“What do you mean, by choice?”
“My mother’s family is very well-off. When she met my dad, they forbade her from seeing him, so she left. Gave it all up for him. I think a part of her regretted it later when she saw firsthand how difficult life could be without having everything right at your fingertips. Maybe that’s why she treats me the way she does. She doesn’t want me to make the same mistakes. Which is a really shitty feeling because I’m a result of those mistakes.” Chloe slouched her shoulders and dropped her chin. She hadn’t planned to tell him so much about her mother, but once she started, she couldn’t stop. Maybe it was because after the things he shared the night before, it was only fair. Chloe’s eyes snapped to Reid when he hooked his finger under her chin.
“There are a lot of words I could use to describe you, but mistake isn’t one of them. You’re right, I do have the luxury of waiting this thing out, but I need you to understand that I’ll wait until I draw my last breath if that’s what it takes. There is nothing else for me but this.”
Chloe blinked back tears and straightened her back until she broke away from Reid’s touch. The sincerity in his voice and the tenderness of his touch caused her heart to race and her pulse to pound. “There’s that passion,” she whispered.
Reid leaned away, his expression dazed. For several seconds, he stared blankly at the wall behind Chloe before a slow smile crept across his face. “Well, I’ll be damned. You really are a fucking Jedi Master.”
A fit of laughter burst from Chloe’s chest, her arms wrapping around her waist when her muscles began to ache. She peeked up at Reid with glassy eyes. His skin was flushed, his bright hazel eyes pinched at the corners from the wide smile splitting his face. It was the most carefree Chloe had seen him, and she couldn’t help but notice how it made him even more attractive. The thought was sobering.
Pulling in a cleansing breath, Chloe wiped under her eyes and relaxed against the back of the bench. Reid mimicked her position, leaning in the opposite direction. In comfortable silence, the pair stared at each other, wearing matching soft smiles. Chloe’s lips parted of their own volition when Reid licked his lips. His smile melted and his gaze intensified. Chloe felt heat rise to the surface of her skin and butterflies erupted in her stomach. When he leaned forward, her breath caught.
“Chloe,” he whispered. “Will you promise me something?”
“I’ll try.”
“Please don’t ever give up on this. Music runs through your veins. It saturates who you are to the very core. You’re not meant to be lost in a sea of faces playing for a bunch of overprivileged rich people. You deserve to be seen at center stage.”
Chloe nodded, the lump lodged in her throat preventing her from speaking. This was how Chloe knew Reid hadn’t lost his creativity; he spoke in poetry. The fire that had been absent in his eyes since they met was beginning to flicker to life. It was awe-inspiring. Clearing her throat, Chloe pushed the notebook on the table toward Reid. “As long as you promise the same.”
Reid grabbed the notebook and flipped to the last page. Slipping around the table until he and Chloe sat shoulder-to-shoulder, he handed her a pen and smiled. “Deal.”
Chloe dug through her bag, pulling out what she needed for the show later that night. Using her shoulder to cradle her phone to her ear, she waited for Josie to finish with her rapid-fire questions.
“Things are great,” Chloe said, answering Josie’s questions all at once. “Exhausting, but great.” Three weeks had passed since her impromptu heart-to-heart with Reid on the tour bus. In that time, they’d played thirteen shows and traveled more miles than Chloe could count.
“I’ve watched some of the videos posted on YouTube,” Josie remarked, her tone holding a hint of mischief.
“Oh?” Chloe didn’t have to guess where the conversation was going, but she had no intention of making it easy for Josie to prod her.
“Don’t play coy with me. What happened to keeping things strictly professional? You guys look like you’re about to go at it in every clip I’ve seen! I won’t lie, it’s hot.”
“Maddie, is that you?” Chloe joked, swallowing thickly.
“Oh, you’re lucky she’s not here. I’m going easy on you compared to the kind of things she would say.”
“True,” Chloe laughed then sighed again. “Well, you can report to her that there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Reid.”
“What? Why not? Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that whole, ‘staying professional’ thing.”
“No, it’s not that. There was a moment when I actually entertained the possibility of there being something more between us.”
“What happened that changed your mind?”
“He has a girlfriend,” Chloe said simply.
The line was silent for several seconds followed by a quiet, “Oh.”