Page 53 of To Believe In You
The press, waiting beyond a cordon on the other side of the lane, called his name.
Unable to hide, he gave them a wave as he climbed in Lina’s passenger seat. From there, he watched in the mirror as a valet jogged back to his eyesore of a car to return it to the lot. At least the media wouldn’t have footage of him, beaten up and skulking off in that monstrosity.
Already, this would result in enough headlines.
Matt had no sooner pointed her in the direction of his parents’ house than his phone rang. Tim. Foreboding settled over him as he answered.
“You couldn’t behave for one night?”
Shame mixed with his sense of justice. “He started it.”
At the lame stab at humor, Lina’s lips quirked.
“That is not the rumor.”
“But itisthe truth.”
Tim’s grunt meant he thought the truth irrelevant. “The worst thing you could’ve done is get yourself thrown out of this wedding. You should’ve seen Gannon’s face when they told him. Songwriting, Awestruck—you can forget all of that now.”
He’d done the right thing, defending Lina. But the fight might’ve served as the flamethrower he’d told Russ it’d take to burn a bridge with Gannon. His cavalier wave as he got in the car had probably been a mistake too.
Lina slowed at a major intersection, though the light was green, a question in her eyes. About the directions or the phone call?
He waved her to continue driving. “I’ll talk to him.”
“What good will that do? They’re talking to Wes Kane right now.”
Wes Kane, another bass guitarist. One who might be unhappy in his current role in a pop star’s support band. Whatever Gannon wanted with Wes, Matt couldn’t do anything about it now.
“We’ll talk Monday.” He disconnected before Tim could argue.
Lina cast him another look.
“Tim being Tim.” He rubbed the phone screen on his thigh, but wiping off the screen couldn’t undo the call, the worry.
Just when he’d wanted Awestruck, he’d gone and blown it. Matt hadn’t thrown the first punch or caused the first injury, but he had been the first to make contact by pushing away Shane’s hand. Had there been a more peaceful way to get him to release Lina?
Maybe.
But what was done was done. He was here with Lina now, and given what he’d sacrificed for this, he was absolutely going to enjoy it.
15
“Have you ever been in love?” Lina’s question sounded incredibly personal now that it floated in the car. Still, Matt had learned so much about her tonight. She longed to even out the playing field by learning something about him.
Or perhaps she only wanted company in having a painful breakup.
For a few seconds, nothing but the sound of the tires on the road answered.
“You remember Nadia?”
A breath slipped past her lips. Matt had dated Nadia for a few months, way back at the beginning of Lina’s time with Awestruck. He hadn’t yet started partying heavily, though he and Nadia were often photographed coming and going from clubs. “I don’t remember how it ended.”
“She bailed without a trace a few months in. It wasn’t love. That’s as close as I got.”
That last part could also be said of her and Shane. Or maybe it had been love—the one-sided kind.
“For a while with Shane, things were really good.” Lina kept her gaze locked on the road. “He blindsided me by emptying our account. Seeing him tonight flooded me with a mix of good and bad memories. I wanted to know if he’d changed for the better. I should’ve kicked him out instead. I wish I had.”
