Page 55 of Fourth and Long

“You look nervous,” I say when she gets off the phone.

“Thanks for the compliment.” She starts tapping her foot. “You look classy.”

“I better.” I tug on the pencil tie she insisted was perfect for the dark blue suit she steered me into choosing. Ties make me feel like I’m suffocating, and I’m already wondering how long it’ll be before I can ditch it.

She squirms in her seat as the limo makes slow progress toward the arena. Patience is not one of her strengths, and she’s already keyed up.

“This is taking forever. Distract me,” she says as we stop yet again.

“I thought you were the entertainment,” I joke.

“Funny.” She peers through the darkened window. “Tell me about Ellie. The girl who isn’t your girlfriend.”

My lips snap closed. Ellie has been invading my mind for days. The urge to call her has not faded. I don’t know when or if I’ll see her again, and it’s driving me crazy. “There’s nothing to tell. She loves you, so I brought her to the show.”

“You like her. She seems sweet and normal. You should go for it.”

I refuse to think about how nice it would be to have Ellie in my bed again.

And no matter how long it’s been since we dated, it feels odd having Amber weigh in on my love life. “In that case, I’ll marry her tomorrow,” I joke dryly.

“Shit.” Amber presses her nose against the glass. “Teddy just got out of one of the cars ahead of us.” She lightly bangs her forehead against the window. “Why can’t I figure out how to be friends with him?”

“Umm—”

She holds up a hand. “That was a rhetorical question.” She pulls out her phone. “Brian,” she barks into it. “Guess who just got out of the limo in front of me.” She listens with narrowed eyes. She hangs up and bites her lip. “I need you to stay close when we’re outside.”

“That was my plan. What’s going on?” I’ve never seen her so agitated, and I’ve seen her at some of her lowest moments.

She casts another glance out the window and responds without looking at me. “Teddy wants to talk. His people have been trying to get in touch, but Brian has been holding them off.”

“And?” Teddy always wants to talk. For a brief time, they were pop royalty, but now they’re nothing but tabloid headlines.

“He wants us to record more music together.” She swallows. “We were in love when we wrote those songs.”

The whole world knows they were in love and that he wants to record with her again. Just like they know she never sings the songs she wrote with him. I know her well enough to know she’s deflecting, but the door pops open, so I don’t get a chance to question her further.

She slides out of the limo ahead of me. The noise spikes as fans and spectators try to get her attention. She grins, and waves, and gushes—everything you expect a pop star to do. No one would ever guess that she’s nervous to see Teddy. In public, she pretends she’s over him, but I’m not so sure.

We make it less than fifty feet before I spot him. He’s talking to a reporter, but his eyes flick to Amber. I feel her stiffen next to me, but her expression remains unchanged. We slowly make our way along the red carpet, talking to reporters, posing for pictures, and signing autographs. Teddy stays in sight, but he doesn’t approach us.

By the time we make it inside, I’m sweating buckets and Amber is bouncing on her toes.

She’s opening the show, so someone escorts her backstage while someone else escorts me to our seats. I settle in and try to look like I belong. I recognize most of the people around me, but I don’t know them personally. Musicians, like athletes, are temperamental, and I don’t want to mess with their pre-show prep, so I don’t try to start a conversation.

Someone nudges me from behind. I turn and look directly into the pleading eyes of Teddy Lance. He’s wearing a shimmery purple suit decorated with pink swirls. It has lace coming out of the sleeves and popping out of the collar. Every one of his pink fingernails has a ring on it and his hair is artfully windblown. I’d look ridiculous in that outfit, but it looks perfect on him.

I shoot him a look of pure disdain.

“I’m pretty sure that isn’t your seat,” I say. At least, I hope it’s not. Amber will internally lose her shit if she’s sitting in front of Teddy, and I don’t want him to ruin this night for her.

“It isn’t. Amber’s people never let me sit close to her.”

There’s a good reason for that, and he knows it. “I am Amber’s people.”

“I need to talk to her privately.”

I don’t soften, but it’s obvious he thinks he can convince me. Even after all the scandals and bad behavior, he’s used to batting those soulful eyes and getting what he wants. We were friendly when he was with Amber, and honestly, he’s a fun guy to be around, but after what he did to her, I’m not going to help him. “She’s backstage.”

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