23. Chapter Twenty-Three

My next step was calling my manager, and I wasted no time dialing his number the next morning, stepping out of our bedroom while Matty slept, so I didn't disturb him. The phone rang twice before Paul answered. "Jared, hey, I was just thinking about calling you."

"Hm. Well, you first then." I paced around our living room, picking up trinkets and setting them down again, tidying up idly, and generally burning energy.

"I hear you got the great news about the tour." Even over the phone I could hear Paul's smug tone, the smirk on his face.

My stomach churned, not with regret or anxiety, but with rage. I fought to keep my tone level and even. "Yeah, I got the news."

"That's perfect. It's really coming together for you, isn't it? This tour is just the first step. As soon as the show airs, your career is really going to skyrocket. Just like I knew it would."

I gritted my teeth and took a slow breath before responding. He never had much faith in me, so the whole thing was a lie. "Yeah, so here's the thing. I'm not going."

Paul was silent for a second. "What do you mean, you're not going?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm not going on tour with Young Spades. Please pass along my thanks, but unfortunately, I'm needed at home."

He scoffed, a little half-laugh sound. "Jared, be reasonable. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Another offer like this won't come again."

"I am being reasonable. I've been doing a lot of soul searching because of this show. I don't want to go on tour. Not now, not ever again."

Another second of silence. "Wait a second. Can you say that again?"

"I'm done, Paul. I don't want to tour anymore. My goals have changed—significantly. I'm done with the industry. Entirely."

He laughed, a bitter tinge to his tone. "You're kidding, right? You'll never get booked again with that attitude."

"I'm not kidding. One hundred percent serious. I'm done. You're fired, Paul."

"What the hell is going on with you, kid?"

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. "I'm leaving this dream behind. I've got something much more valuable now."

"Whatever you say. Just don't come crawling back to me when the show airs and you're desperate to stay in the spotlight."

"Don't worry, I won't." With that, I hung up the line. I shook my head and shoulders a little, relaxing the tension that had been building, before turning to head back to bed. When I turned, I startled, finding Matty standing with his hands in his sweatpants pockets. "Have you been listening this whole time?"

Matty shook his head. "Of course not. I woke up and you were gone, so I came out here to find you. When I realized you were on a call with Paul, I decided to stay in case you needed moral support. Are you okay?"

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough. I heard you fire him and quit the business." His voice dropped to a soft whisper as he approached me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Are you sure about this?"

I nodded. "I've never been more sure. I don't need to be famous and rich. I've got everything I need right here."

Matty pulled me in close for a hug. We held each other tightly for a few seconds before he stepped back. "What are you going to do for work? Surely just giving music lessons doesn't pay the bills."

"I'll take on more music students. And more personal training clients. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but there's one thing I do know. And that's how much I love you. I don't want to spend the next ten, twenty, thirty years bouncing between the studio and touring, missing you the whole time. I'd rather be right here with you. I can travel when you travel because my work will be flexible. I don't even have to worry about whether our travel schedules match up, because it will only be you that I need to work around. My best friend. And soon, my husband."

He nodded solemnly and pulled me in for another tight hug. "That sounds perfect."

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of filming and wedding planning. I had planned a surprise for Matty, one that would throw a little drama Charlie's way and, I hoped, make Matty one very happy groom, and the day before the wedding was the day of the surprise. We'd finally made it to that day, and I was more nervous about the surprise than I was about the wedding itself.

"What's got you so jittery today?" Matty asked me as he climbed into my car. "Pre-wedding jitters?"

I laughed nervously. "Something like that." We'd had a wedding rehearsal that morning with the team—who were going to be our groomsmen on both sides—and my parents. I'd played this lunch off as a rehearsal luncheon. It was going to be a big gathering, but there was more to it than that.

When I finally steered the car into the parking lot of Fabled Fire, an upscale restaurant in Port Grandlin where we'd booked an event room, I was barely able to stand it. It was all I could do not to blurt out the surprise then and there, and I had to bite my tongue so hard I was worried I'd draw blood. Charlie and Heidi met us in the parking lot, having been inside and filming for a little while prior to our arrival. She smiled at me and gave me a quick thumbs-up.

With the camera hot on our heels, I led Matty into the event room, insisting that he enter before me. As he pulled the door open, my breath caught in my throat. Matty looked around as we closed the door behind us, and finally, finally, his gaze landed on my surprise.

"Mamma? What are you doing here?" He looked around, confused, and spotted the rest of his family. "Kasper and Ingrid too?" Nina, Matty's mom, took a few steps forward and embraced him tightly, whispering something in his ear that I couldn't quite catch. He nodded and when he looked back at me, his eyes were glistening. "I didn't think you were coming," he said finally.

Nina laughed and Ingrid also hurried to wrap her arms around him, her pregnant belly getting between them as she tried to squeeze Matty with a hug.

"We weren't sure we could. But Jared arranged everything."

When Matty looked at me with wide, slightly accusing eyes, eyebrows high, I couldn't help but laugh. "Not entirely everything. But it was my idea."

He looked at Kasper for a beat before pulling him into a hug, too. "I'm so glad you're all here."

"We wouldn't miss it," Nina said.

After another few moments of hugging and incredulous shock, I put a hand on Matty's shoulder. "I bet everyone's starving. Let's get this thing started. What do you say?"

He gave me a nod and laughed at himself, his voice thick with emotion. "Ja, of course."

I had Nina sit next to my parents and immediately my dad launched into a series of stories and questions for Nina that I worried would make her feel a little overwhelmed. I leaned in to interrupt, but Matty put his hand on my arm.

"Let them. She's loving this, I promise."

In the meantime, my sister Grace was talking to Kasper's wife, Ingrid. They were all smiles and laughter. My chest was full, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this happy, completely and utterly content with both the moment I was living in and the prospects for my future.

Charlie hovered, pulling people for quick interviews in front of Heidi, while two additional camera operators worked the room, getting footage of anything and everything. Next to Matty, I pressed my thigh against his and he gripped my hand until the food came. Everything was perfect.

By the time the meal wound down and most everyone had left, I overheard Nina inviting my mom and dad to come stay with her in Norway anytime. "Really, Debra. You should bring Peter and stay for at least a long week. Possibly more. And Grace is welcome, too. The whole family, really. We're going to be family now. We might as well act like it."

Matty leaned into me, his chest against my back. His soft breath tickled the shell of my ear. "And we're going to be husbands now. We might as well act like it," he murmured, sliding a hand along my hip.

I shivered and spun to face him. "As much as I'd like that, I think we should probably spend the rest of the day with your family. They flew thousands of miles to be with you during this special time. It's important."

He chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day that Jared Collins said no."

I couldn't help the smirk on my face. "I'm not saying no. I'm just saying later."

"That's more like the Jared I know." He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "In that case, I'm looking forward to later."

With that, he stepped away to speak to his family. From the quick Norwegian and the little I understood, I thought I caught the word for plans, but that was it. While they chatted, I said goodbye to my parents, my mom hugging me with tears in her eyes.

"You okay, Mom?"

"They grow up so fast," was all she said, squeezing me tightly. "We love you." With that, my family was gone.

Matty turned to me. "Mamma says they all need some rest. They just flew in late last night, so we will see them at the wedding."

She smiled warmly. "That's right. It was lovely to see you and we're looking forward to tomorrow." Ingrid nodded with a bright smile of her own, but grumpy Kasper's lips barely twitched.

I didn't care about having a grumpy brother-in-law. I was marrying my best friend in less than twenty-four hours, and all was right in my world.