“Oh,” he said lamely. “It’s because you’re in it.”
“It’s hard not to sound like a conceited prick by saying that, but yes. And after how perfectly Katie nailed that routine, I’m afraid this won’t go away anytime soon. Again, I’m sorry. Please let me help see to your security. I can have someone at your house within twenty-four hours.”
Will’s excitement over talking to the rock star had eased into concern for Katie. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I can take care of it.”
“Please let me. It would make me feel a little better about all of this.”
“All right,” Will relented. “Thanks for offering.”
Archer followed through. A security specialist named Ryan Westbrook from a company called Ordinem showed up at Will’s house the next day. Gareth had used his spare key to meet him since his dad was working.
Since then, Ryan had become Katie’s shadow. As far as Katie knew, he was a friend of Will’s who needed a place to stay for a while. By all reports, she got along fine with him.
To keep her from the public eye, they made use of the gates Will and his dad had installed between their backyards and Gareth’s while they were completing their home renovations. Gareth and Althea had wanted all of them to be able to use their pool without worrying about going through their house. It gave them all relative privacy to move between the houses.
Because there were other houses backing up to their backyards, the paparazzi couldn’t get back there without breaking the law. Will imagined it wouldn’t be much longer before one of them got desperate enough to try it. The video continued to gain in popularity. The longer he and Katie remained silent, the more fervor it seemed to cause. Archer had definitely been right about needing the security.
If he hadn’t known how much it would upset Katie, Will would have asked Jasmine to stop the lessons for a while. He was worried she would become a paparazzi target the moment she exited her car in front of his house. As far as he knew, she had been spared the onslaught so far because only her profile was visible in the video, but if anyone saw her with Katie, it wouldn’t take long to make the connection.
His dad ended up contacting her about it. They worked out an arrangement where she parked in Gareth’s garage for the lessons. She used the backyards to get to Will’s house for the few lessons she had given Katie over the past couple weeks.
But even the highly unusual circumstances hadn’t prompted her to reach out to him.
It took another hour and a half after the plane landed for the team to reach their vehicles so they could finally head home. By then, Will’s eyelids felt like lead weights.
“See you at the party, Campbell?” Evan asked over the roof of his car.
Evan and Sierra had invited him and Katie to an upcoming pool party at their condo complex along with the other players and their families. Will agreed to go before he’d known what a circus his life was about to become.
“Actually, I’m not sure we should go,” he said. “I don’t want to draw the paparazzi to your place.”
“Our complex is secure if you’re worried about someone getting in. The pool can’t be accessed by anyone but the tenants.”
Will wasn’t convinced that was good enough. “I’m too tired to think straight right now. Let me see what things are like at home and I’ll let you know.”
“All right.” Evan’s gaze was steady on his face. “If things get out of hand and you and Katie need a place to stay, you’re always welcome to come by us.”
“Thanks,” Will said, genuinely surprised by the offer. “I hope it doesn’t come to anything like that, but I appreciate it.”
“No worries. You know how to reach me.”
Nodding, Will watched him get into his car and then got behind the wheel of his truck. He took a minute to appreciate the reality that he now had friends who truly cared about him and Katie before he turned the engine.
Things had sure changed a lot over the last five months.
He cranked his music and his A/C to give him the energy he needed to drive home. Or rather, to his dad’s house since that was where Katie was sleeping. He’d crash on his dad’s couch for a few hours.
His street looked quiet. Of course, it was still early.