Chapters (28)
He looks older than last time I saw him. His hair seems to be graying more. His green button-up shirt looks rumpled, and his posture is a little stooped. I stare at him, and all around the room, I can hear the reporters’ voices buzzing.
“Is that him?”
“Is that really Star’s dad?”
“Who is that guy?”
He speaks again and the reporters simmer down to listen.
“Honey?” he asks loudly. “Star, it’s me. Your dad.”
I pause and look at him for what feels like an eternity. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen the dad I remember in thirteen years.”
I half expect that when I say it, something inside me will hurt. But instead, I feel a surge of power.
“Do you want me to call security?” Sarah asks, loudly enough that the journalists can hear her.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I say into my microphone, staring straight at my father. His face has contorted into an ugly sneer. “I think he can find his own way out.”
With everyone staring at him, he finally stands up and walks out of the ballroom. I watch him go; then I turn to Sarah.
“I’m done,” I whisper.
She nods and thanks the journalists for coming. I say good-bye, wave politely and make my way out the back door, escorted by three bodyguards. They take me back up to my suite. I insert the key card and slip inside.
“Hey, babe,” says a male voice from the other room of the suite. “How did it go?”
Nick rounds the corner, looking better than ever in a Devil Rays tee, faded jeans and slightly damp hair. He’s spending the summer on tour with me before he goes back to school in August.
Nick pulls me into his arms, and for a moment, I just hold on tightly, breathing him in. He smells like fresh soap and toothpaste and boy.
He tilts my chin up and touches his lips softly to mine.
“You okay?” he asks.
I smile up at him and pull him closer. He responds, hugging me back, and I burrow my face into his firm chest, feeling like I’m finally home, feeling like maybe family doesn’t just have to include the people you’re actually related to. Maybe the people who we love and who love us—the people who see us for who we really are—can be family too.
“Yeah,” I say softly. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I’m better than ever.”