Chapter 55

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

LAKE

32 bobas left until we both die … (the same day)

“Hello?” I’m yawning. I’m also glaring at the wall in the general direction of Tam because he stole my phone and then had a private conversation in the bathroom with my brother. I was tempted to creep up and put my ear to the door, eavesdrop on them. But I didn’t. Whatever Tam said, Joules will tell me about it.

“You’re not in love with him yet?” he asks me, all suspicious.

I open my mouth to tell him what a stupid question that is.

Tam is sweet. Tam is funny. I like spending time with Tam.

He’s tall and handsome and wealthy and talented. Who wouldn’t love Tam Eyre?

Except for me.

What the hell is wrong with me?

“I really, really like him,” I tell Joules, feeling my cheeks flush. “I think about him constantly—”

“In what terms?” Joules demands, and I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me.

“In what terms?” I repeat, confused. “What does that even mean? I like spending time with him which is good because we have to spend time together because of the curse—”

“That’s your problem right there,” Joules assures me, like he’s the expert in my love life, and I know nothing at all. “You’re only thinking about him because of the curse. Try to see him as a man. Pretend you’re dating him because you like him, and not because of the curse.”

“Remember your advice about the lingerie?” I remind him, bringing up his initial idea that I throw myself at Tam. Then we got to know the guy, and Joules realized that was the exact wrong method to use on Tam Eyre. “I am getting to know him. But these things take time.”

“Not if you’re cursed they don’t,” Joules warns me, and I throw up my hand in frustration. He still can’t see me, but so what? I want to chuck my phone.

“That’s exactly what I just said, isn’t it?” I hiss back at him. “You’re telling me to forget all about the curse … because of the curse.”

“Right. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You have to take the risk and let yourself be vulnerable. It’s not fair, but that’s why it’s a curse. It’s a curse, Lake. A fucking curse.”

“I hear you,” I whisper back at him, that icy needle of fear in my heart twisting in a slow circle. “You’re matched to Kaycee, aren’t you? When did it happen? Joules, tell me.”

“I’m in love with Kaycee,” he admits, and his voice gets a little soft when he says it. I’m blown away by the raw honesty in his words. I’ve never … My brother has just shocked me with that statement. “So don’t worry about me. Handle your shit.” A long pause. “And come home. Now. ASAP.”

Joules hangs up, and I sit there with my phone in my lap.

This is on me.

I’m the reason that the curse isn’t broken.

Not Tam.

Me.

Oh my fucking God.

I’m literally killing myself because I won’t fall in love with a gorgeous, rich, adorable superstar who takes control in bed? No. This is dumb. This is ridiculous.

I call Lynn next.

“I haven’t fallen in love with Tam yet, Lynn. It’s not him; it’s me.”

My cousin doesn’t say anything for a while, but I can hear her sitting down on—wait, is that the springy sound of my mattress?

“You’ve been staying in my room, haven’t you?” I ask, but I’m not surprised. I remember sleeping in Joe’s room with Joules a few times, waiting to see if he’d stay out with Marla or come home. We were always so excited when he didn’t come home because we thought he was going to make it. We were sure of it.

I do need to go home. Just in case.

“Maybe a night or two, here and there.” I can imagine her tracing the flower designs on my blanket with a single finger. I can’t let myself forget that Lynn also lost Joe. Lynn was there, too, crying on the sofa cushion next to Aunt Lisa. And now she’s at risk of losing me, too? “But … Tam is in love with you? That’s great, right?”

“I’m the problem,” I tell her, because I know that Joules is right. I don’t even have to take Tam’s word that he loves me. I know that I haven’t let myself fully fall for him either. I don’t want us to die. Why am I making this so unnecessarily hard on myself? “What the hell is wrong with me? Aren’t you already in love with him?” It’s a joke, but only sort of. Lynn has been telling me for years that she’d snub her own Match just for a single date with Tam Eyre.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Lake,” my cousin tells me gently, and the sound of her voice breaks my heart. Because she sounds like I did when I was talking to Joe, trying to console Joe, trying to help Joe through the curse. “You guys just started dating; love takes time to kindle.”

