Stay A Little Longer

by Jess Bryant

  Trent’s temper flared again and he growled. Lemon wasn’t his keeper. Neither was Rick. He could do whatever he wanted. Go wherever he wanted. Be who he was. He was out and his career was over and he was fine with that. Fine! Why couldn’t they accept it as easily as he had?

  “I took one day. One goddamned day! One day off from the real world and my incessantly ringing phone, to spend time with the man I’m falling madly in love! And Rick couldn’t just leave a damn voicemail? He sent you here to find me? Why?”

  “You’ll have to take the why up with him.” Lemon raised her eyebrows when he growled, “But I think you’re missing the point.”

  “What? That my manager is miraculously still my manager?”

  “No. One day. It took one day for Rick to track you down through me when you didn’t answer. To call me looking for you. He couldn’t reach you and he called me because he thought that maybe, just maybe, I knew where you were hiding out.” Lemon shook her head, “Yeah. If Rick can figure it out in a day, it’s not going to take much longer for other people to start putting it together and figure out you’re hiding here in Fate too.”

  He groaned, “Damn it. No. I’m not ready to go back to the real world.”

  “Well the real world isn’t just going to let you disappear, Trent.”

  “I don’t owe them anything. Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

  “Because you do owe them. Maybe not Rick or the label but you owe yours fans the truth, the real truth. And if you want to disappear after that, I’ll try to help you do that. But you owe the people that’ve supported you throughout your career the truth and you know it.”

  “Lem…”

  “No. Don’t Lem me. You need a reality check even if you don’t want one. The real world is coming and you’re gonna have to face it. Whatever this is with you and Lance, it exists in a bubble.” She held her hand up when he started to speak, to tell her exactly what it was, a relationship, even if he couldn’t be sure Lance knew that yet. “You two have been hiding out in his trailer for the past few days. Ignoring the world like it doesn’t exist. And your bubble is going to burst, soon Trent, and I don’t think you’re in any way ready for that. Not either of you.”

  Lemon trailed off and Trent shoved his hands into his hair. She was right of course. She usually was. It was something he’d learned about her a long time ago. Lemon saw through him. She had from the very start.

  She’d taken one look at him and somehow known that he was hiding. That the image he presented wasn’t the real him. She knew him and she was right. He owed his fans the truth and an apology for lying to them for all these years. They were the ones that had given him the career and the life that he’d always wanted and he owed them an explanation at the very least.

  More than that, Lemon was his family. She was worried about him. And, by extension, she was worried about Lance now too. She was trying to look out for them by telling him the hard truths and forcing him to face the hardest truth of all.

  “Lance isn’t ready to come out.”

  “He may not have that choice.” She shrugged, “You didn’t.”

  “No. No way. I won’t let that happen. I can’t.”

  “Trent, the media is going to find you here. Sooner rather than later. You can’t stay here.”

  “I’m not leaving him.” He gaped at her in shock.

  “Then you have to be prepared for them to figure out you’re involved with him. That he’s the reason you’re staying.”

  “No.” He instantly shook his head, his stomach turning, “I won’t let that happen to someone I love. Not if I can help it.”

  He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He’d promised Lance that he wouldn’t out him. By extension that meant he couldn’t let the press find out about them.

  “Trent…” Lemon sighed again, “Are you sure that’s what this is? Love? I mean… you thought you were in love with Heath a week ago.”

  He glared at her for bringing that up, “I wasn’t in love with Heath. I see that now. I know the difference now.”

  “Do you?”

  “I was infatuated with Heath. He was my best friend and he was the only person I let close. I wanted him to be the one to get me because I was so comfortable with him but he didn’t. Lance does. He gets me, Lem. It feels like I’ve known him forever. He sees me, the real me, not the superstar or the persona or the image. Me.”

  Lemon didn’t look convinced, “He knew the truth before you met him. You’d been outted. There wasn’t anything left to hide with him.”

  “That’s not true.” Trent gave her a pointed look, “Knowing I’m gay doesn’t equal knowing me. I’m not just that one thing.”

