Page 58 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“The press can be relentless,” Damon said. He’d joined Levi, Logan, Nick, and Jeremy Davis at the pub. Caitlin, the bartender and owner of the Knot, had made it very clear that no press of any kind was welcome in her establishment, making it a safe place for him to vent with the guys who were quickly becoming closer friends.

A lot of changes in such a short time. All of them welcome. Except the paparazzi. That was one change he could do without. Stephanie had been right about that.

“And Stephanie Starz is a pretty big deal.” It was Jeremy who spoke with a slight shake of his head. He was recently engaged to Bella Burton, Stephanie’s friend and latest costar in the upcoming movie,Bombshell. If anyone could relate to what Travis was going through, it was going to be him. “Bella hasn’t evencome outas a star yet, and they’re already all over her when she’s in the city. And never mind LA.” He shook his head. “I’m trying to prepare for it.”

“But they know you’re together,” Travis pointed out. “You’re engaged. It’s not a secret.”

Levi shot him a look. “Don’t tell me you guys got engaged!”

“We didn’t,” Travis said.

“Oh thank God. Hope would lose it if she didn’t know about it.”

Travis ignored the comment. “That’s not what I’m saying. But they don’t know we’retogether.Steph didn’t want to tell them. She wanted to play it off like we’re friends and I’m the —”

“Craftsman who did the work on her place,” Nick finished for him with a shrug. “I heard.” He gave Travis a sympathetic look and picked up his own beer. “She wants to keep it quiet as long as possible, even though that’s going to actually beimpossible.”

“You think so?”

Almost every man at the table laughed, but it was Nick who looked him straight in the eye and nodded once. “Yes,” he said simply. “But I know what she’s trying to do.”

Travis tipped his head in question.

“She’s trying to control the narrative,” he said simply. “And I’m sure she’s a little gun-shy.”

“Gun-shy?”

Nick looked to Jeremy, who pressed his lips together and shrugged.

Travis looked between the men, and his gaze landed on Jeremy. “What?”

“Well, it’s just that from what I know of Stephanie, she hasn’t had the best luck with men.”

“I know that. I’m different.”

Jeremy chuckled. “Youaredifferent. But maybe that’s part of the problem. You have no idea what it’s going to be like in the spotlight, and she does. She’s probably a little worried about how you’ll handle it. I struggled with it with Bella, and like I said, she hasn’t even hit her full stardom yet.”

“And let’s face it,” Logan said. “You two kind of took a little bit to realize your feelings for each other. Maybe she’s not sure yet if you—”

“No.” Travis interrupted him. Logan didn’t know. None of them did.

He was quickly getting frustrated. These guys all had their hearts in the right place, but they didn’t know how it was between them. They didn’t know how he felt inside and how everything had clicked in him. She was his missing piece. The foundation to his house. The fact that she wanted him to hide it…well, it was bullshit. He didn’t know much about this relationship stuff—that much was true. But he knew how he felt. And how now that he knew exactly how he felt about Stephanie, the last thing he wanted was to deny it, hide it, or pretend it was anything other than what it was.Love.

He was in love with Stephanie Starz. And he wanted the world to know.

Was sheprotectinghim, the way the guys thought? Or was it something else? Was she protecting herself? Did she doubt his feelings? He wouldn’t be able to blame her if she did.

And then it hit him.

“This is the black moment,” he said to no one in particular.

“The what?”

“Black moment?”

The men looked at one another in question.

“The black moment,” Travis said again. “Stephanie was telling me that all movies, especially romance movies, have the black moment where the story goes dark. All is lost. They can’t be together. I promised her we wouldn’t have one. That was fiction and we’re reality. But…this…”

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