"Glad to hear it. I wanted to get your thoughts before moving forward."

"Thank you, Deena!" Then I paused, thinking. "I don't know if I want to just drop out. Getting an education is important to me."

"Don't worry about it. A business degree would only make you more useful to us. We'll work around your schedule. Our work is never nine-to-five anyway." Deena got up from leaning on the desk and smoothed her shirt.

"We'll talk more about this later. For now, just keep up the good work."

"I will, I promise."

"And keep the conversation just between the two of us, all right? We need to work out the details first."

As soon as Deena walked out, I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle the bout of hysterical laughter that threatened to bubble up. My chest hurt with the effort, and my cheeks ached from grinning so widely.

I'd never imagined my big break in the music industry would come so soon! I pulled out my phone to message Neil the good news.

A pang of sadness washed through me. That was right. Things were over between Neil and I. He was the first person I thought of when I wanted to share my good news, but that was over now.

And Jayce. I'd be working at his record label, but he wouldn't consider that good news. It would just make things more awkward between us. There would be no clean break after summer was over. I'd be seeing him all the time.

I slumped back into my chair and frowned. Things couldn't go on like this. I needed to fix things between us.

Between all three of us.

BEFORE THE INTERNSHIP started, I never would have imagined I'd be torn over two different men. Even more unbelievable was that, despite mutual attraction, I was unable to be with either one of them.

It didn't help matters that things were back to being tense between Jayce and Neil. It was fine while they were both working, but things always got awkward during down time. They tried to hide it and act professionally, but whenever the two of them were within yards of each other, their hackles came up, like two wolves fighting over a tasty hunk of dead deer.

I didn't know whether to be amused or exasperated. They were both jealous of the other when neither one of them had me. It was stupid.

The tense atmosphere must have been apparent to more than just me, because Kell took me aside one day and asked me if I knew what was going on with Jayce.

"He's a lot more subdued than usual," Kell said, a worried frown on his face. "But then every so often he'll get tense and irritable." Kell turned his gaze to me and stared me down with a keen eye. "It only seems to happen when he's around you and that producer."

Either the situation was patently obvious to everyone around us or Kell was a lot more perceptive than he let on.

"Has everyone noticed?"

"No. I don't think anyone's noticed except for me. But if things don't simmer down, I'm worried those two might end up in a fist fight sometime soon."

I debated whether or not to come clean. I didn't want Kell to think I was just some groupie going after anyone who would take me. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about all this, though. My thoughts kept going around in circles. I was unsure of what to do to make things less awkward for everyone.

"Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Of course." Kell looked at me thoughtfully. "Come on, let's go somewhere private."

He took me back to the tour bus and sat me down on the sofa next to him.

"So, what's going on with Jayce?"

"We... sort of had a... thing," I confessed, slowly dragging out each word.

Kell raised an eyebrow.

"A thing?"

"We kissed. And some other stuff." I tried not to blush. Kell's lips twitched at the corner as if he couldn't help himself from smirking. "What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. Just glad to see my plan worked."

"Plan?"

Kell shook his head, laughing. "I knew there was only one girl who could tear his attention away from his guitar."

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you think it was too much of a coincidence that Jayce's internet crush got a job at his music label?"

I frowned. "Are you telling me it wasn't?"

"How did you hear about this internship?"

"One of my followers messaged me."

Kell grinned, silent and waiting. It clicked.

"That was you?"

"That was me." He nodded triumphantly. "Jayce only mentioned your name a couple times because we kept on ragging on him for being a creepy stalker. We told him the girl behind the keyboard was probably a fifty-year-old man in grungy sweatpants."

"I did wear sweatpants while writing my reviews a lot of the time," I joked weakly.

"I remembered, though. When Deena told me she was looking to hire a social media person, I couldn't think of anyone better."

I was dismayed. "So I only got the job because of you?"

"No! Not at all. You got the job on your own merits, I just made you aware of the opportunity. Deena made the final call. She had no idea about my evil scheme."

I couldn't believe Kell had gone through all that trouble just to play matchmaker.

"So Jayce knows now, huh? How long did it take him to figure it out?"

"Not long, I guess."

"So, I have to ask. If you and Jayce had a thing-" he raised his fingers in air quotes, "then what's with you and that producer guy?"

"I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that at all. First of all, he kissed me. Second, Jayce and I both decided we couldn't be together. There would just be too much trouble if people found out."