I turn my head toward the bathroom door.

If I had time, if Tam were just a man, and I was just a woman, and there was no curse … it’d be easy.

Time is all we need, but time is what we absolutely do not have. Fear roils inside of me, but I crush it down.

I can do this.

Tam is an easy person to love.

Only, I haven’t been letting myself love him, have I? I was so focused on getting him to notice me, to simply exist for him. And then I was so worried about chasing him away. I gave him a blow job not because I wanted to, but because of the curse. If I’m being honest with myself, I slept with him much sooner than I would’ve otherwise. Because of the curse. Everything I’ve done thus far is because of the curse.

Lakelynn and the curse.

Lakelynn and the pop star.

Lakelynn and her Match.

But not just … Lake and Tam.

I’ve got this. I have so got this.

“Are you having a long internal monologue with yourself, Miss Lakelynn Frost?” Lynn asks me, and we both chuckle. Us Frosts are famous for that sort of thing. Tam does it, too, which is probably one of the reasons I like him so much. I love to watch a person’s face as they have a conversation with themselves in their own head. You can learn so much from the shape of their mouth, the twitch of their brows, the narrowing of their eyes.

“Yes, ma’am, I was, and I won’t even apologize for it.”

“Good. Don’t.” An awkward pause, and Lynn is never awkward. Bubbly and effervescent and fervently, rabidly, always a Tambourine. But never awkward. “Are you … are you coming home soon?” she asks, and my heart skips a beat.

“I’ll come home and break the curse right in front of you,” I declare, standing up from my seat on the closed lid of the toilet. Tam gave me the phone while I was still in bed, but then he dropped the sheet so … I had to get out of there. “Then I’ll describe to you exactly what it feels like to break it. Since, you know, none of our relatives could ever be bothered.”

“My favorite entry is from 1967, our Great-Whatever-Aunt Marina.” Lynn clears her throat, and I can just imagine her sitting up straight, chin lifted. “The curse broke today. With only eleven days left, I’d almost given up. All I can say is this: it was groovy. So dang groovy. There were stars and … there were stars.”

We both chuckle at that.

“Here’s mine. 1822. Our direct maternal relative, Cassandra Frost. Although the Match provided to me by the curse was of substantially lower social standing than a man that might’ve been chosen by Father or my dear brother, I am pleased. He is a looker, and the source of much outrageous attention from our feminine neighbors. In only fifty-one days, we have broken the curse. The sensation of it breaking was much the same as my first time in bed with him. I cannot tell anyone but you, dear journal, as we were not supposed to go to bed together until after the wedding.”

Now Lynn and I are both laughing.

“Fine. You win. Yours is better.” Lynn pauses, and I know she’s going to ask about my journal. “Have you written about …?”

“Lynn, I’m hanging up.”

“I just want to know if he’s as good in bed as everyone thinks he is!” she calls out, but I’m laughing too hard to even respond now.

“I’m hanging up, and I love you!” I yell back, and then I turn the phone off and put my head in my hand.

Yeah. I should go home. I want to see my family.

Tam should get to know my family.

Maybe that’s the problem? Maybe I can’t fall in love with someone who isn’t a part of the Frost family social group? That could very well be it.

I stand up and pad proudly back into the bedroom, ready to fight for this. For Tam. For myself. For Joules. For Joe. Because I know my cousin would be heartbroken if I joined him in the afterlife so soon.

“Hey,” I say, stepping into the bedroom to find Tam halfway through putting a white T-shirt on.

“Hey,” he replies, hair mussed up as the tee slides over his head, fabric stretching over strong, smooth muscles. Muscles that I’ve felt contracting as he moves on top of me. Behind me. Puts me against the wall. Bends me over.

I forget what I was even planning on saying. His belly button is the last bit of him to get covered up, and my gaze catches on those freckles. Oh. Those freckles. I exhale and lift my eyes to his, only to find him looking at me like we’re never leaving this bedroom.

