by Caisey Quinn
She rolled her eyes. Only Trace Corbin could make a girl forgive him without ever actually apologizing. “Yeah, I get it. I shouldn’t be so—”
“Kylie!” Lily was literally stomping mad.
“Hey, Lily’s freaking out and—”
“Yeah, I hear. Look, this isn’t exactly the kind of conversation we need to have on here anyways but I’ll see you in a week in Nashville. Okay?”
She smiled and the tightness in her chest loosened slightly. One more week. It couldn’t come soon enough. “Okay. Call me later if you get a chance. I know you’re busy.”
“I will. Miss you, Kylie Lou.”
“Miss you, too.”
“Finally,” Lily blurted out, practically shoving Kylie out of her seat.
Kylie left the media room feeling more than a little agitated. For one, Lily was driving her nuts. And for two, Mia was lingering beside the doorway, smirking her ass off as Kylie passed. She wondered how much she’d overheard.
Just the sight of the girl reminded her of what was bothering her more than anything. Even more than Lily’s rudeness or fighting with Mia.
Trace hadn’t ever answered her question.
“I can’t help but notice the few stops on the tour that you were insistent on just happen to coincide with the tour of another artist we’re familiar with,” Pauly said as they loaded their luggage onto the bus.
Trace raised a brow. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
His manager laughed. “Sure you hadn’t.”
So maybe he hadn’t been all that discreet. Just because he and Kylie were keeping their relationship quiet didn’t mean he was going to spend twelve or more weeks without her. He made sure they’d meet up in Nashville both times she was there, plus Atlanta and Charlotte. Even Gretchen’s crazy ass being banned from the Atlanta Amphitheater hadn’t been able to screw up his plans. He’d made a few calls and begged favors from some guys he knew from back home. His ass was on the line now, and if Gretchen caused any problems in Georgia, he was going to strangle her with his bare damn hands.
Once they were finished, Trace wiped the sweat from his brow. He loved outdoor shows. This was what he’d always wanted and never could get the label to go for. Finally he’d been able to convince them to let him do it his way. And the bastards had strapped Gretchen to him like a time bomb. They knew she was unstable—hell, everyone knew. He had a feeling that was exactly what they were hoping for. For one or both of them to screw up and give them an excuse to drop them both, scraping them off the bottom of their shoes like dog shit.
Well, he was a new man. Okay, maybe not entirely. But he was working on it. He was meeting with Dr. Reynolds regularly and calling him when he felt the urge to drink. Well, when he got the urge to get shitfaced anyways. He also had him joining them on several tour stops so that he and Mike, his bass player who was also a recovering alcoholic, could have private AA meetings with him. His girlfriend and his sisters deserved better than the man he’d been for the past few years. He was going to make damn sure they got better.
Gretchen, on the other hand—he couldn’t speak for. As soon as Pauly stepped away to take a phone call, Trace heard it. The sound of someone retching her brains out. It was coming from inside the bus. He stepped on and headed towards the bathroom.
“Wow, Gretchen. You couldn’t make it one day?” He watched as she finished heaving into the toilet.
“Shut it, Corbin.” She moaned. She flushed the toilet and stood, wiping her mouth as she turned to face him. “You should’ve gone out with us after the launch party last night. You used to be so much more fun.” She tried to pout at him but her eyes were bloodshot and she reeked of alcohol and vomit.
“Yeah, looked like you were having tons of fun in there,” he said with a nod towards the bathroom. “Sorry I missed it.”
“Are you going to be this uptight for the entire tour? Because if you are, I’m going to need a lot more alcohol.”
“If by uptight you mean am I going to expect you to stay conscious on stage each night? Then yeah, I guess I am.” He shrugged, but inside he was feeling a little sick himself. They hadn’t even left Nashville and Gretchen was already messed up.
No way they were going to make it sixteen weeks on the road together. He was starting to get an idea of exactly how his girlfriend had felt a few months ago when she’d joined his screwed-up self on tour.
