Truth

I rubbed my thumbs over her flushed cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Brooklyn bit her lip, trying to hide a smile.

I pulled her by the hand farther onto the stage, energetically taking us over to the microphone.

My voice was shaky and unlike the Reid King that everyone knew. “Everyone…I’d like you to meet Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn gasped and clenched onto my hand even tighter. I gave my fans one single wave before pulling us both offstage, running down the hall past my bandmates and the wide eyes of the staff, and flinging us into my dressing room.

She took a deep breath as soon as the door slammed behind us, and I just stared at her.

It was all I could do.

There were so many things I wanted to say, so many things I wanted to do.

Yet, all I could do was stare at her like she wasn’t real. I may have been in shock.

“I’m sorry it took me so long,” she finally said after pulling her hands away from mine. She stood close to the door and clasped her arms together before spreading them out again. She was nervous. The last time I saw her this nervous was the moment before I took her body and made it mine.

I wiped the sweat from my face with my forearm and laughed.

Brooklyn’s brow furrowed as she gave me that famous Brooklyn grimace. “What?”

I walked over to her, peering down at her pouty mouth. “You’re sorry for taking too long?” I shook my head as another chuckle tumbled out. “I think I should be the one apologizing.”

She went to shake her head, but I gently grabbed her chin with my hand, angling her face to mine. “There’s so much I need to tell you. There’s so much I need to explain, especially about Angelina. And I know a song,”—I shrugged—“or twelve, isn’t enough to tell you how sorry I am, to tell you how stuck in my own head I was.” I shook my head, angry at myself. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long. I’m sorry I hurt you. I just needed time to…”

Brooklyn searched my face before whispering, “You needed time to face the truth.”

I nodded. “There was a lot I needed to face, but by far, the one I needed to face the most… was you.”

Brooklyn brought her hand up to my wrist, wrapping her warm fingers around the spot my pulse was pounding. “Me?”

I brought her mouth a little closer to mine. “You.”

“What about me?” she asked, her breath hitting my lips and making every single bone in my body quake.

“You’re everything, Brooklyn. Everything. You’re everything I didn’t know I needed. You somehow swooped in and saved me from myself. I was drowning, completely suffocating, and knee-deep in shit that I had no way of getting myself out of… until you.”

“I was just trying to help you write a song,” she said, a light laugh floating out of her mouth.

I grabbed her chin a little tighter. “Don’t you dare downplay what we had.”

“What is it that we had, Reid? Because right now, looking at you, standing this close to you, I can’t remember much of anything other than the way my heart beats a little faster when you’re close to me. I can’t focus on anything other than the way my stomach is fluttering. I can’t even focus on the fact that Reid King just kissed me in front of an entire arena full of screaming fans.”

I wrapped my free arm around her body, pulling her flush to mine. “What we have is each other.”

Brooklyn brought her lips so close to mine that I thought I might pass out. “We’ll figure the rest out later, right?” she asked.

I murmured along her lips. “There’s nothing else to figure out.”

She smiled along mine. “Reid. You’re a famous rock star, and I’m… me. I teach small children music all day long. Two completely different worlds. In fact, I don’t even know how our worlds crossed.”

“Eh, that’s a minor hiccup,” I mused, and then I pressed my lips to hers so firmly she fell against the wall behind her.

She laughed, and I gave her a devil-like smile.

“Minor hiccup, for sure.”