“I want to fall in love with you,” I tell Tam, and he laughs at that, reaching up to rub at his forehead.

“I’m relieved to hear that.” He hesitates slightly, gaze shifting to one side. “I owe a lot to the curse, don’t I? I’d have chased you off long ago without it.”

“You do have millions of people who are in love with you,” I admit with a shrug. “Without the curse, I wouldn’t exist for you at all.” That’s just a fact. I’m okay with that. I would’ve been okay with that. But now that I know him? I try to imagine a future without Tam in it, and everything feels bleak. My turn to hesitate. Tam senses it and walks over to stand right in front of me. Doesn’t make it any easier to ask the question poised at the edge of my lips. “Why did you ask Joules for advice?”

“I wanted to prove to you that we can get along. You care what your brother thinks, and I figured—”

I reach up and put my hand over Tam’s beautiful mouth. It’s distracting. Also, come the hell on.

“You threatened to beat him up.” I drop my hand by my side, and Tam’s sweet lips are parted in surprise. Even worse than before. I can’t concentrate.

“Well, that was … we just have a certain sort of chemistry.” Tam shrugs. “But I know you love him, and I’m going to make an effort. Nobody knows you as well as he does.”

Nobody but Joe. I think Joe knew Joules and me better than we know each other and certainly better than we know ourselves. Ugh. Shit.

“Did he give you good advice?” I can’t help asking. I want to know. “My brother thinks he’s a friggin’ love guru. Let’s hear it.”

“He said he’d find out if you liked me.” Tam puts his hands on his hips and raises a brow. The curtains are open now, casting a beautiful golden glow in the room, limning Tam with sunshine. “But I didn’t need him to ask. I already know the answer to that.”

“Oh, do you now?” I tease, skirting around him and heading into his closet. If Tam is going to be my boyfriend, then I want the full boyfriend experience. I want to steal his clothes, regularly. I want to wear his gray sweatpants after he’s worn them, and they smell like him. Mostly, I want his T-shirts.

I open the closet door, not expecting … Um.

It’s a full-sized room. With fancy lights and drawers and cabinets. With enough racks to fill a boutique clothing store. Three boutique clothing stores.

I turn around and Tam is right there, elbows pressed against the doorjamb on either side, leaning in toward me. I take a few steps back, turn, and snag the first shirt that I find.

It’s from last year’s world tour.

Cute.

Tam is smiling crookedly as he watches me tuck it up against my chest.

“I’m wearing this,” I tell him, testing boundaries. He shrugs, still smiling at me.

“Wasn’t gonna stop you,” he tells me, moving aside and holding out a hand so that I can escape the closet. Wait, do I want to escape the closet? Yes. Shit. Yes, I do. We have a press conference today. A press conference.

Then, we have Tam’s last show in Los Angeles.

After that … road trip? I don’t think we can fly home. It can’t be easy for Tam to navigate an airport with his level of popularity, not without a full entourage. And his jet is tracked on this website that also follows Elon Musk and Taylor Swift and whoever else. No, if we want to get back to Arkansas, we’ll need a plan to escape the paparazzi.

I get as far away from Tam as I can, and then I quickly yank my pajama shirt off. I put my bra on in record time, and Tam makes a soft noise from the other side of the bed.

“That pink lace, your chest … My God, Lakelynn.”

I’m blushing as I pull the shirt on. Underwear … I’ll make sure I don’t bend over with my ass in his direction. If he sees all that, we’re done. We’re not making it to the press conference today.

“You like my boobs?” I ask him, which is maybe a dumb question. They’re just … big and soft and full, so different from the girls he’s around on the regular. I love my body just as it is, no changes necessary. But I am curious.

“Like them?” Tam laughs at that, putting his hands on his hips. “Lake, come on.”

I shove my panties and pajama shorts down to the ground and step into a fresh pair of underwear while Tam is stuck staring at me. Denim shorts so that I can tuck a bit of the loose T-shirt in. The denim shorts. The ones I got oral in.

