Chapter 16
Harris
The next three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
Our time in Panama City Beach was over before I realized it and then we moved on to Orlando for some fun at Disney World. I’d never really liked amusement parks and carnival rides, but between Lucy and the twins, I learned quickly to enjoy them. Lucy loved crazy rides, and the way she clung to my arm as we faced down a Yeti and then a falling elevator had me loving them right along with her.
Jesse and Layla made me feel like they always had, like I was one of their family. If I had my way, I’d be an official member of their family soon. I’d already talked to Jesse about what my intentions were, and even though he hadn’t been thrilled about where I saw my future with his daughter, he’d given me his blessing.
As long as I never broke his little girl’s heart.
That wasn’t ever going to happen again. Ever. I’d tried living without Lucy in my life and it wasn’t a life worth living. Now we could put that behind us and move forward into the life we should have had all along.
We had one more night left at Disney before we all flew to D.C. to drop Lucy off. My stomach was in knots thinking about leaving her at Georgetown for the next six weeks. I didn’t want to leave her, especially when we hadn’t talked about what her plans were for after the summer term was over. Was she going to stay in D.C.? Would she come back to California for a few weeks and then return to Georgetown for the fall semester?
I didn’t know and had been avoiding finding out because I didn’t know if I could handle her answer. I had to get back to work the day she was supposed to start classes. As much as I ached to stay with her, I knew I couldn’t leave my staff hanging for another six weeks without me.
Nate and Barb were doing a great job, and Nate called me every night to let me know how things had gone, but I knew it was starting to get rough without me there to run interference for the band. The five chicks of the Blonde Bombshells were getting impatient, all of them texting me at odd hours throughout the day and night. Weirdly enough, it wasn’t London or Genesis causing the problems though, which was a change. It was all on Peyton, who was the true drama queen of the five. The other four Bombshells were even thinking of kicking her out of the band, and I was pretty sure that with Peyton gone their chances of getting a contract with a manager and a label would increase dramatically.
Lucy and I’d spent that day exploring Epcot with the twins while Jesse and Layla had a quiet day to themselves back in our three-bedroom suite at Bay Lake Tower. Now Lucy and I were in the Magic Kingdom, alone, while we waited for the fireworks to begin. For the last few days we’d been watching the fireworks show from the living room balcony in our suite with the others, but I wanted tonight to be just the two of us. Even if we were surrounded by thousands of strangers, I didn’t want to have this conversation with the twins interrupting or her parents listening in.
As much as I dreaded it, we had to talk about what would happen when I left her in D.C. The not knowing what was going to happen was eating me alive and I needed to stop being a pussy and just ask her. Finding the perfect spot in front of the palace, I sat down on one of the few benches that were surprisingly empty. She sat close and I draped my arm along the back of the bench as we settled in to wait.
Taking her hand, I started playing with her fingers. She was so much smaller than I was in so many ways. My hand made two of hers. I didn’t have to be careful with her, though. She wouldn’t break if I was too rough, something we’d both found out in plenty of ways during our time in Panama. We hadn’t been able to share a bed since we had been at Disney, since I was sharing a room with the twins and Lucy’s room was right beside her parents. I wasn’t going to complain, though. Just being there with her was enough for me.
“You’ve been quiet all day,” Lucy murmured as she set her head on my shoulder. “Everything okay?”
“Sweetness, I’m with you. Everything in the world could go to hell and I wouldn’t care right now.” I continued to play with her fingers. Swallowing hard, I sent up a silent prayer that this conversation went well, and dived head first into it. “We haven’t really talked about what happens next, though.” Her head snapped up, dark eyes looking straight into mine. I clenched my jaw, but went on. “What are your plans for after the summer semester, Lu?”
Her eyes widened and she just sat there staring at me for nearly two full minutes. I was too scared to even blink. What was she thinking? I knew it was something deep from the way her eyes darkened, but I was clueless as to what was going through her head right then. Was she trying to come up with a way to tell me she was going to stay at Georgetown? That we would have to do the whole long-distance thing?
As much as I would hate having the country between us for most of the year, I would make it work. Georgetown had always been her dream school. It was where she would shine the brightest with her talent for writing. I’d fly out to see her every other week and we would be fine. I just needed to know what her plan was so I could make my own plans around it.
Turning on the bench, she drew her legs up under her and faced me fully. “At the beginning of the summer when I went home, my plan was to go back to Georgetown after this vacation and only go home again when I had to. I thought it would be…better on us all.” She lowered her eyes, studying our still joined hands and me playing with her fingertips. “But those plans have changed.”
My heart leaped in my chest and I tightened my hold on her. “Have they?”
She nodded, causing a few curls to fall from the messy knot on top of her head. “Yes, Harris. While you were out with the twins yesterday, I talked to Mom and Dad about what I wanted to happen.” She grimaced. “Mom wasn’t completely on board with everything, but Daddy was on the phone with Aunt Emmie as soon as we finished talking.”
