on tour in a week. In the middle of this bullshit, I was going to abandon her. Okay, that was a little dramatic. She would have Cassie and a full security team ready if she needed them.
It wasn’t the same, but it was all I could do. The other option would be to convince her to come on tour with us. There were both practical and selfish reasons for wanting her on tour. Maybe tonight I could persuade her.
“I love you, Tristan.”
Her words warmed my heart. We would get through this.
“I love you, too. Now go rock being a therapist and ignore the idiots who don’t even know you. I’ll see you and James tonight,” I said.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You mean the world to me, Evie. Don’t forget that.”
“I’ll do my best,” she said.
I swear I could hear her smile.
Later that night, after we kicked everyone out, I tucked Evie into my side and nuzzled her neck. James was currently in his super amazing—his words, not mine—dinosaur bed, and hopefully, he’d be asleep in no time so I could take advantage of his mother—with her consent, of course.
“Finally, just the two of us,” I said, kissing behind her ear.
“Well, James is still here,” she said, tilting her head to look up at me.
“He was exhausted. Charlie let him go crazy on her drum kit and Jax was running around with him right before dinner. I’m amazed he didn’t pass out on his plate.”
She laughed. “Me too. He did that once, right into a plate of syrup-covered pancakes.” She shook her head. “I had to put him right in the tub to clean him up. So sticky.”
“I can imagine.”
“Thanks for tonight. It almost felt normal, just hanging out with family. You know, if your family is famous rock stars.” She grinned.
“I’m glad you were able to take your mind off of everything. You need that, Evie. It’s too much to focus on something you can’t control. The media are vultures and they’ll move on eventually. They always do.”
“I hope so. I hate always being on edge. Every time I walk down the street, I wonder if someone is going to pop out and ask me awful questions.”
I tugged her into my lap. I needed her to be closer.
“I think you should come on tour with us,” I said.
“What?” she asked, tilting her head back to look at me.
“You and James. Come with us. Even if it’s only for a week or two. Just to get out of here,” I said.
“I have clients and taking James on tour is not a good idea. He’s only three. He can’t go to the shows. They are way past his bedtime,” she said.
I tried to read her expression, looking for something that told me if she was actually considering it, but I couldn’t figure her out.
“People bring their kids on tour all the time. I think it would be a good way for you to get out from under all of this. I’m afraid the media might get worse before it gets better and I won’t be here to help.”
She put her hand on my chest. “I really appreciate it, I do, but I can’t drop everything and go with you guys.”
I wasn’t going to remind her that more clients might drop her, but I feared they would. People were assholes.
“Think about it. I want to do whatever I can for you and James, and this might be an easy solution.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “Thank you for helping me deal with this. You’re amazing, you know that?”
I grinned. “Some super-hot blonde keeps mentioning it.”
She laughed, and it warmed up my entire body. “She’s super smart, too.”
“That she is,” I said, pressing a kiss to her head and snuggling into the couch with her.
This moment was perfection and I didn’t want anything to ruin it. Especially another tabloid story.
Chapter 24
EVIE
“Hi, Evie.”
“Hi, Jessica,” I said into my phone, wondering why she was calling me at home. “Everything okay?”
“I was hoping to catch you before you headed in.”
I sighed. “Is the media outside the office again?” After Dustin’s bullshit bombshell, the vultures had swooped in again. James and I had spent a lot of time at Tristan’s to avoid them since he had better security. It was getting ridiculous, and I spent my days flipping between frustration and anger when it came to the media and pure bliss when it came to James and Tristan.
I was a mess, and I needed to figure out how to