She gripped his hands. “I love you, too.”
Cupping her face, he stared deeply into her eyes. “I have ever since...I don’t know, I’ve loved you so long. I knew it, knew it so bad, so sharply when you said you met somebody else on a date. It was agony. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
She wrapped her arms around him tightly and pulled him in a big, glorious hug. They’d reached the ‘I love you’ milestone. Britt’s heart pounded like a drum. She was sure she loved him too. “We need to work on your sweet nothings. Telling a naked woman she’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you...” Britt teased as he pulled her along to the bedroom.
“You know what I mean. I didn’t know anything could hurt that bad, scare me that bad. The first thing I did was get so drunk. Then I wrote four songs and I went out with the guys in the band and they dumped me at my place before midnight because they were sick of hearing about how brokenhearted I was.”
“You were having a pretty good time the night I came to your place to beg you to take me back.”
“Is that why you were there? I wondered because you ran off so fast, like you were panicked or something.”
“I saw the girl on your couch.”
“What girl?”
“Blond, messy bun, barefoot, playing on her phone, like she lived there.”
“You mean Chloe. Dave’s wife. She comes to all our practices because Dave...well, Dave is an excellent bass player who does not excel at monogamy.”
“Wait, is there another guy in your band who would’ve been leaving as I came in? He was with his wife and I remember him saying it wasn’t his fault Dave was an asshole.”
“Clint, the drummer. And his girlfriend, Maddie. She hates Dave. She and Chloe are good friends and, in fact, Chloe stayed with them the last time Dave went off the rails and did some girl from Hooters.”
“Hooters? Like a waitress?”
“No. Hostess. Dave said she wasn’t smart enough to be a Hooters waitress.”
“Wow. Dave sounds like an asshole.”
“He’s a good bass player. His wife, I think, is sticking around to see if we hit the big time so she can leave him and take all his money, which isn’t a bad plan.”
“So she’s smarter than the Hooters hostess?”
“Easily.”
“These are your friends?”
“Yeah. But he’s not my role model don’t worry.”
“So what’s the deal with this new recording contract?”
“It’s going to be amazing. Two albums and a tour. Not just the tri-state area, either. We’re doing cross country and in
to Canada!”
“That is the most excited I have ever seen anyone get about Canada. Is it the moose?”
“Yes, moose are my favorite.”
“I’ve never seen one in real life. Just on, you know, Bullwinkle and stuff.”
“Then you’ll have to be my groupie and come to Vancouver with me.”
“Really? Can I ride the bus?”
“Definitely. Keep my bunk warm.”
“I want to be the girl you kiss on stage.”