“First of all, no one cares about me—”
“Yes, they do!”
“And, second of all, I don’t want publicity. I just want Steph with no Griffin in the picture.”
“This is what I’m saying, doofus.”
“Forget it.”
“Don’t make me do what’s best for you.”
“Chris, I swear—”
“You’re welcome.” She hung up.
She wouldn’t really go through with it, he reassured himself. Not if she wanted to live through another family dinner. His parents would take his side on this one. Well, his dad would. He pushed that out of his mind. No one would pay any attention to Chris. No one cared about him enough to report on him. It was fine.
~ ~ ~
Steph showed up at Dave’s door that night wearing her taupe belted coat with stilettos and nothing else.
He regarded her warily. “What are you doing here?”
She pushed past him and dropped the coat.
He swallowed visibly. She waited. A beat passed while they stared at each other. Then she said the one thing she knew would press his button.
“Game on, Dave. I dare you.”
He shook his head slowly, and her heart stopped. Then he scooped her up and carried her toward the bedroom.
“You should never dare me,” he said before he tossed her on the bed. “Game fucking on.”
Steph reveled in it. After a lot more dares and a lot more loving, Steph snuggled into Dave’s side and traced a circle over his chest. “I think I know how to convince Griff to move things along.”
He pulled back to stare at her. “You do?”
“Yeah, though it might mean some press for us. Are you okay with that?”
He sighed heavily, muttering, “This again.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” He kissed her hair. “Okay, fine. I’ll do anything to get him out of the picture.”
She let out a breath. This could be embarrassing, especially if her students saw the press, but it was time she put her and Dave first.
~ ~ ~
Griffin did a double take when he got the email from his publicist. It was a photo of Steph and Dave, their arms wrapped around each other, as she looked up at him adoringly. But that wasn’t what got to him. Steph was dressed as Fiona from Shrek, complete with ogre ears. Dave wore his ogre ears too.
His chest clutched. He’d lost his muse. His music would never be the same again. He poured a shot of whiskey and tossed it back. The Steph he knew would never dress like an ogre. The woman hated to even leave the house without lipstick. For her to let herself be photographed like this meant only one thing—she was really and truly in love. And though she’d told him that, he hadn’t really believed her. He’d been caught in the memories of what they’d once had, and some part of him kept thinking he could get her back given enough time.
He called Paulie D. “I’m signing the papers.”
“I don’t advise—”
Griffin hung up. Next he called his accountant to arrange a few things. He had houses to sell, a trust to set up for Joey, cash to raise.
He sent the papers to Steph with overnight delivery. Then he did what any rock star would do. He drank whiskey, took a long shower, sank to the shower floor, and sobbed. It was really over. He’d lost his muse. He’d lost his music. He had nothing left.
~ ~ ~
Steph had no idea what that one picture of her and Dave would unleash. They went back to his place after work only to find a crowd of press waiting with cameras and microphones. All eager to hear from Dave.
“Little Genius, where’ve you been hiding all these years?”
“Are you going back into show business?”
“How did you stay out of the spotlight for so long?”
Dave’s hand tightened on hers. He seemed frozen, staring at one camera that was trained on him.
“Dave?” she asked. “What’s going on? What are they talking about?”
“No comment,” Dave said to the press and pulled her inside the house.
He turned on the TV and went to his laptop. Steph stared incredulously as the news flashed Dave’s school teacher picture next to a picture of Dave as a little kid. He was adorable, a miniature version of the man she knew, his brown hair parted neatly to the side, already wearing round glasses.