“This’ll be fine for the press conference, right?” I ask, wondering if maybe I have no idea what I’m doing. Do I need to dress up? Is this something I should be fancy for?

“The press conference?” It takes Tam a few seconds to remember what’s happening. “Oh, Lake.” He puts his hands up to his mouth, smirking at me. “We’ll both be taken into hair and makeup, dressed by a stylist. I’m sure it’ll be loads of fun.”

“I see.” I grab a pair of sneakers to put on at the door, forgoing socks. Joules hates it when I don’t wear socks. He says it’s disgusting. Joe used to play us both up, condemn socks around me, laud socks around Joules. He wore sandals unless it was snowing outside. Even then, sometimes … My heart contracts. I bite back the pain for now.

“Don’t try to distract me with talk about the press conference. Did you really just ask me if I like your boobs? That’s crazy. I’m writing a song about soft, fuzzy sweaters. Not even kidding. The shape of you, Lake … I love your shape. I love the way you feel under my hands. I love the way you feel when I’m inside of you.”

“Can you stop?” I whisper at him, trying to slip out the bedroom door without him grabbing me. He does it anyway, snatching me around the waist as I laugh. Tam presses his mouth against the side of my neck, and makes me groan, my knees going weak. “Wait, stop! No hickeys.”

“All the fucking hickeys.” Tam huffs and releases me, striding past and into the gargantuan hallway in his bare feet. “In a few hours, the whole world will see how serious I am about you. If I leave my mark on your neck, eh. Even better.”

I smirk at his back. I doubt Jacob would agree with that, but I like it.

His confidence is beyond sexy to me.

My gaze shifts to the curse mark on my wrist. I keep surprising myself when I see it. Somehow, it feels like I do love Tam. Only … maybe not enough.

Not yet.

But soon.

Soon.

In thirty-two bobas or less.

Tam has a deal with his neighbors, a trick to use the back gate on his property so that he can sneak through their yard and escape out their front gate. On our way down the winding drive, we run into Tyler the Eagle Guy. He has a bird on his arm, and I’m absolutely enthralled. I want to spend a whole day with this man, watching the birds kill drones. How cool is that?

Tam rolls the window down, has a brief conversation with the guy—twenty-two drones taken down just this week—and off we go.

There are paparazzi swarming the neighbor’s gate, too, but not nearly as many as at the front of Tam’s house.

I can feel the crush of them around the car as I sit in the backseat next to Tam.

I know it sounds crazy, but when we’re alone, he’s just a guy to me. I sometimes forget that he’s one of the most famous people on the planet—if not the most famous person. I scoot a little closer to him, and he puts an arm around my waist, fingers kneading my hip in a way that should be illegal.

“What happens if one of these people tries to shoot you?” I ask him, but it’s Daniel who answers.

“I’m a trained first responder, and I carry medical supplies in the event of an accident.” He doesn’t even look back at us when he answers, sitting stoically in the center captain’s chair with his arms crossed over his chest. “But we won’t need them if you remember to take me with you when you go out.”

And now Daniel cranes his head around to stare at Tam. Those gray eyes, my God. He’s a heartbreaker and a bone breaker. I bet Ella would be into him. Maybe I should set them up?

“Are you looking for love perchance?” I ask, trying for a smile. Jacob makes a weird sound from up front and Pat, the driver, laughs.

“Excuse me?” Tam asks, looking scandalized. “Aren’t we a thing?”

I give him a look, but he just smiles at me and winks.

“For Ella. My friend with the glasses.” I gesture at my face. “Did you happen to see her when we were at the boba—”

“I don’t even notice women,” Daniel replies, deadpan. “My job is far too stressful for me to think about romance.”

“You could set Jacob up though,” Tam offers, gesturing at his manager. “He could really use a girlfriend. He’s been single since birth.”

