Page 78 of Taking the Pitch
I chuckle. “I am.”
He holds out his hand. “I’m Jake, this is my buddy, Craig. Do you think we could get a picture?”
I release Amelia’s hand to give Jake and Craig a handshake. “Sure,” I say, giving Amelia an apologetic smile. Amelia moves to get out of the way, but I quickly wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her to me. “You don’t mind if my girlfriend is in it too, do you?”
Amelia starts to protest, but the guys quickly agree. Jake asks someone passing by if they could take our picture and hands them his phone. We pose and the woman takes several pictures of the four of us.
She hands back the phone and they quickly look through them as she walks off.
“Thank you. These are great. Our buddies would have never believed us. Have a great day!” they both say, giving us a wave before continuing down the sidewalk.
Amelia bumps her shoulder into mine as we resume our walk. “Just a regular guy, huh?”
I bump her back. “Most of the time. The public gets a different side of me. My friends and family get the real me.”
She hums, nodding her head. “I totally get that. My readers know I have a service dog for my anxiety, but they don’t know the extent of it. I give them the version of myself I wish I could be all the time. Not the actual person I am behind closed doors.”
We enter the lobby, and Marty greets us with a wave. We both wave back as we pass the front desk and head towards the elevators.
Hitting the call button, I turn to Amelia. “You know they would still follow you and support you, right?”
Nodding, Amelia sighs. “I know. Charlie and Hazel have said as much. It’s just… I’m not always the bright, happy person they get. My readers bring me a lot of joy, them loving my stories brings me joy. But my anxiety and depression don’t always allow room for that joy, and I don’t want it to come off as ungrateful.”
We step into the elevator, and I hit the button for her floor, then wrap her in my arms. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Mills. But your readers could be going through similar things and showing them that you struggle too could be therapeutic for not only them, but you as well.”
Amelia nods into my chest saying a muffled, “You’re right.”
“Tell you what. When you get into your apartment. Go get your reading clothes on, grab your fluffy blanket and whatever else you may need. Text me a list of all the snacks you want. I’ll run to the store while you’re gathering your things, and I’ll meet you back here.”
Amelia’s head flies up, excited eyes meeting mine. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Wait. Why do I need to gather my stuff? We can just read at my place.”
“No offense, babe. But my library and reading space is kinda hard to beat.”
She snorts and pushes back from my chest when the elevator gets to her floor. “I’ll be the judge of that,babe,” she says, as she backs out of the elevator with Bruno. Giving me a wink before she turns around and heads to her apartment.
Fuck, I love this girl.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
amelia
He called me his girlfriend.Not only did he call me his girlfriend to hisfans, he said he wasn’t good enough for me and he wanted to spend the rest of his life trying to be the man I deserve. My head is spinning by the time I gather all my stuff I want to take to his apartment and change into my reading clothes. I’m itching to text the girls, but I stop myself from reaching for my phone. I don’t want anything to ruin this bubble of happiness I’m in. I know the girls will be ecstatic, but I want to keep this to myself a little longer.
Once I’m all packed and ready to go, I plop down on the couch and wait for Judd to get back from the store. I texted him a list of snacks and told him whatever he gets is good for me. While I’m waiting, I open up my notes app on my phone and jot down a few ideas for my next book that came to me while we were walking back from Hazel’s. Writing down these ideas has the excitement building in me to get back to writing, something I haven’t felt in a while. I should be writing today, while I have this feeling. But I really want to spend the day reading with Judd.He’s the first guy I’ve dated that hasn’t given me shit about my love of books.
Wow, even saying we’re dating in my head feels weird and unbelievable.
I’m just finishing up my last idea when a knock sounds at my door. Bruno and I both bolt to the door and a look through the peephole shows Judd standing there with four reusable bags on his arms.
“Did you buy out the whole store?” I ask, opening the door for him.
“You sent me a long list,” he says with a shrug. He looks my body up and down, stopping at my sweater. His mouth moves reading the words, barking out a laugh when he’s done. “I’m digging the sweater, the whole outfit really. It screams comfort.”
I look down at the sweater Hazel gave me last year for Christmas. It says, ‘Your anxiety is a lying hoe.’ “Thanks, Hazel got it for me, and don’t change the subject. I sent you that list, so you had things tochoosefrom, Judd. I didn’t mean to buy it all.”
