Page 79 of Sing For Me

Will

Iexpect the media furor to die down after a day or two. It doesn’t. The photographers remain camped out in front of Eva’s house and on the street in front of my shop. Luckily, the security team my dad hired is able to keep them away from the private property surrounding the apartment building, so we escape there and spend the next two days getting progressively more stir-crazy in my place.

For four days I only leave the apartment to go to work, fighting my way through the paparazzi outside the shop. Eva doesn’t leave at all.

“I seriously don’t understand why they aren’t dropping this,” I mutter to Rose and River on the fourth night. We’re talking softly in the kitchen so we don’t disturb Eva, who fell asleep on the couch about half way through the movie we were all watching. “How is this such a big story?”

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” River says. He’s leaning against the kitchen cabinets, arms crossed over his chest, and he looks just like his dad. Out of his three boys, River looks the most like Uncle Daltrey—tall and lanky with ice blue eyes and a shock of white blond hair. He used to dye it a darker color back in high school, tired of the comparisons between him and his famous father. But he’s been wearing it his natural shade lately and I hope that means he’s feeling more sure of himself.

“You’re both celebrities,” he continues, and I cut him off.

“I’m not a celebrity,” I argue. “No one even knows who I am.”

“If they didn’t before they do now,” Rose points out, and I scowl at her. She holds up her hands. “I’m just saying. Your face was on the cover of half a dozen gossip magazines this week.”

“Celebrity Hound wrote a whole article about you,” River says cheerfully. “It was pretty good, actually.”

“Why in the hell are you reading that crap?”

“Someone needs to keep track of your press.”

I groan, burying my head in my hands. “I don’twantpress.”

“Will, like it or not, when the son of American rock and roll royalty starts dating the highest selling female recording artist of the past decade, it’s going to be a story.” Rose’s voice is gentle. “Eva’s massively popular. If you would have dated her two years ago, it still would have been a story. But now?”

“That fire was really high profile, man,” River says. “I know you’ve had your head buried in the sand for the past few years, but that shit was everywhere.”

“And then Eva basically disappeared off the face of the earth,” Rose goes on. “She didn’t have a public appearance for more than a year. No one even knew if she was injured or healthy or what. It was this huge mystery.” She rubs my tense shoulder. “And then she shows up with the son of one of the most famous musicians in the world. Of course people are going to be talking about it.”

I groan. “So it’s just going to be like this? Indefinitely?” I ask. “Because that really sucks.”

“Eventually it will calm down,” Rose says. “All stories lose interest at some point.”

“Great,” I mutter. “We’ll just camp out in this apartment for the next few weeks until that happens.”

“You’re more than welcome to do that,” Rose says. “I love having Eva here.”

“Girl makes a mean margarita,” River agrees. “And thatRaider of Galaxiesshow she makes us watch isn’t half bad. Besides, we’re not even going to be around after tomorrow.” He pushes off from the counter, flipping his hair back from his face. “Speaking of that, I should probably finish packing.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rose moans. “I’m nowhere near done.”

“You always put it off until the last minute,” River says and I tune out their sibling bickering.

Tomorrow, River and Rose will be joining the rest of the family heading to our property out in Tennessee for an annual summer vacation. An annual vacation I haven’t been on in four years. I had actually considered trying to make it over the weekend at least, but then all this shit happened.

At least there will be a little more space in the apartment with the two of them gone. And maybe enough privacy to finally have the talk I wanted to have the day everything went to shit. Eva has been so on edge with everything that I haven’t wanted to push. But the purgatory of our relationship being unsettled is getting to me.

River nudges my shoulder with his, pulling me from my thoughts. “You should come, man. You know your parents and siblings would freak the fuck out, they’d be so happy.”

“All the cousins would, too,” Rose adds.

I stare at them like they’ve lost their minds. “You think I’m going to leave her right now?”

River’s lips twitch. “You know, you don’t really talk about her like this is some kind of friendly relationship.”

“Shut up, Riv.”

He holds up his hands. “I’m just saying. It’s sounding more and more serious. Have you guys had the talk yet?”