Chapter 59

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

DANIEL (TAM’S BODYGUARD—IT’S IN THE CONTRACT)

I know nothing about bobas and curses … but also 29 bobas left …

These two idiots honestly believe they left the house without me. They honestly believe they escaped the paparazzi. They honestly have no idea that they’re being watched—by me and a few others. I can’t tackle every fan, but I sure as hell can make certain they keep their distance.

I can also legally intimidate them.

“Excuse me, can you please sign this NDA?” I thrust the iPad that Jacob gave me into the arms of a young woman. She’s wearing Tam’s logo on a hoodie and filming him and Lake do some sort of weird kabedon thing against the outer wall of the rest stop.

Kabedon, of course, meaning when a man slams his palm on the wall next to a woman’s head and essentially pins her against it. Lakelynn does it to Tam as well, playing a little role reversal. I have no idea why they keep doing that, but it’s driving me slowly insane.

“I … do I have to?” the woman asks, and Jacob makes a sniffing noise from behind me.

“A thousand dollars if you do, right this very second.” A long pause where the woman just stares at him. Jacob purses his lips. “And a signed exclusive photocard.”

Jacob digs out a stack of photocards that he found in the trash at one of the concerts. They’re racy, featuring Tam in boxers and nothing else. They were supposed to go in the swag bags provided to the Hype Record executives, but they never made it.

Luckily, we have them now.

“I can keep the recording, right?” the girl asks, signing the document with her finger.

“Just so long as you don’t post it online,” Jacob returns, passing over the photocard and the money. The woman takes off, leaving Tam and Lake undisturbed for another day. “We’re standing right here, and they haven’t noticed us. How is that even possible?”

Jacob has been bitching and whining since we left Los Angeles. I refuse to acknowledge him any longer, slapping the iPad on his chest and heading to the restroom. I use the large-sized family bathroom with the locking door. I can’t afford to run into Tam at the urinal.

I’m in and out, nice and quick.

Maybe I should tell Jacob that Tam is oblivious to his own fame? In Japantown, when he was kissing Lakelynn, a man tried to assault him.

“Shit, we have a runner!” one of my guys called over the radio, and then I saw the creep, dressed in a trench coat and making quick progress across the courtyard. I chased the man down and tackled him hard enough that when he tried to scream out his love for Tam, he could only wheeze.

The lovebirds just kept kissing, odd late-season cherry blossoms flowing in the wind.

My eye twitches as I hit the vending machine for an energy drink.

This motherfucker is going to be the death of me; I can’t even believe I took this job.

Only, it pays well and it’s relatively easy in comparison to the jobs I could be working.

Besides … I do like Tam. I really like him with Lake. He needs her.

“Why is it so hot out here?” Jacob is complaining, as if he doesn’t live in Los Angeles. “Where are we right now anyway?”

“Oklahoma,” I explain, and then I get back in the car and wait for him to join me. If he takes as long in the bathroom this time as he did last time, we might lose them again. For a couple of hours there near Amarillo, Texas, I wasn’t sure. Fortunately, I used the tracker on Tam’s phone to find them at a bubble tea shop. Crisis averted.

Jacob is quick this time. He’s back in the car before Lake or Tam reappear, fortunately skipping their strange kabedon routine. I breathe out a sigh of relief when they’re safely secured in Jacob’s vehicle.

“My God, they’re stupid,” Jacob murmurs under his breath. “How would they ever survive without us?”

“Without us?” I echo, and then I sigh. Without you, they’d finally have some peace. Without me, they’d be dead.

I say nothing, start the SUV, and follow them back onto Highway 412.

We’re almost at our final destination.

I’m curious to see what happens next.

I’m also curious to see Lakelynn’s friend again, the one with the glasses. Ella?

But not that curious.

Of course not.

I’m fucking stoic.