“I date,” Jacob declares, but he makes it sound like a necessary chore, something like sweeping the floor or wiping smudges off windows. Tam does that a lot, wipes smudges off the glass in his giant glass house. “In fact, I went on a blind date just last night.”

“And how did that work out for ya?” Tam replies, getting a little bit of an attitude, like he’s picking.

“I am not speaking to you, Mr. Eyre. I was addressing Miss Frost.” Jacob turns around to look at me, dark brown brows drawn together. “The girl was lovely. She spends most of her free time scrapbooking for TikTok. She has nearly three million followers, if you must know.”

All eyes shift to Tam. I can just imagine an arrow over his head, pointing down at him with flashing lights. Has One-Hundred-and-Seventy Million TikTok Followers. Most followed person in the whole world. Popular and sexy and all mine. I smile to myself.

“Well, I only have twenty-six followers, so that’s pretty cool,” I reply, sitting back in my seat. I’m a little bit relieved that Jake isn’t looking for help with romance. I’m not actually sure that any of my friends or cousins would be the right fit for him.

“Not anymore,” Tam whispers, leaning in toward me. I give him a look.

“Only my family follows me.” It’s true. And my mom refuses to get a TikTok. My grandma has three-hundred-thousand followers, and makes videos about housekeeping and baking. She’s got a cottage core vibe which is pretty dope.

“You’re dating Tam Eyre,” says Tam Eyre, smirking down at me. “You have more than twenty-six followers now.”

“You looked?” I retort, and he leans in, pressing his nose right up against mine.

“I don’t have to,” he growls, and then he kisses me. Keeps kissing me. I’m the one who pulls away, just to keep things professional in the SUV. “But good for Jacob, and his famous scrapbooking future wife.”

“I found her videos tedious. I’m not off the market yet.” Jacob turns back around, and Tam stifles a laugh behind his hand.

“Jake is very picky,” he tells me, and his manager makes another huffing sound of frustration.

“I believe what Mr. Eyre is trying to say is that most of my dates have only been interested in me as a means to get to him.” Jacob snorts, and then puts a headset over his carefully slicked-back hair. It’s a very purposeful end to our conversation.

“We should discuss Miss Frost’s bodyguard,” Daniel says, looking out the tinted windows like he’s scanning for threats. “I can’t be in two places at once. Besides, if push comes to shove, I’ll have to protect Tam first. I don’t like those odds.”

“No, you will protect Lake first,” Tam says, voice hard. I get goose bumps, but in a good way. “But yeah, we’ll need to look into that. I think a female bodyguard would be nice.”

“Why do I need a bodyguard?” I ask, completely baffled. Joules tried to explain, but I still don’t get it.

Tam offers me a sympathetic look and strokes my hair back, but he doesn’t answer the question.

“I wish we could’ve used Joules,” Daniel muses. “Your brother is truly a strong, gifted, capable individual.”

I grin at that.

“Well, I won’t tell him you said so or his head will expand and then explode. He’s already way too proud of himself as it is. Practically a peacock in heat.”

Can’t you just see it in your head? Joules, with a big-ass plume of sparkly feathers coming out of his butt. The image sticks with me for the rest of the drive.

Thirty minutes later, we arrive at our destination, and I see why Tam didn’t answer my question about having a bodyguard. He didn’t need to. I can see it all for myself.

“Clear,” Daniel murmurs into his headset, and then he’s opening the door and there’s a rush of heat and sound and energy. Flashing cameras. Screams. A jostling, heaving mass on either side of the velvet ropes and the guards in their intimidating all-black uniforms.

Tam pulls me along by the hand, but as soon as I set foot outside the SUV, all eyes are on me.

When I was following along behind Tam before, some nameless assistant that nobody cared about it, it was bad but it wasn’t like this. Now? I’m the ‘other woman’. I’m the girl who took him away from Kaycee Quinn. I’m a nobody from Arkansas who—according to a large percentage of his fandom—doesn’t deserve the king of modern-day pop.

