I take a deep breath and move toward the bathroom. “I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am. You’ve totally broken out, Shiloh. You’re one of their front-list artists.” She grins. “Won’t be long before you’re upstaging Tro and the boys. Next tour, they’ll be opening for you.”
“He’s such a douche.”
“Who?” she asks, her face scrambling in confusion. “Phillip?”
I shake my head. “Tro.”
Her brows converge. “I don’t like the sound of that. What happened?”
I lean into the bathroom door and pound the back of my head against it. “He just pulled some shit that pissed me off.”
“Such as?”
“He told the whole arena that I made him want to…” I mimic his crotch grabbing grind. “And then he pulled this song out of his ass about getting lucky, but everyone knew it was me he was singing about.”
Billie rolls her eyes wearily. “That’s his gig, Shiloh. His whole image is sex. If he mentioned you at all, it’s a good thing.”
I shove away from the bathroom door and slam through it, then feel bad, because it’s not Billie I’m pissed at. I change and get ready for bed and when I come out, Billie’s in bed with a book, sipping her tea.
Her eyes widen when she sees I’ve changed. “You’re going to bed?”
I shrug. “No reason not to.”
She glances at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s only nine. Let me at least call room service and get you something to eat.”
“Not hungry,” I say, flopping onto my bed.
She looks at me for a long minute then lifts the phone and punches a button. “Yes,” she says when there’s an answer on the other end. “I need the largest tub of popcorn you have and two Cokes.” She nods with whatever the response is, then looks at me and adds, “Now that I think of it, bring us a pepperoni pizza too.” When she hangs up, she reaches for the remote and clicks the TV on. “Saw the new Marvel movie debuts on HBO tonight. It’s just starting.”
I roll on my side and prop my head on my elbow, looking at her. “I don’t really feel like watching a movie.”
She pats the bed next to her. “This is your first major concert, the start of what is going to be an amazing career. We can’t let it just go by without celebrating. If I wasn’t sick, we’d be painting the town tonight.”
I take a deep breath and haul myself up, sliding onto the bed next to her. I settle against her side and rest my head on her shoulder as the movie starts. She sips her tea and strokes my hair, and, slowly, my nerves settle.
“Have you thought any more about what we talked about?” she asks. “Me becoming your legal guardian?”
I think about what Tro said, how sometimes family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “What was your family like?”
“When I was your age?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
She breathes a laugh through her nose. “Crazy most of the time. I have four brothers, so our mother had her hands full.”
“Were you close?”
I feel her nod against the side of my head. “Still are, for the most part.”
“I guess I want you to do it…” I say, “if you really want to.”
“I’ll see what I need to do to get the ball rolling,” she answers with another nod. “I don’t think it will really change anything from a business or financial standpoint. All your accounts will remain in trust until you’re eighteen.”
I settle more snugly into her side. “I trust you.”
#
I wake to the ping of rain on the window, and when I open my eyes, I see Billie’s pulled back the curtain to the balcony. I blink awake and glance at the clock. Almost eleven. I roll to find her sitting at the small table near the kitchenette with her laptop open, sipping a cup of steaming tea.
“Morning,” she says, poking her head out from behind her laptop screen.
“How are you feeling?” I croak, pulling myself up to sit against the headboard.
“A little better.” She turns her laptop for me to see. “The press is calling you Lucky.”
There’s a picture of me on stage last night with the caption “Lucky Blows the Doors Off Madison Square Garden.”
I feel my face crumple. “Fucking Tro.”
She scowls at me for the language. “What about Tro?”
“That’s what he called me on stage last night,” I say, pulling my knees up and dropping my forehead onto them. I lift my head a few seconds later to find Billie’s eyes scouring the article.
“Your reviews are amazing. They loved you.” Her brows press together when she gets near the bottom and she looks up at me. “And they’re speculating whether there’s something…romantic between you and Tro.”
I take a deep breath and drop my head back against the headboard. “I told you what he did on stage.”
“But it’s just that, right? He hasn’t tried to…touch you or anything, has he?”