  “I know. That’s not what I meant.”

  “He gets me, Lemon. Every part of me. Parts I’ve never shown another human being. I’ve told him things I’ve never told anyone and he’s told me things that… It’s like he was made for me, Lem.”

  The perfect fit. The missing piece of him that he’d been looking for as long as he could remember. Lance could make him feel whole with nothing but a look.

  He was submissive to Trent’s dominant. Sweet when Trent needed sweet and strong when Trent needed strong. He was real. He was a fan but not a fanboy. He was complicated but not so much that he wasn’t worth the effort.

  He was. Trent was sure of it. Lance didn’t have any more baggage than he did and Lance accepted him so he could accept Lance in return, if only it was that easy.

  “But he won’t come out for you.” Lemon stated the obvious.

  “No. And I don’t want him to. I don’t want him to do it for me. I want him to do it for himself. But he’s not ready. I don’t know if he ever will be. All I know is that he’s nowhere near ready right now.”

  Lance’s freak out when faced with Lemon more than proved that. He’d all but hyperventilated. He’d tried to run away to hide. He’d been more than scared. He’d been terrified. So, no, Lance wasn’t ready to tell anyone he was gay, let alone the world.

  “But time isn’t your friend. Not with the media on your tail.”

  “I have time.” He argued, “I’m in hiding, remember?”

  “Oh, come on Trent. You’re a smart man. You know Rick isn’t going to let you hide here forever. He’s probably already chartered a plane to come and get you himself and drag you back to Nashville.”

  A headache formed behind his eyes, “No. He wouldn’t.”

  Except Rick would. He totally would. And they both knew it. Rick wasn’t just his manager for his music. He managed Trent’s life. He was the one that had carefully orchestrated it all those years so that Trent could hide his secret. Now that it was out, now that there was no controlling it, he would be in management mode all over again with a whole plan of how they were going to handle it, spin it, play it for their benefit.

  Except the only they that Trent was interested in was himself and Lance.

  “You know he’s on his way here.” Lemon gave him a knowing look that made him feel about an inch tall.

  “I know.” He whispered softly.

  Which meant he wasn’t just running low on time. He was running out of time. Time with Lance. Time to let Lance figure out what was between them was real. Real enough to take a chance on. Time for Lance to figure out what Trent already knew.

  He loved Trent too. He had to. If he didn’t, Trent shook the thought off, completely unable to process that as a possibility.

  No. Lance had fallen for him too. He had. That was why he’d calmed when Trent touched him earlier. Because he was in love with Trent too.

  “And if he’s on his way, you know they’re going to be right behind him.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m sorry.” Lemon reached out and took his twitchy hand, “I’m sorry that I asked you to come here. That I only made this harder for you.”

  “No. Don’t say that.” He squeezed her hand in response, “Don’t be sorry. I’m not. If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have met Lance.”

&
nbsp; “But…”

  “No buts.” He cut her off, “I’ll figure it out tonight. Lance and I will figure it out. Somehow. We’ll make it work.”

  Lemon nibbled on her bottom lip, “What if…”

  “Just say it Lemon.” He prompted when she trailed off nervously.

  “What if Lance doesn’t want to make it work?”

  “He will. He does.” Trent closed his eyes and willed it to be true, “He loves me. He has to. There’s no way that all of this between us is one-sided. He feels it. He’s just scared.”

  Lemon released his hand, “Well of course he’s scared. He’s a closet case, Trent. I mean, after falling for a straight guy, that’s about as rough as it gets.”

  “I don’t care how rough it is, I’m not leaving him.”

  “Okay.”

  He snorted, “Just, okay?”

  “No, of course not, but I know you well enough to know when your mind is made up. You and Lance need to figure out how to make it work. Fine. But I’m warning you, Trent. It’s not gonna be easy. Not with him. I don’t know how much you know about his past but…”

  “Everything. He told me everything.”