Watching as Gretchen sauntered off the bus, a feeling he was familiar with seeped into his skin. The same feeling he had when his mom or Claire Ann sported a black eye or an armful of fingerprint bruises courtesy of his piece of shit father. Because he hadn’t been able to do anything to stop it. There was nothing he hated more than feeling powerless. Helpless. He was disgusted with himself. Completely and utterly disgusted.
Memories he’d tried to drink away flooded his mind. The yelling. The crying. Rae—tiny and terrified—hiding under the kitchen table. The way he’d once grabbed Kylie by the arm the exact same way his father used to grab the women he supposedly “loved.”
Stop. It’s over. In the past. You’re nothing like him…except, you’re pretty much exactly like him. He tried to focus on his breathing but his chest ached and his head began to throb. His fists clenched and he darted into his room. In the dresser was still one last bottle of his favorite bourbon, Heaven Hill. Thank God.
AS she stepped off the bus to walk to the restaurant where the meeting with Brian Miller was, Kylie checked her phone. She’d been planning to send Trace a good luck message because his tour was kicking off that night in Alabama and they hadn’t exactly ended their last conversation on the best note. But the two texts she’d already received stopped her cold.
One was from Lulu. Saw the article online. Everything okay? The other was from Tonya, a friend she’d made waitressing back in Nashville. Hey hon. Heard you and Trace are having a hard time. Hang in there. Long distance relationships can be tough.
What the hell? She pulled up the web browser on her phone and did the one thing Trace had told her never to do. She Googled herself.
COUNTRY COUPLE UPDATE: IS THE HONEYMOON ALREADY OVER FOR CORBIN AND HIS LATEST FLING?
She clicked the link and read the few lines talking about her and Trace. Her vision blurred but she could read the main points. All they do is argue, says a source close to Ryans. She scrolled down the screen. There was more. For a second, everything was tinged in red. They’d had one minor disagreement since being apart. Over Mia, who’d been listening in on her conversation. She’d put up with the crazy chick being cold and distant and sometimes downright hateful. But this was bullshit. And Kylie intended to tell her so.
Below that was a link to another article. One that almost caused her to forget about the situation with Mia entirely. Almost.
TROUBLED ARTISTS TRACE CORBIN & GRETCHEN GIBSON CELEBRATE THEIR UPCOMING CO-HEADLINING TOUR WITH A NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN.
She couldn’t even read the article because she was too distracted by the pictures. Her surroundings began to spin as bile rose in her throat. Her stomach clenched and her entire body tingled with a painful intensity similar to what she imagined being electrocuted would feel like.
Struggling to swallow, she clicked on the album featuring the grainy photos of Trace and Gretchen. The first showed him checking her out while they played pool. The next one was of the woman licking Trace’s neck as they took body shots off one another. With each click Kylie’s heart pounded harder. Her hands trembled as she swallowed the lump in her throat and stared at the image of Trace holding Gretchen in his arms on the dance floor in the middle of a bar.
There has to be an explanation. There has to be. She just hoped it wasn’t something along the lines of he was out having a good time, getting wasted with Gretchen Gibson, like he’d be doing for the entirety of his tour. Even though that was exactly what it looked like.
HER mood had gone from bad to emotionally unstable on a nuclear level by the time they made it to dinner. She got that Mia wouldn’t be heading
up her fan club any time soon. She could deal with that. But leaking her personal information to the press was low. For anyone. And Kylie had enough issues without her adding to them.
Mia’s eyes fell on her a few times during dinner, and her expression said she didn’t miss the fact that Kylie wasn’t speaking to her. Not directly anyways. The tables had turned. After Kylie blatantly rolled her eyes at something Mia had said, the other girl threw her arms up. “Feel free to share with the group, Oklahoma. What the hell is your problem?” Mia leaned forward, eyed Kylie, and took a sip of her beer.
“Um, I think I covered everything,” Brian Miller said as he stood. “Text me if you have any questions.”
Once he was out of the way, Kylie met Mia’s glare. “I’m not the one with a problem. You’re the one running your mouth all over town about my personal business.”
The brunette smirked. “What personal business are you talking about? Because honestly, I have zero interest in what goes on between you and your precious boyfriend.”
