“Who told you that?”
“The headlines. Print media is still a thing. Did you think I’d totally miss the magazine racks with the giant headlines about Bree Belacourt being canceled? Because I caught some today, and they’ve been running on a loop in my head. It’s fine—I didn’t expect any less. Honestly…this song might smooth some feelings, but we can’t expect anything more from it.”
“You’re being a bit of a downer.”
“I blew it, and I know it. I’m being a realist.”
My jaw hurts from clenching it so hard. Why am I holding back? Why aren’t I telling her how I feel? She’s being honest with me and asking me to return the favor. “Why do you care so much what a bunch of faceless people on the internet think, anyway?”
“They aren’t faceless to me. My fans built my name. Without them, I’d be nothing, and I owe them.”
“Which is remarkably modest of you, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re the ones turning on you now.”
“They have a right to.”
“No one has a right to say the things they’re saying.”
“So it’s true,” she says in a small voice. “I haven’t been onsocial media, but I assumed it was a lot like the magazines I saw in that shop.”
“Yeah.” I swallow hard. The cold air is starting to get to me, but I fight it. “It’s not pretty. We should work on getting the song out soon.”
She groans, throwing her arms out. “What’s the point?”
“Hey,” Colby’s voice comes through the window screen on the side of my house. “You guys are being kind of loud.”
Bree drops her face in her hands.
“But hang on a sec,” he calls.
“Sorry,” I mutter. We were getting a little heated at the end there. “We’re getting careless.”
“It’s on me,” she says. “I should have taken the conversation inside.”
Colby strides outside. “I have an idea.”
I give him a hard look. Bree and I weren’t exactly discussing our relationship—it’s nonexistent, so there’s nothing to talk about. Yes, I’ve felt the pull toward her I’ve always felt, but that’s just chemistry. Right? I’ll never not feel a buzz in her general vicinity or the desire to be closer to her when we’re sharing the same air.
“What if I do a video of your song?” Colby asks.
Bree and I stand side by side in silence.
“How do you know about it?” she asks.
I rub the back of my neck. “Uh, guilty.”
I’d told Colby about the song. He’d heard me on the phone trying to get the studio after hours. I’d even explained what Bree hoped to accomplish with it. He’d thought it was a good idea.
“Putting out another song to cover the one you already did is fine,” Colby says, “but I have the equipment to make a low-stakes music video. We can go acoustic, Ben on the guitar, but we won’t show his face if that’s what you want, and shoot at the beach at sunset or something.”
“Sounds a lot like a commercial I almost did for my brother a while ago,” she mutters, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t know.”
“A video with a simultaneous song release will have a bigger impact,” I say tentatively. “It’s not a terrible idea.”
“Gee, thanks,” Colby says sarcastically. “I was thinking this could be a mutually beneficial situation. We can use it to promote the concert.”
Bree takes a step back. “I’m not ready for something like that. It’s too public.”
“You’ll have to face people at some point.”