“And? Come on, Lu. You’re killing me here.” I was on pins and needles now.
A grin teased at her lips and she leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my chin. “I’ll be starting UCLA in the fall, Harris. I’ve even asked Daddy to look into getting me my own apartment.”
Relief had never felt so good. I reached for her, pulled her onto my lap and kissed the breath out of her. She was clinging to me when I finally lifted my head and pressed my forehead to hers. “I want you to know that I would’ve stood by any decision you made but, fuck, I’m so glad you want to come home.”
“I know that.” She cupped my jaw in her left hand, her thumb rubbing over the day-old scruff on my cheek. “I didn’t want to go to Georgetown in the first place, babe. Mom thought it would be good to put that distance between us. And then you…you made me go.” Her eyes clouded over and my stomach bottomed out. “Please don’t ever send me away again, Harris.”
“Never,” I breathed and pulled her in for another kiss. “I swear on my life, Lucy. I’m never going to let you go again.”
“You’d better not,” she breathed, a small grin twisting her lips upward, and I was glad to see the storm clouds fading from her eyes. “Daddy already said he would do unthinkable things to you if you break my heart again.”
“Your dad doesn’t ever have to worry about that, sweetness.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Never.”
Her brows lifted, but she gave me a full blown smile. “Never is a long time.”
“So is forever, but that’s how long I plan on loving you, Lucy.” The smile on her face disappeared. Her chin started to tremble and I couldn’t let the tears in her eyes fall. Tipping her chin up, I lowered my head and gave her the kiss my soul ached to give her. One that made all the promises I’d just voiced and a million more.
Neither of us noticed when the first explosion of fireworks went off, and I was still kissing her long after the last one was fading.
I hadn’t taken my phone with me when Lucy and I had gone to watch the fireworks. The twins met us at the door when we got back to the suite, though, thrusting the noisy thing at me as soon as we stepped through the door. “Some guy named Nate keeps calling,” Luca grumbled, looking sleepy. “He wouldn’t tell me what he wanted, but he’s been calling, like, every ten minutes.”
Fucking hell. Swallowing a groan, I took the phone and went out onto the balcony to take the call. It was Saturday night; a million different things could have gone wrong. Shutting the door behind me to get some privacy in case I had to tear Nate or Barb a new one, I lifted the phone to my ear. “What’s wrong?” I demanded as I leaned back against the rail. My gut was already twisting in a way that told me I wasn’t going to like what my new assistant manager had to say.
Fuck. I didn’t want this right now. I had plans.
“Peyton brought in a rough crowd, boss.” Nate jumped right to the point, and I raked my free hand through my hair. “Tiny wouldn’t let her take them upstairs, so she started causing a scene. Then two of the fuckers she brought with her started a fight with a VIP who was trying to get by them. They busted his jaw, man, but he was still able to scream lawsuit at Barb.”
I dropped into one of the chairs and raked my free hand through my hair again. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Perfect. “I’ll grab the first flight out,” I assured him. I had to deal with this shit personally or risked facing some bad publicity for First Bass. I’d worked too hard to let some chick ruin it all for me. I didn’t want to leave Lucy, but I needed to be able to provide for her and our future, and First Bass would do that and more. “If things get too bad, call my mom. She can handle any bad PR until I get there.”
“You got it, man.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “Sorry, boss. I know you still had a few more days out there.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “Can’t be helped. See you soon.”
“Right. Later.”
Dropping my hand with the phone, I sat there for a long moment, dreading having to leave. Having to say goodbye. I had planned on staying with Lucy at Georgetown Sunday and Monday nights and then flying out Tuesday morning. I’d needed those extra nights alone with her, to soak up being with her to help me through the six weeks we would be apart.
Now I had to leave and she couldn’t come with me.
Fucking hell.
Lucy was in the kitchenette when I went back inside. She was making herself a cup of Sleepytime tea, but she lifted her head and offered me a welcoming smile when I walked in. The look on my face told her that my conversation hadn’t gone well. The smile disappeared and her face filled with disappointment. “You have to go, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I’m sorry, Lu.”
Setting her mug down, she walked around the small island and wrapped her arms around my waist. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured, trying to put on a brave face for me. “Six weeks will fly by in no time at all.” Her voice cracked at the end and I saw her chin tremble. “We’ll be okay.”
“I know, sweetness.” I kissed the top of her head. “I know.”
She buried her face in my chest. “Will you call me every day?”
I pressed my lips to the top of her head. Closing my eyes, I soaked up just having her there against me like that. “Lu, I’ll call you so much you’ll get tired of seeing my name pop up on your phone.”
“Never.”
“Never is a long time,” I tried to tease, throwing her words back at her from earlier.
“So is forever,” she breathed. “But that’s how long I’ll love you.”