Tam doesn’t pose at all, doesn’t wave, just steps back to stand beside me. He removes his sweatshirt as I turn into his side, trying to hide my face, and then he covers me up with it.

“Pretend they’re the ocean, and this is a jetty. The goal is just to walk the jetty as fast as possible, before a rogue wave sweeps up.” He presses a gentle kiss to my cheek under the cover of the fabric, and then guides me inside the relatively quiet hallway.

The doors slam shut behind us, cutting off a lot of the sound.

I nearly sag against the wall.

Is this … the obstacle standing between me and Tam? I wonder. I like pretty much everything about him. Even his grumpy moods have grown on me. He’s kind, funny, gentle, but he also seems to have a sixth sense in knowing what I might like in bed. But this? The fame and the popularity?

I don’t like it.

He’s worth it though, I know that. I can see that.

“You know that shirt you’re wearing?” Jacob says to me, turning over his shoulder with a sniff. “That was a keepsake, and not something to be worn.”

“Leave her alone, Jake,” Tam warns, and I like the way his voice gets stony when he’s defending me. Reminds me of the look that’s permanently in Daniel’s eyes. “Come on, Kayak. Let’s get you through your first hair and makeup experience.”

Tam curls his hand around mine, brings my knuckles to his lips for a kiss, and leads me down the hall.

Tam tells the makeup artist and the hair stylist things that I barely understand, gesturing at me as he talks. He rejects the first two outfits I’m given, and thank God for that. The first one looked like a burlap sack, and the second one looked like it belonged in the red-light district.

The third one is nice, a long-sleeved, pale pink knit minidress with a slip underneath. It looks nice with my hair, with Tam’s hair, with the casual All-American look that he’s been dressed in: oversized gray sweatshirt, a handful of slim silver necklaces, tucked-in pink tee that matches my dress, shredded baggy jeans, sneakers to match the shirt.

“I’m going to pass out,” I whisper, standing beside him in heels that I can barely walk in. Tam notices and frowns slightly.

“One sec.” He jogs back down the hallway and returns with sneakers. They’re black high-tops that look like they would take forever to lace up. Only, there’s a zipper in the side. Tam squats down in front of me and looks up, a pretty half-smile on his face. “Hold onto my shoulder,” he says, and I do, loving the warm, hard feel of him under my palm. He helps me out of the heels and into the sneakers with the white soles.

When he stands up, he kisses me on the cheek, and then Jacob is ushering us onto a stage in front of a vast auditorium filled with members of the press, with popular influencers, with the board of Hype Records, with the board of the Tambourine fan club.

I walk like I’m confident, like I’m sure of myself.

I’m not.

I want to run away.

Instead, Tam pulls my chair out for me, and people gasp. Enough people that it sounds like another rogue wave on the proverbial jetty. But he’s an old-fashioned gentleman. Don’t they know that? Don’t they know that he carries around bandages and painkillers in his wallet, handkerchiefs in his pockets. He always cleans me up after we make love—or fuck each other—and he eats horrible cake that no other human being on Earth would take a second bite of.

That’s how I steel myself for what’s to come, focusing my energy on all the good parts of Tam.

“Good morning,” he says into the microphone that’s posed on the table in front of him. I have one, too, but I stay leaned back, as far away from it as I can get. I make myself look out at the crowd, and I smile because I’m not sure what else to do. People are snapping pictures of me like crazy, and it’s hard to see. I end up squinting. Tam reaches into his pocket, pulls out his sunglasses, and passes them over to me.

We’ve both turned in our seats to look at each other.

“If the flashes hurt your eyes, you can put these on,” he tells me, and his voice gets caught by the mic and amplified. People stop taking pictures for a minute—at least, they stop using flash. I keep the sunglasses on the table in front of me, just in case. Tam turns slowly back to the mic. “Good morning,” he repeats, putting a smile on his face. It doesn’t reach his eyes. They remain hard, unyielding. “I wanted to officially introduce you all to my girlfriend, Lakelynn Frost.”

The crowd goes crazy again, people shouting to be heard over one another.

