Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sophia
After a very quick stop for food and bathroom break, we made it to the Corn Palace by the late afternoon. Tate is driving when my phone rings. I glance at the screen on my dashboard.
Frowning, I tell Tate to answer it.
“Holy shit! Why didn’t you tell me you started seeing Tate?” Marti’s voice yells from the car’s speakers.
Tate’s head whips around to look at me, both of us wide-eyed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask as I feel three other sets of eyes bore into me.
“Hold on…Carol…what tabloid…” She trails off and her voice is muffled for a moment.
“Carol?” I mouth.
Tate frowns and looks back at the road as he pulls into a parking lot a few blocks from our destination.
“It’s all over social media. They are wondering who you are and if you and Tate are an item,” she says.
“Why are you with Carol?” I ask.
“Oh, uh, since you two…I called her about the thing you and Tate discussed with your book and, uh, we decided to meet up and…uh, go over some things,” she stammers. What in the actual fuck is going on here?
“We are not an item,” I assure her. I can feel my cheeks heating as I say this. “We’re…professional. I mean, we’re business colleagues.”
Tate’s watching me in the rearview mirror, and I can feel his gaze on me like the sun’s rays. I swallow and steal a glance at him. Is he mad I said that? I frown in confusion but then Marti speaks again.
“Oh, bummer. That could really bump up your career. Well, maybe we can play coy for a few days. Shall I spill your name to the paps?” she asks.
I can see Tate’s eyes flash with anger. “Uh, no. Not right now. Let’s just let them have to work it out. They’ll probably figure it out soon, now that there are photos of me,” I offer.
“OK, but talk to Mr. Big Shot about it because you could use the press. And tell him to call Carol,” she replies, and I know she’s just doing her job, but, fuck, could she be more callous. Normally, I love this about her, but right now, I want to crawl into a hole and die. I can still feel Penn, Jordan, and Rex watching me. What must they think?
“Hi, Marti. This is—” Tate starts.
I cut off the call before Tate can say anything else.
“What the fuck, Sophia?” Tate grumbles.
“Why is Marti with Carol?” I ask no one and everyone.
“Wait…is Marti…does she date…women?” Penn asks. I swivel to face Penn.
“Yeah,” I say slowly trying to figure out why that matters.
“Oh, for the love of God! Is my agent fucking your agent?” Tate says loudly.
My eyes widen. “What? You think Carol and Marti are, like…hooking up?”
“If the shoe fits…” Rex mutters under his breath.
“Uh, can we focus on the real problem here?” Jordan asks.
We all turn to look at him. “The paps have seen you with us. It’s only a matter of time until they figure out who you are. And the fact that we are all together. What’s the game plan?”
The car is filled with groans. I stare down the road at the palace made of corn. What am I doing? I’m in the middle of nowhere South Dakota with a car filled with enough egos to fill the largest doorway in the world, and meanwhile, I’m missing my kids, not working on my next book, and skipping out on my job for a week.
“Why do you look like you have buyer’s remorse?” Penn asks.
“Because she does. She’s stuck with us, trying to fly under the radar while clearly wishing she was anywhere but here,” Tate states.
“That’s not true!” I yell. All the men stop and stare at me.
I swallow hard and stare back, crossing my arms. “ I decided to come on this…crazy trip.” I motion around us with a wave of my hand. “ I was the one who was stupid and didn’t question why we were without security.” I point to myself. “ I still think this trip is worth it even if my photo is plastered all over the tabloids.” I pause and take a deep breath. “Now, we will need to figure out how to spin this. I think we could just say we were meeting to discuss adapting my last book for film. I mean, that’s not untrue and it’s easiest to stick to the real story or as close as we can.”
“What about all of us though?” Penn asks.
I shrug. “You want to be in a romance film?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Jordan bursts out laughing followed by Tate and Rex and then even Penn’s lips twitch until he can no longer hold back laughter.
I find myself giggling too at the thought of Penn being a male lead in a romance film. It’s so far from his usual roles and certainly far from his real self.
“Let’s go see some corn,” Rex says as he opens his door and puts on his baseball cap.
“Maybe we should, like…divide up so we aren’t so…conspicuous?” I suggest.
Penn takes Rex by the arm. “Come on, sweetie , we don’t want to miss the gift shop,” he says.
Rex glares at him.
“What? We’ll pretend to be a couple and…” He pauses and turns to Tate, Jordan, and me.
“No…no way. We are not a thruple. Get your weird-ass mind out of the gutter,” Tate mutters.
Rex laughs. “Fuck it. This…is going to be fun. Come on, love. I can’t wait to see all the corn.”
I slip my arms through Tate’s and Jordan’s and look up at them. “I mean…when in Rome.”
Jordan rolls his eyes. “Alisha is going to kill me.”
“Hey, what happens at the Corn Palace, stays there,” I declare, and Tate elbows me.
I look up at him and wink. His lips twitch as he appears to fight a grin, but then he shakes his head and smiles down at me. And suddenly, it doesn’t matter about the paparazzi. It only matters that I’m here with my new friends, having fun. That’s what’s real, after all.
