Me: You’re supposed to tell me that before the show, not during.
Nick: So, did you break a leg?
Me: Nope.
Nick: Good girl. Talk to you soon.
I’m about to put my phone away when it vibrates with an incoming text from my boyfriend.
Todd and I have been together for a year. We met on the set of a made-for-TV movie and hit it off right away. He’s a few years older than me and was also a child sitcom star, so he gets where I’m coming from most of the time. He’s about the only thing in my life everyone approves of.
Todd: Hope you had a great show.
Me: I did. Becky and I got into a fight.
His reply is almost instant.
Todd: What happened? Can you come over? I’ll wait up and we can talk about it.
Me: I wish. Becky wants to talk. It’ll be late by the time I get out of here, and I don’t want to keep you up. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. I miss you.
Todd: I miss you too. Text me when you get home, so I know you made it.
Me: Will do. XOXO
Home.
I haven’t had one of those since I was ten. The closest thing I’ve got to a home is my tour bus.
However, tonight’s show was in LA, which means I do get to go back to the empty house he’s referring to—the one I’ve yet to decorate. It’s as sterile now as it was the day I bought it.
Todd is such a homebody. He loves acting, but hates being in the public eye, so he often spends his evenings watching movies or with his family. Right now, he’s probably curled up on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy without me.
I grab my purse, step into the hallway, and turn right toward the green room, but then I stop short.
Why am I doing this to myself? If I go in there, Becky is going to ride my ass and tell me all the reasons I can’t sing different music and wear form-fitting clothes. I won’t get a word in edgewise, and I’ll go home feeling like shit.
I’m tired of feeling like shit.
And I’m tired of doing what everyone expects me to do.
I do an about face and make a beeline for the back entrance. A few of the crew holler at me as I run past them, but I don’t stop. In fact, I laugh as I throw caution to the wind and shove open the back door, only to be stopped by my behemoth of a bodyguard.
The smile falls from my face. I should’ve known escaping wouldn’t be so easy. My eyes fall to my feet. Damn it, all I want is one night of spontaneity where I can run off and be with my boyfriend like other young women.
With a callused finger under my chin, Bo lifts my face. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Catching a cab?”
Bo frowns and looks at me.
Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Defeated, I turn to go find Becky, but Bo stops me.
“You can’t hail a cab; it isn’t safe. My car is in the garage. We can access it from the private elevator.”
My eyes widen. “You’re going to help me escape?”