Maybe or maybe it would just fuel the slut rumors about me. I didn’t want to lead Sean on, but I supposed one dinner couldn’t hurt, as long as I was up front with him about only wanting to be friends. But Jared would have to keep up his reputation, too, and the thought made me sick.

“Fine.” Only two weeks, I reminded myself. I could do anything for two weeks.

“I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow.” He hesitated and leaned in a little, like he was about to kiss me. I held still, waiting, wanting, anticipating, but he pulled back and slipped out the door without another word.

I wrapped my arms around myself and went over his words again. No matter what he said, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was more than a temporary split. Suddenly our secret romance seemed a lot less sexy and a lot more like a mistake.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

At the crack of dawn, we went on a national radio show and assured everyone that the photo was just an innocent moment of one friend comforting another. The entire band laughed off the bad headlines, acting like everything was normal, but I didn’t know if anyone would buy it. Especially when the fracture in my heart got wider every time I looked at Jared.

After that we went straight to rehearsals, and I suffered for hours hearing him sing “Bad Romance,” followed by a photo shoot with The Quiet Battles where we pretended to be one big happy family on Team Dan. When I finally collapsed into bed, I was too exhausted to stay up all night missing Jared, though I couldn’t shake his ghost from my sheets.

The next two days were a repeat, with different publicity events and long hours rehearsing and recording both songs while the producers and camera crews watched us like hawks. Being on a break with Jared was easier than I’d expected since we never had a free minute alone together. Hell, if we got a chance to sit down and eat a real meal, we were lucky. Was this how musicians on tour lived? Sprinting from one thing to the next, pushing their bodies to the limits, giving up a normal life for one in the spotlight… I almost questioned if I really wanted it that bad. Almost.

“We have a problem,” Dan said on Saturday morning when he showed up for rehearsal. “I just talked to Steve, and he said the producers have changed their minds about ‘Bad Romance.’ Now they’re saying you can’t use it after all and have to choose something else.”

“What?” I must have misunderstood him. No way could we have worked on this song for all those hours and now be unable to use it. Not with only two days until the live show. Nope. Not happening. Denied.