I watch as his grip tightens on the steering wheel, waiting for him to say something—anything.

“Now I don’t want to leave you.”

“Then don’t.”

“It’s not that easy, Shelby. My job isn’t here. My life isn’t here.” And to his credit, for the first time, he seems torn up about it.

It could be, I think. But things feel too fragile between us to push it so instead I say, “Well, you’re here now.”

“I am,” he says, resolute.

“So, I have you for now.”

“If you want me.”

“Don’t you mean if you want me? Lest we forget the pathetic T-shirt pining.”

“I listen to all your pop songs still,” he says in a rush.

“What?”

“Look for yourself,” he offers, passing me his phone.

I scroll to his music app and click on it and gasp in delight. “Cam, it’s only my music!”

He shrugs. “Pining at its finest.”

“They aren’t even very good singles.”

“They’re you. And when I was traveling the world, it was the only thing I had.”

“Oh my God, you even have the Courtney Love cover.”

“My end-of-year Spotify list is mortifying.”

I put down his phone and turn to him fully. “Cam”—my tone is gentle—“what have we been doing to ourselves?”

He sighs. “I don’t know, but let’s start over. Again.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Cameron Riggs. Massive fan of yours. I have all your albums.”

I’m beaming. “Wow, Cameron, that sounds kind of obsessive. My name is Shelby, by the way, and I’m going to need you to remove your T-shirt before you drop me off so I can sleep in it every night like a teenager.”

“You’re on.”

15

CAMERON

ONLY ONE

It’s a relief to be back at the Caroline Street house. I arrive to work early Monday morning, telling myself it’s only because I want to see what progress had been made while I was gone, but knowing it’s more complicated than that.

Or maybe it’s simpler. Everything has been made much clearer since Lyle’s freak-out. We’ve always known he’s had his own angle in this, and he was definitely irked that we slipped from his control this weekend. What’s less concrete is if he’s serious about this pilot becoming a show, or if this is just an elaborate, overpriced scheme to further manipulate our lives.

This, admittedly, sounds insane. And yet, this is the guy who created a real-life scandal by cheating on his famous girlfriend with her best friend while writing a song about it, and then winning a Grammy after the breakup.