan stuck out his tongue, but he was smiling, his eyes soft as they landed on Mason. "You're just jealous of our epic love story."

Mason raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching. "Epic, huh? That's a big word for you. Been reading the dictionary again?"

Dylan kicked him under the table, but he was laughing, the sound bright and joyful. "Asshole," he said, the word laced with fondness. "See if I share my dessert with you now."

Mason clutched his chest, feigning a mortal wound. "You wouldn't dare. Not after I let you steal all my fries at lunch."

"Let me?" Dylan scoffed, tossing his head. "Please. You practically shoved them at me, once you saw how much I was enjoying them."

Mason's expression softened, his eyes going warm and liquid. "I like seeing you enjoy things," he said quietly, reaching across the table to tangle their fingers together. "I like making you happy."

Dylan's breath hitched, his cheeks flushing a delicate pink. "Mase," he whispered.

I felt like I was intruding on a moment, something private and precious. I glanced at Jared, saw the same soft, wondering look on his face.

This was still so new for them, this openness, this vulnerability. For so long, they had danced around their feelings, hiding behind banter and bravado. But now, with the truth laid bare between them, it was like watching a flower bloom, petals unfurling to reveal the beauty within.

As the waiter came to take our orders, the conversation turned to lighter topics - the tour, the music, the crazy whirlwind of our lives. But through it all, I couldn't take my eyes off Jared,off the way the candlelight played across his features, softening the sharp angles of his cheekbones, the strong line of his jaw.

He was so beautiful, inside and out. Sometimes, it still didn't feel real. Like I would wake up one day and find out it had all been a dream, a cruel trick of my own desperate imagination.

But then Jared would look at me, his eyes warm and soft and so full of love. And I would know, with a certainty that went bone-deep, that this was real. That we were real.

As the evening wore on, the conversation turned to the future, to the plans we were making, the dreams we were chasing. Jared spoke of wanting to continue on as my bodyguard, of being by my side for the rest of the tour.

Mason, to everyone's surprise, announced his intention to step down as head of security, to take on a new role as tour manager. He wanted to be closer to Dylan, he said, to build a life, a future, that was all their own.

Dylan's eyes went wide, his mouth falling open in a silent gasp. For a moment, he just stared at Mason, his expression a mix of shock and awe.

Then, with a whoop of joy, he launched himself across the table, catching Mason's face between his hands and kissing him soundly, right there in the middle of the restaurant.

When they finally surfaced for air, both of them flushed and grinning like idiots, Dylan turned to me, his eyes bright with excitement.

"Ash!" he exclaimed, bouncing in his seat like an overeager puppy. "We have to start planning the next album. The songs we're going to write, the sound we're going to craft. It's going to be epic, man. Epic."

I laughed. "It will be, Dyl. But maybe we should focus on finishing this tour first, yeah?"

He waved a dismissive hand, already lost in visions of grandeur. "We can multitask, Ash. We're rock stars, after all."

Jared chuckled, shaking his head. "More like lovesick fools, the both of you. Those songs are going to be nothing but sappy love ballads about me and Mason, mark my words."

I gasped, pressing a hand to my chest in mock affront. "Sappy? Excuse you, I'll have you know that my love for you is a thing of poetry, of art. It deserves to be immortalized in song."

Jared grinned, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "Is that so? Well then, by all means, immortalize away. But don't come crying to me when the critics pan your album asnauseatingly saccharineandan ode to codependency."

I kicked him under the table, but I was laughing, my heart so light it felt like it might float right out of my chest. "Codependency? Please. More like a celebration of the greatest love story ever told."

"I thought that was ours," Dylan piped up, pouting at Mason. "The bodyguard and the rock star, remember? Star-crossed lovers, defying the odds?"

Mason rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, his hand coming up to ruffle Dylan's hair. "Of course it is, Dyl. The greatest love story of all time, no contest."

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