Chapter Forty-Five #2
Tears stream down my face as I listen, not because I’m frightened of Caleb—I never could be—but because it came to that final place for him.
I’m horrified by what happened, and I don’t excuse it for a second, but I understand how completely broken he must have been to reach that point. Losing me twice because of the same woman finally pushed him beyond his limit.
I’m just grateful he stopped before it was too late, and I pray I never have to hear Sasha’s name again.
We still have things to work through.
Trust, surprisingly, isn’t one of them.
It’s everything else…
His fame.
My anonymity.
The media.
The constant scrutiny that comes with loving someone the whole world thinks they know.
When the newspapers exposed my identity and strangers began turning up outside my house, something inside me changed that I’ve never truly recovered from. So I’ve asked Caleb to keep us a secret for now.
Just for a little while.
I’ve asked him to tell Aston too, because I don’t want the world finding out before I’m ready. I need time for this to belong to us again before it belongs to everyone else.
Caleb would happily climb onto the nearest rooftop and announce to the world that we’re back together.
I smile every time he says it.
But he understands why I need this.
Besides…
The last thing I want is for Mick to open Instagram or the news tomorrow morning and discover his ex-girlfriend is back with the lead singer of Staked less than twenty-four hours after ending their relationship. The man deserves better than that, and Caleb agrees.
For now, this is ours.
And that’s enough.
The hours slip by without either of us noticing. Conversation comes as easily as breathing. It’s as though the last seven months never happened.
We laugh.
We tease each other.
We talk until dinner grows cold.
Somewhere along the way, we simply find each other again.
Later, curled safely in Caleb’s arms, I realize just how much I’d forgotten what peace felt like.
Everything between us fits.
It always has.
So why did I keep running?
Every time things became difficult, I convinced myself that leaving was the answer.
But leaving never solved anything.
It only left two broken people trying to survive without the other.
Not this time.
This time I stay.
No more running.
No more taking flight.
No more convincing myself that life is easier without him when every moment apart has proved exactly the opposite.
Loving Caleb isn’t always easy.
But losing him… that’s unbearable.
They say, ‘Third time’s a charm.’
I hope they’re right because this is it.
No more chances.
No more goodbyes.
No matter how difficult this road becomes, I’m staying beside him.
Through the headlines.
The paparazzi.
The groupies.
The fans.
Whatever comes next, I’m all in.
Caleb
One and a Half Years Later
Indi and I have been back together for almost eighteen months, and keeping our relationship a secret has been harder than I ever imagined.
She’s determined to protect her anonymity, refusing to let anyone know we’re together, and while I understand why, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get to me sometimes.
I respect her enough to honor what she’s asking, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing I could tell the people I love that the woman I love has finally come home.
Aston is the only person who knows.
He’s also the only person I can talk to about her.
Not that he’s had much headspace lately.
Colt’s fiftieth birthday party turned into an absolute disaster.
Annie finally realized Aston and Amber were together, and seeing them as a couple sent her into a tailspin.
She admitted she still loved him, leaving Aston caught between the woman he’d never stopped loving and the woman he’d been trying so hard to move on with.
I told him the truth. If his heart still belonged to Annie, it wasn’t fair to keep Amber hanging on just because he was afraid of being alone. It would’ve been no different from what Indi had done with Mick, and he knew I was right.
The last time I spoke to him, he’d ended things with Amber.
After Annie disappeared from the party, I spent the rest of the night thinking about how lucky I was. As frustrating as keeping Indi a secret could be, at least she was lying beside me when I went home, and that was enough.
I climbed into bed beside her, wrapped her in my arms, and spent the entire night reminding her just how much I loved her.
I even asked her to marry me again.
She laughed.
Then, just like every other time, she said no… I’ve stopped taking it personally. Because one day she will say yes. I know she will.
She’s still scared.
If I’m honest, so am I.
Nothing about our relationship has ever been easy, but when it’s just the two of us, everything feels effortless. It’s the rest of the world that’s complicated.
She still isn’t ready for anyone to know we’re back together.
I wish she were.
I want to tell my family.
I want to stop pretending she’s just another nurse working ridiculous shifts while secretly coming home to me every night.
But I also understand why she’s hesitant.
The media tore her life apart once before, and she is terrified they’ll do it again.
Since we’ve been back together, she’s transferred back into emergency. Seeing her happy there again has been worth every compromise I’ve had to make. She comes home exhausted most nights, but she’s smiling again, and I’d forgotten how much I’d missed seeing that.
I just hope that when the day finally comes to tell the world about us, she’s ready for everything that follows.
Until then…
I’ll wait.
She’s worth waiting for.
This morning, I kiss her forehead before slipping quietly out of bed, careful not to wake her. She murmurs in her sleep, curling further beneath the blankets, and I can’t help smiling.
God, I love this woman.
I leave her a note on the kitchen bench explaining I’ve been called to Oxfordshire for an emergency meeting, then grab my phone and head outside.
As I’m walking to the car, I open Instagram.
The first thing that appears on my screen makes my stomach drop—a photo of Annie.
Half naked.