  “Yeah, well, needless to say I’m seeing him and his past in a different light but the truth is still the truth. If he was willing to sleep around all these years just to keep his secret, he’s not going to come out easily.”

  “He’s not that same guy. He stopped that years ago. He had a tough time accepting his truth. It’s not a crime that it took him a while to come to terms with being gay.”

  “But he didn’t come out. He just pulled back from everyone. That’s the real reason he doesn’t go out with the boys. Because he’s hiding. Isn’t it?”

  Trent shrugged, unwilling to divulge any of Lance’s personal story, “I’ll talk to Lance tonight. We’ll figure it out.”

  “But if you don’t…”

  “If we don’t, I’ll leave. I’ll leave Fate to protect him and his secret. It’ll break my heart but I’ll leave him.”

  Lemon stared at him for a long moment, her blue eyes going soft before she shook her head, “Wow, you really are in love with him.”

  “You’re just now getting that?” He snorted.

  “You’re willing to walk away, to break your own heart so long as it means keeping him safe. That’s love, Trent. Real love. Selfless love. The kind that changes you for the better”

  He smiled despite the fact his heart was aching. He was in love. For the first time in his life, he was in love. He’d found the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with but it might not be enough. He might have to leave Lance, to protect him, to keep him safe and happy.

  He’d been selfish most of his life. Lying to get what he wanted. Lying about who he was. But he wouldn’t be selfish this time, not when it came to Lance.

  He’d put him first. Tonight, when he came home from work, Trent would sit him down and tell him the truth. He’d tell Lance that he was in love with him and hope that his confession didn’t send the other man running in the other direction.

  It was all he could do.

  Lemon’s phone pinged on the table, bringing him back to the present. Her brows furrowed as she picked it up and he scrubbed a hand over his face. When she made a small sound, a quick intake of breath, he opened his eyes and when he saw the look of concern on her face he winced.

  “What is it?”

  “Uh… Trent, we have a problem.”

  “What now?”

  “I don’t think you have until tonight to talk things through with Lance and figure it out.”

  His gut twisted, “What’s going on?”

  Lemon put the phone face down on the table. Slowly, she met his gaze. Those blue eyes, soft and sad, sent a slice of pain through his chest. She bit her lip and he knew before she even put it into words.

  “That was Shane. There are reporters in town asking the locals about you, about if they’ve seen you. They’re here.”

  Trent felt all the air rush out of his lungs. They were here. In Fate. They’d found him. Lemon had been right. Again.

  “My time is up.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Base to Nichols, come in.”

  Lance scrubbed a hand over his jaw when he heard his name come over the radio. It had been a quiet day so far. Too quiet. Quiet enough that he’d spent most of the day staring out the windshield of his cruiser at the open highway in front of him, thinking about making a run for it.

  He was an idiot. He’d known that for a long time but never had it been more obvious to him than it was today. He was idiot because there wasn’t a snowballs chance in hell that he was going to do what his brain insisted and cut ties with Trent now. Before it got too deep, his brain warned and his heart laughed. Trent was already too deep, soul deep, and Lance didn’t want to deal with the pain of trying to dig him out. Didn’t want to dig him out at all.

  He wanted him there. Under his skin. In his life. He wanted a chance at making it work with the man of his dreams.

  But he was terrible at relationships. Hadn’t had an honest one in his life. Had no idea how to be someone’s boyfriend, let alone another man’s boyfriend. And damn if that thought didn’t send a shot of adrenaline through him that he hadn’t known to expect.

  He wanted to be Trent’s boyfriend. He wanted the right to call him his. Wanted the right to stand at his side and hold his hand and be with him. The way that Trent deserved to have someone that supported him and adored him and loved him as deeply as two people could.

  That was Lance. It had to be. Because the idea of letting Trent go and seeing him with someone else, made him violently, irrationally angry. The idea of Trent hugging another man from behind, his scruffy jaw on another’s man neck, it made him see red. Just the thought of Trent handcuffing someone else to a bed and kissing every inch of another man’s body made him white knuckle the steering wheel.