Tam doesn’t move. He just waits, sliding his hand onto my thigh, just below the fabric of the dress. His thumb strokes the inside of my leg, and I reach down on reflex, clamping my fingers around his wrist. Too sensitive. I can’t take it. Tam’s mouth edges into a smirk, and the shouting dies down.

“Go on,” he whispers, leaning in toward me. “Introduce yourself.”

I reach out for the mic and drag it a little closer.

“Hey, um.” That’s all that comes out. The crowd is staring at me. The leader of Tam’s fan club is scowling like I kicked her puppy. “You can … call me Lake if you want.”

Tam takes over before it gets anymore awkward.

“As you know, Kaycee Quinn and I mutually decided to see other people. We’re better off as friends. I value her creative input, and I think she’s an incredibly talented artist, but there was no spark between us. We both deserve better than that, and we both found love independently. At the time, we were both under a contractual obligation to remain together in the public eye. Fortunately, we’re a family at Hype Records, and both Kaycee and I were able to amend our contracts.” Tam leans back in his seat, crosses his arms, and the crowd surges again, snapping photos and taking videos, yelling out questions that go unanswered.

I had no idea Tam was doing all these things behind-the-scenes for me, like getting his contract modified. That can’t have been easy. My cheeks heat a little, and I shift in my seat. Oh, Tam. I’m so sorry. I resist the urge to scratch the makeup that’s currently covering up the curse mark on my wrist.

Then I think about Joules, and all of the scratching. I knew that son of a bitch was cursed! How dare he lie to me. It takes a gargantuan effort not to grit my teeth.

I’ll save that for later, when we get to Arkansas. I’m going to tackle Joules and reveal the mark on his wrist. Please save him, Kaycee. Don’t let my brother die.

“We’d like everyone to respect our privacy while we get to know each other. I’ll be sharing plenty of videos and stories about me and Lake to social media starting in September. For now, we just want to be together.” Tam nods at Jacob. “We’ll take questions now.”

Jacob takes control of the mob, picking people to stand up and ask questions. The first dozen or so are pretty standard—will this affect your collaborations with Kaycee (no), will this relationship affect the new album (yes, in a good way), how about the concert tomorrow (no changes to that). And so on and so forth. I’m almost bored by the time the first doozy is flung our way.

“This one’s for Lakelynn,” the girl says, this gorgeous woman with bright purple lipstick that I recognize from TikTok. “How does it feel being the whore who broke up music’s hottest couple?”

Tam stands up suddenly, and the room goes quiet. He smiles, and it isn’t nice. It’s his grump smile, and I told you there was plenty to love about his grumpiness.

“Either you leave, or I leave,” he says, staring the girl down. “Get out.”

She hesitates, so Tam reaches down for my hand, and the room gets really, really mad—at the girl. She’s encouraged to leave, and so she finally does. I wish I could say she looked sorry for what she did, but she’s smirking on her way out the door. I’m sure that video will go viral, and that’s all she needs and cares about.

Tam sits back down.

“There’s no excuse to behave like that; I won’t tolerate it.” He smiles again, and I fall a little harder, a little deeper. An iceberg inside my heart shifts, making room for warm water. I can do this. I know I can. Tam and I are going to be okay. “Next question.”

And so it goes—for four more hours.

By the time we leave, I’m half-asleep and yawning. Also, I get to keep the dress and the shoes which is cool.

“Alright, Kayak,” Tam says as soon as we’re seated in the back of the SUV again. I put my head on his shoulder, eyes drifting closed. That was a lot of people. So much peopling. I see why Tam is tired all the time. My boyfriend puts his lips right up against my ear to whisper, nice and husky and needy. I can hear in his words that he’d fuck me right now if he could, and I love it. “You were a good girl for me. Let’s get a boba.”

“Three bobas,” I say, and Tam buries his face in my hair.

“Three bobas,” he agrees, always shaking things up.

Because he was right the first time: nobody knows how many bobas they have left until they die.

Not even me.