* * *
After looking at…well, a shit ton of corn, I make my way to an area without a lot of people. Penn is looking at something and I stand next to him. We’ve done well, keeping a low profile today. Tate is currently calling Carol, while Jordan went to the bathroom.
“Where’s Rex…I mean…your boyfriend?” I tease as I bump my hip against his.
“He’s at the gift shop,” Penn says before turning toward me. He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I frown.
“What’s with the serious look?” I ask.
He shrugs and looks back across the room. I follow his gaze. It’s a couple. The woman is leaning her head on the man’s shoulder as they sit on a bench talking and laughing. She has a very prominent baby bump.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask.
“My thoughts are more expensive than that,” he grumbles in a very unlike-Penn way.
“How about a million dollars, then?”
He gives me a pointed look and I shrug. “It was worth a try,” I add.
He wraps his arm around me and gives me a sideways hug. I wrap my arm around his midsection and we both watch the couple as the man clearly feels his baby kick. His eyes light up and I smile as I remember those moments with Mark.
“What’s it like?” he asks, not looking away from the people across from us.
“What’s what like?” I inquire.
“Being a mom, being married, having a family…that,” he states, motioning to two people who are now laughing as their baby kicks at the man’s hand.
I pause and consider my answer. “That’s a big question…” I trail off for a moment. “It’s…nerve-wracking; it’s wonderful; it’s scary; and it’s amazing.”
Penn glances down at me. “That’s a lot of things.”
I laugh. “It is. It’s…everything. Those two are starting a whole journey together,” I try to explain as I motion toward them with a nod of my head. “From the looks of it, I’m guessing they are going to be parents. They clearly seem like a couple in love.”
“But what is it really like?”
I take a deep breath. “Well, you leave who you were, or at least some of that person behind so you can be a different person, or at least replace the things you did before with taking care of a little human. It’s a lot of work and sometimes it’s frustrating or scary or exhausting, but it’s also rewarding and…there are these little moments, not every day but many days where this little being you created does something or says something and it’s like…the world disappears for a moment, nothing else matters but you and them. It…fills you up in an indescribable way.”
I glance up at him trying to figure out what he’s thinking. “Do you think you’d ever want that?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I keep thinking about it recently. I don’t know why.”
I giggle. “Is your biological clock ticking?” I tease.
He groans. “Haha. Very funny.”
“I’m serious. You’re known as this Hollywood playboy. Maybe you’re tired of that and want something different,” I suggest.
“Maybe, but that’s a pretty extreme difference,” he points out as he continues to watch the couple.
“It is. You don’t have to go that extreme. At least not at first, maybe try just dating one person for a while,” I offer.
“I’d have to find her first,” he mumbles.
“You have time, Penn. Open your heart up to the idea and maybe the universe will send you someone,” I state, wanting to be supportive of my new friend.
“You think?”
I nod. “Yep,” I say, letting the “p” pop.
“Thanks, Soph,” he says.
“Anytime,” I reply. I’m about to offer to be on the lookout for women when Rex walks up to us.
“They have popcorn balls,” he announces as he proudly holds up a bag.
I press my lips together to keep from laughing too much. “Yum,” I manage as I step back from Penn.
“What are you two doing?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.
Penn shrugs. “Looking at corn. You think Jordy and Taint are ready to go?”
“Don’t know. Let’s text them. I want to get to Mount Rushmore before it gets too late,” Rex says as he pulls out his phone. I feel the buzz of my phone in my pocket from the group text we started. I give my head a little shake, still feeling like I should pinch myself to check if this whole road trip is some sort of bizarre dream.
My head is still leaning on Penn’s shoulder when Tate rounds the corner. He glares at Penn, and I frown. What the hell is that about? Maybe he needs a nap or maybe his head is hurting.
“You OK?” I ask him as I pull away from Penn and step toward him.
“Yeah, let’s get back on the road,” he mutters as he turns and walks toward the entrance.
“What the heck is that about?” I hiss to Rex.
“No idea. Tate’s got a lot of layers. Sometimes, he just needs a minute to deal with his life. He’ll be fine.” Rex pauses and looks down at me as we walk. “Any brilliant ‘grand gesture’ ideas yet?”
“Not yet. But it’ll come to me, they always do,” I state as I see Jordan coming over toward us. We walk the block to the car and pile in.
“Let’s go see some giant-ass president heads on a rock,” Penn declares as he drives us toward Mount Rushmore. He seems less contemplative than earlier. I hope our chat helped.
I feel eyes on me, and I look over to see Tate watching me. “Did you enjoy it?” he asks.
“I did. You?” I ask.
He nods. And then looks out the window. I wonder what is going on with him, but decide not to pry. Maybe I’ll ask him later when we are alone.
I look around the car and realize just how much I’ve come to care about these men in such a short time. Tate’s lucky to have such good friends. I just hope I can deliver on my end of the bargain when it comes to getting him back with his ex-girlfriend. I also need to stop hoping he doesn’t get back together with her. Real life will be much easier to reacclimate to if I can keep reminding myself that this trip is just a temporary thing. Tate and the rest of the guys will leave in a few days and maybe he will make my book into a movie, but either way, I have to go back to my normal life. I frown to myself as I realize that I really hope my normal life still has Tate in it, even if we are just friends.