  No. No. Trent was his damnit. He’d said so. Trent was his. That was the important part. They could figure everything else out. They had time.

  It had all happened so fast. Lance hadn’t seen it coming. It had blindsided him. Hit him like a sucker punch to the jaw and whipped his head around, made him feel dizzy and off balance. But he’d fallen and Trent had caught him.

  That scene, this morning, with Lemon… that had been Trent catching him. Lance had freaked out. He’d been in a full-blown panic. But Trent had refused to let him go. He’d held him steady and talked him through it. Promised that he would make it okay and Lance had believed him. How could he not? He loved Trent.

  “Base to Deputy Nichols. Come in, Nichols.” Sheila’s annoyed voice came through the squawking speaker and he winced.

  So lost in his thoughts of Trent, he hadn’t picked it up. Shit. He cleared his throat and grabbed the radio, forcing thoughts of Trent to the back of his head and focusing on his job, the one thing that had always made sense to him.

  He was a good cop. He liked being a cop. He liked the respect that automatically came with his badge. Would he have to give it up to be with Trent? God, he hoped not.

  “This is Nichols.” He reported in with a heavy sigh.

  “There you are!” Sheila sounded as relieved as she did annoyed when she spoke again, “Where are you?”

  “Out on the highway at the speed trap.”

  “Oh, so you’re aware we have visitors then.”

  Lance scratched his head at that. Technically it was one of the slower patrol spots. Locals knew the trap was there and followed the rules. They knew the FSD boys liked to stake it out. Lance had taken up post at it this morning thinking it was as good a place as any to be alone with his thoughts but he’d been wrong. He’d collected half a dozen tickets and warnings. He’d been so focused on his thoughts that he hadn’t stopped to think about why so many random people were passing through Fate today. Now, with that one sentence from Sheila, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

  “Visitors?”

  “We’ve got
a situation in town. Sherriff sent Lowry and Shaw over to handle it but I thought…”

  Everything in Lance stilled because, was that worry in Sheila’s voice? For him? Couldn’t be. He was just going soft in the head because his heart was all twisted up in Trent.

  “Thought what?” He prompted when she didn’t continue.

  “Well, I thought you’d want to know about it since it’s at your address.”

  His address. His trailer. Trent. His entire body jolted with adrenaline and awareness. There was a situation and the cops had been dispatched. Lance had somehow missed the call going out over the radio. Damn it.

  “My address?”

  “Well, the trailer next to yours actually. Unit B? Lowry’s brother owns it.”

  “Yeah, I know who owns it Sheila.” Lance snapped, “What the hell is going on at it?”

  He could practically hear his heart pounding in his head. Situation. Cops dispatched. To his address. To Trent’s address. He was already pulling his seatbelt on and shifting the cruiser into drive before Sheila came back through the line. When she did, he nearly wrecked trying to make a U-turn and get back to town.

  “Reporters. They found out that country music guy is in town and tracked him there. They’re swarming the place. I thought you’d want to know your yard is probably overrun and…”

  “Is he there?” He cut Sheila off as he gassed the engine.

  “What?”

  “Is he there? Did he get out before they found him or is he still there?”

  He was holding his breath for the answer and he didn’t know why until Sheila’s voice came back on the line. He needed to know if Trent was gone. Disappeared like a figment of Lance’s overactive imagination. He needed to know if he was still in Fate, still within reach.

  “He’s inside the trailer as far as I know. Lowry went out because his fiancé is out there with that Trent Thorne fella. They’re trapped in the trailer and Lowry told them not to come out until he clears the place I think.”

  Trapped. Lance swallowed hard. Lance was trapped with a swarm of cameras and microphones waiting like sharks for him to step outside. He should have been called earlier but he kept from snapping at Sheila again. It wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t possibly know or understand. She couldn’t even imagine that his reaction to hearing Trent was surrounded by media and paparazzi was the same as Shane’s had probably been with Lemon. Because the people they loved were trapped.