A Love Song for Always - Piper Lawson Page 0,7

apologetic. “Can I get your eyes on something?” he asks Rae.

She hands me the phone with Elle, leaving me with a phone in each hand. Then she shifts out of the booth by standing on the seat and swinging both legs out to drop off the other side.

“I appreciate the thought, but…” I try to think of the best way to say that even though I’m touched, we simply don’t have time. “I’m not sure everyone will be able to make a party at the last minute.”

He waves. “Everyone already knows except you, Manatee.” He cocks his head, glancing back at the walls. “Do sharks eat manatees? Anyway, whatever’s on this little list”—he lifts the phone from my hand and surveys it while I stretch across the table, trying to snatch it back—“you’re gonna clear it for two nights from now.”

“Annie? Take a breath. You’re turning purple,” Elle advises from the phone. “Now, I have to go if I’m going to see you in person for the party.” She blows a kiss and clicks off.

I’m still numb when Rae returns, leaning over the back of the booth.

“We good?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say and try to mean it as I shift out of my seat.

Beck stands as well. “Your folks get in tomorrow, right? When was the last time you saw them?”

“This winter,” I admit.

“It’ll be good to catch up.”

“It’ll be something,” I say, thinking of the text I sent Haley as my stomach knots all over again.

When we reach the door, Beck squeezes my shoulder. “Hey. I know you’re a Jamieson by blood. But you know who your real family is, don’t you?”

I huff out a breath. “Yeah.”

“Fuck anyone who messes with you,” he calls after me. “Including Ty. You’ve got us. Right, Rae?”

“Go Avengers.” Her deadpan has my mouth twitching.

“Thank you, guys.”

Their love carries me all the way to my car, until I check my phone to find a group text to me, Tyler, and Dad.

Haley: Family meeting tomorrow morning.

5

When Tyler said he was taking me to dinner, I had no idea what to expect—or what to wear. He refused to tell me, and knowing him, it could be a corner table at the hottest place in town or something simple.

I walk downstairs and see him on his phone, pacing in the living room. I take a second to admire him in his navy shirt and dark pants.

He turns, and his entire expression warms as he takes in my gold cocktail dress and heels.

“Yeah. We’ll talk later.”

The phone disappears into his pocket, and a grin stretches across his face.

“You know the first time I realized how beautiful you are?” he murmurs as I take the final few steps. He rounds the couch to meet me, stopping a foot away. “Your dad and Haley’s wedding. I saw you walking down the aisle, and my chest cracked in two. Because I knew I could never be your friend the way I had been, the way I swore to myself and your dad that I would be.”

My throat is thick with emotion. “How do you know just what to say to wreck me?”

He brushes a thumb down my cheek. “I don’t want to make you weak. I only ever want to make you strong.”

As the limo takes us to the restaurant, we catch up on the past few weeks. I talk to him about handing off the show for the next month, how it feels exciting and scary at once. He tells me about his tour, the anticipation and awe of such a huge production and the reluctance of departing.

“I don’t like the idea of leaving you again,” he says quietly.

“You’ll visit me, and I’ll visit you. We decided together this time. It’s different.”

I thread my fingers through his, tilting my face up for a kiss he grants me without hesitation. As the limo pulls up outside the restaurant and we step out, I take in the vintage hotel with delight.

“When we came here before, it was packed,” I say as security inconspicuously walks us to the elevator, where we’re escorted by a bellman to the top floor. “I’m so glad you got a table.”

We step out and take a short hallway with contemporary art on the walls before it opens onto a breathtaking rooftop patio that looks as if it could hold a dozen tables with crisp white tablecloths. But tonight, it features only one.

“I did better than a table. It’s all ours,” Tyler says.

Awe fills me, stretching my chest like