Kell frowned, but nodded for me to go on.

"I've actually been talking to that producer online for almost a year. I know him by his online name, Neil. We'd never met in person and didn't know who the other was when we first starting working together. Actually," I said ruefully, "I kind of thought he was an ass at first."

"He is."

"Apparently he's working on it." I rolled my eyes. "I had posted something online and he realized who I was. Then he just came up to me and kissed me out of the blue."

"People saw you on a date with him. You went out for drinks."

"Yeah." I looked down at my hands, fidgeting. I felt like I was just making excuse after excuse. "After Jayce and I decided nothing could happen between us, Neil and I decided to give it a go. Neil asked about Jayce, but I told him it was over. We went on that one date, but never managed to get together again. He was always too busy, could never make time for me. I decided to just end it with him before it got too serious. Both of us are here for work, anyway. He's so dedicated to his job, he's got a one-track mind. It would have been nice if we could have made it work, but-" I shrugged. "That's the situation."

"So you're with neither of them?"

"I'm one hundred percent single. Why, you want to ask me out next?"

"Do the both of them know that?"

"Huh?"

"Each of them probably thinks you're with the other."

I blinked at him, taken aback.

"I just assumed they both knew I wasn't with anyone. That explains the tension."

"I think you need to sit down with both of them and explain the situation. They don't need to be competing for your affections like this is some sort of historical romance novel."

"Good thing I'm not stuck in a historical romance. Kissing two different guys? I'd be branded with a scarlet letter."

"Hey, it's the twenty-first century. You're free to kiss whomever you desire. In fact," Kell wiggled his eyebrows at me in a cartoonish come-hither stare, "feel free to kiss me whenever you want."

I huffed out a laugh. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, thanks."

I moved to sit up, but Kell tugged on my arm.

"Hey, listen."

I sat back down. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking.

"Jayce... he has this weird complex about being famous."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what everyone says about him. He's a sex god. He melts the panties off girls."

"No argument there."

"That's the thing. Jayce doesn't want to be a sex god. He's a musician. An artist. He lives for the music."

Understanding dawned on me. "But all anyone talks about is how hot he is..."

"Right. On stage, he loves the spotlight. I mean, he is a rock star." Kell grinned, but it soon faded. "But off stage? He hates the media. He hates how it created this shallow image of him."

"And Jayce is worried that's all anyone will ever see," I said softly.

"If he could, I think he'd prefer to avoid all that attention entirely. And I think..." Kell leaned back against the sofa and propped his head up on his hand, looking weary and sad. I wondered whether or not Jayce had confided in him, or if it was just Kell being perceptive. He was much more insightful than people gave him credit for. "...Jayce probably assumes the same of everyone else. He doesn't get why I crave media attention."

"Because you're a vain glory hog."

Kell just grinned.

I thought for a moment. "Jayce said we couldn't be together because the fans would get mad."

"That's stupid. I mean, I guess a few of them would, but it's not like we care. Is that what he told you?" Kell shook his head, exasperated.

"You think he lied about why he didn't want to be with me?"

"Oh, he definitely wants to be with you. He's been following you online forever, and then you show up on tour with us? It's too good to be true. As for why he'd lie to you-" Kell was brought up short, looking stumped. "I guess you'll have to ask him that."

I was silent for a moment, processing everything Kell had told me. I needed to diffuse the tension between Jayce and Neil before things exploded between them, but first I needed to get some answers from Jayce.

If he wanted to be with me, why had he lied?

Chapter Seventeen.

I waited a few days until I could corner Jayce right after a concert. I almost felt bad trying to catch him off guard, but I needed to confront him when he was at his most vulnerable. I didn't want him to just blow me off or try to change to subject. I needed him out of his depth if we were going to have the kind of conversation I needed to have with him.

We were in a different venue, but he'd managed to find a back entrance that led to a fire escape. I wondered if Jayce scouted out the best hiding spots at every concert venue they played.

I found him sitting on the edge of the metal stairway, arms hanging over the railing, legs dangling off the sides. The cool air seemed to do him some good. His skin didn't look as dull, and the whites of his eyes were clear.

"Hey."

He jerked his head around and then relaxed when he saw me. "Hey."

"How you feeling?"

He shrugged. "Better than usual."

"Did that meditation app help?"