24. Elodie

ELODIE

I have no idea what to expect when I rush into the penthouse, passing Kai with a nod. If I were Stella, I’d be a blubbering mess and needing Aria to hold my hand.

But instead, I find her dressed in a suit, talking intently with a fifty-something-year-old woman with brown curly hair and neon pink glasses.

“Hi?” I say when I enter, feeling like I’m intruding on whatever is going on. Shit, maybe this lady shouldn’t see me? I duck my head and debate if I should back out of the apartment.

“Elodie,” Stella says and smiles. “Meet Brianna, my new manager.”

“Nice to meet you,” Brianna says. “Come join us; we’re just discussing what the plan is for the next couple months.”

I pull out a chair next to Stella, wondering what’s going on and why there are stacks of papers on the table.

“Sure,” I say. “Any ideas?” I’ve thought about it all on the plane ride over, but I’m so far out of my depth with this. And Stella changing management in the middle of a crisis? That’s on a level of overwhelming that I’m having a difficult time dealing with, and it’s not even my life.

“Yes,” Brianna says, “we’d like to discuss with you the best idea.”

“Sure, how can I help?” I ask.

Stella turns to me and gives me a soft look. “You’ve been such a lifesaver over the past months. I can’t thank you enough for stepping in and saving the tour. But I do think the best course of action is for me to take over my life again.”

“But are you healthy enough to do that?” I ask, concerned she’s pushing herself too much too soon.

“I’m healed enough,” Stella says, “and I’m going to reschedule the next few weeks of the tour and make it up in the summer or give a refund for those shows if they can’t make it. I should’ve done this in the beginning, and honestly, I should’ve done a lot of things differently. But right now, we need to protect each other. Jax suspects something is going on. He’s been calling nonstop, asking why I’m acting so strangely. He knows I’d never use the words ‘Bless your heart.’ Your accent was too strong, and that’s something I don’t have. Not when I grew up in Connecticut. ”

“Shit,” I say. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think about that part…” I really fucked this up for us. If Jax thinks something’s off, then others will soon start to question the differences between us.

“It’s okay,” Stella says kindly. “You did great; we just have to be careful right now.”

“We can try to explain it away,” Brianna says. “Stella does have a house in Nashville, and we can say that she’s picked up some sayings while being there. But it’s safer for everyone if Stella takes over her normal life. Jax isn’t going to stop digging until he’s satisfied. He’s already released a press statement questioning how much Stella’s changed and how Stella seemed shocked at his admission, as if hearing it for the first time.”

“He did?” I sputter, completely shocked he did something like that.

“Yeah…” Brianna shoots Stella a look. “Your parting comment has rallied Stella’s fans and they’re calling for a boycott of his movie. It’s too early to tell if it’ll influence the movie’s performance or not.”

“But,” Stella says, “we’re expecting it will. My fans are the most loyal people out there, and if they’re committed to something, they’ll do it. Knowing Jax, he’s pissed and trying to fight fire with fire with his comments about how different I’m acting.”

“Holy shit.” This is getting messy really quickly. It’s definitely best for Stella to resume her life. There’s too much of a risk if I continue being her, especially with Jax escalating everything .

“This is why Stella needs to resume her life now,” Brianna adds.

“I’m sorry this is so sudden, but I failed to step in and fix this in the beginning,” Stella says, placing her hand on mine. “I was happy for someone else to deal with Jax, so I didn’t have to face him. But it’s my job to fix it now. The worst thing that could happen is if people start comparing videos from the time you took over with my performance earlier in the tour. We can’t have this secret come out and it’s time I protect you and all of us.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “I get it. There’s too much on the line.” A large part of me is relieved to step away from this life. It’s been fun being on tour, but the amount of pressure and expectation that’s on me now is too much for me to handle. “So, what do I do now?”

“We’ll need to give you another makeover,” Brianna says. “There can’t be two of you in the world. It’ll blow this whole thing open and reinforce Jax’s theory.”

“Sure,” I say. “I can get a makeover and then…hide out at Hunter’s?”

“You can, but you can’t be caught together. We’re still needing to get his contract extension, so publicly he’ll still be dating me. I also thought about introducing you to the world as my sister, but the timing is too suss. If someone were to Photoshop a photo of you, they could easily adapt your hair to mine and discover how similar we look.”

“I promise I’ll be careful while I’m with Hunter. ”

“Thank you,” Stella says.

“When do you think you’ll officially break up with him?”

“Probably February. The timing is too suspicious if we break up now, but we can finish out his season. After that, you can go public with your relationship.”

“That’s fair,” I say. And it is. With over ten million dollars to my name, I’m sure Hunter and I can find ways to sneakily be together over the next couple months.

“If you’re okay with it, can you stay with me here for the next week? That way you can give me a crash course on Hunter’s teammates and get your makeover. After Evren’s party, you can go wherever you want.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” I ask. “Taking over your life again? It’s a really stressful time and I don’t want it to impact your healing.”

“I’m ready.”

“Ella?” Hunter whispers, his hand rubbing my leg. “Wake up.”

I jolt awake and find him sitting on the bed next to me.

“Surprise,” he says.

I reach out and touch his face, shocked he’s here. “This is the best surprise ever.”

“I didn’t want you to deal with everything alone. ”

“I missed you,” I say, hugging him. “Sorry, I accidently fell asleep and didn’t check my phone. How was your game?”

“Good. We lost, but I’m not sad about it.”

I pull back slightly, so I can see his face. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’m proud of how we played.”

“I’m so proud of you.” I kiss him softly and lean my head on his shoulder, breathing him in.

“And I’m proud of you. Have you seen how viral your response to Jax has been?”

“No…I haven’t been able to go online yet. I’ve been too scared to see it all.”

“Don’t be. It looks like the world’s on your side. Trey even made a shirt with your parting quote on it, and we all wore it after the game to support you.”

I snort. “He did not.”

“Did you not get my messages? He did. Here, let me show you.” Hunter makes a move to release me, and I protest.

“I can see it all later,” I say. “I just want to hug you some more.”

“Have you talked to Stella?”

“Yeah, she’s going to take over her life starting now.”

“And how do you feel about that?” he asks, rubbing my back in soothing circles.

“I’m not sure. Part of me is relieved I don’t have to pretend anymore, but another part of me feels so guilty for messing it all up in the first place and forcing her to return before she’s ready. ”

“You did the best you could with the information you had,” he says. “I’m still annoyed she didn’t warn you about this beforehand.”

“I know, me too. But I also get where she was coming from. Now, I need to go through another makeover, and I’m not sure I’m ready to change my hair again.”

“Why? You’ll look gorgeous no matter what.”

“You say that now, but what if you hate it?”

“Do you really think I’m with you because of your hair?” he asks.

“I don’t know. It’s good hair.”

“It is,” he agrees, twirling a piece around his finger. “But no matter what it looks like, it’ll still be sexy spread across my pillow while I fuck you senseless.”

“Well, if that’s my consolation prize, sign me up.”

“Soon.” He laughs and stamps a kiss on my lips. “Are you planning to go to your mom’s?”

“I was actually hoping I could hide out at your house instead. I don’t want to be apart from you or Minnie.”

“I’d love nothing more than that.”