Wait For Me

“Jackson as in Jackson McCoy from Buffalo Road? The band you opened for a few years ago?”

“Yep.”

Jessa fans her face and does her best mock swoon. “He’s so sexy.”

“He’s so taken.”

“So am I,” she says, flashing me the giant diamond my brother put on her finger a few years ago. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t admire.”

“Admire this.” I toss her my notebook.

“What is all of this?” she asks, flipping through the pages of my chicken scratch.

“Ideas from Marnie.”

“Who’s Marnie?”

“The manager I spoke with. Keep up, Jessa.”

“Sorry. Tell me about her.”

“There isn’t much to tell. She was nice. We talked about what went wrong with Becky, where my career has been, and the direction I want to take it. And get this, she outlined a plan for making it happen. We video conferenced for almost three hours, and I’m really impressed with her.”

“So, what happens now?”

“I told her I’m not ready to go back to LA, and she agreed. I’m going to spend the summer working on some of my own songs for the next album. She’s going to talk with the music execs and make sure they’re on the same page as us.”

“And if they’re not?”

“Then we’ll go somewhere else. They aren’t the only label in town. Anyway, Marnie thinks it’s a good idea to lay low after what happened with Todd—let the media interest die down while she works on putting our plan in motion, and when I go to Todd’s premiere, Marnie and I will meet in person.”

“You still have to go to Todd’s premiere?”

I groan and drop onto the bed beside Jessa. “Unfortunately.”

“That sucks.”

“It is what it is. I shouldn’t have bashed the hell out of his Porsche or stolen his BMW, although it felt great. Lesson learned. Next time I’ll beat up the guy, not the car.”

“Let’s hope there isn’t a next time. I thought your brother was going to lose his mind when you called and told us what happened. He was ready to hop a plane and hunt Todd down.”

I smile at the thought. Nick isn’t a fighter, but I know he’d go head to head if it meant protecting Jessa or me. “Thank you again for letting me crash here.”

“Stop thanking us. You’re family. This is your home too.”

I rest my hand on hers and squeeze it gently. “Love you, Jessa.”

“I hate to break up the chick fest,” Nick says, appearing in the doorway, “but I’m starving.”

“What are you doing home from work?” I ask.

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m starving. I was hoping one of you would make me lunch.”

I give Jessa a nudge. “He’s your husband.”

Nick holds out his hand and pulls Jessa into his arms. The way they look at each other, with stars in their eyes, is absolutely adorable, and also a little disgusting.

They kiss, and Jessa melts. I want what they have.