“That’s funny. Rumor has it you were once interested in making him your boyfriend.” Kylie tried to keep her voice down but a few women at a nearby table glanced over. Referring to Trace as anyone’s boyfriend out loud felt weird. She didn’t have time to analyze why.
“Guys, seriously. This is dumb. Please don’t do this. Not here.” Lily tried to lean between them but Mia scooted her chair forward, effectively blocking the petite girl from interrupting.
“No,” Mia began, “I want to hear this. What’s this rumor you speak of?” Her green eyes gleamed with angered interest and Kylie fought the urge to back down. She didn’t know if she wanted to know this. She still hadn’t come right out and demanded an answer from Trace because she knew the truth might make touring with Mia even more awkward than it already was. But it was kind of late now.
“You didn’t leave Trace’s Back to My Roots tour because of personal issues, did you? You left because you…” Lord, she did not want to say this out loud. She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “You left because you hooked up with Trace and he didn’t—”
“Whoa,” Mia interrupted, her face contorted by shock. “Excuse the fuck out of you. No, I damn sure did not ‘hook up with Trace.’ That’s your story darlin’, not mine.”
“But Pauly said—”
“You know what? Screw this. I’m going back to the bus.” Mia stood and turned to leave at the exact moment the waiter arrived with more drinks. Kylie shoved her chair back to follow her and bumped him, causing the entire tray to tilt. She felt the liquid splashing over her and looked up just in time to see that Mia had received the worst of it. Wonderful. Kylie turned and saw that the ladies at the table next to them were using their camera phones to record the whole thing.
“Mia, wait!” She ran out of the restaurant, nearly tripping over her heels.
“Kylie,” Lily called after her. But she didn’t stop. She had just accused Mia of something that apparently wasn’t true and she hated people who went around doing that. Now she was one of them. And damn, Mia Montgomery could move.
When she finally reached the bus, she was panting. Lily clomped on behind her and they walked to Mia’s door. Which was shut. And locked. Kylie knocked softly.
“Mia?”
Nothing.
“Mia, can we talk, please? Like civilized people instead of high school girls who make asses of themselves in the cafeteria?”
Still nothing. Kylie looked over her shoulder at Lily, who shrugged. She took a deep breath. “Mia, I’m sorry for what I said. I had no right to accuse you of that. It’s just, Pauly said something and it’s been bugging me and I know I should’ve—”
She was interrupted by Mia sliding the door open. The girl glared at her as she pulled on a dry T-shirt. “You should’ve what? Asked me if I screwed your boyfriend before accusing me of it?” Kylie flinched but Mia wasn’t done. “Maybe you should’ve asked before deciding that I’ve been leaking your personal business online, too, which I haven’t, by the way. Either of those things.” She leaned in the doorway and folded her arms.
Kylie felt the relief at Mia’s declarations, both of them, flooding through her chest. “Okay. Well, good. And you’re right, I should have. But honestly, you’ve been grinding an ax over my head since day one. Look, I was a bitch at my party but I was hurting and I jumped to conclusions. The wrong ones, apparently. And then you act like you hate us most of the time and yet suddenly you and Lily are thick as thieves. But I’m still on the receiving end of the glares and the smirks and the silent treatment. You’re the only ones who could possibly know about what Trace and I have said in our conversations and—”
“It wasn’t her that leaked that stuff,” Lily said softly, causing both Mia and Kylie to turn and look at her. “It was me.”
Kylie’s eyes went round and wide. She felt her face go hot but she held back. She knew she didn’t need to make another scene like she had with Mia. “Okay. Mind telling me why you would do that?”
Lily’s eyes began to fill with tears as she looked up from underneath her eyelashes. “I didn’t mean to, Kylie, I swear. I was talking to my friend Jen from back home earlier. I was complaining because my dad had promised to call me but you were on there with Trace and I made a comment about how y’all were always arguing on there lately. I wasn’t thinking. I promise I didn’t mean for her to go tell people that. I forgot I even said it. And then my dad never called and I…” She trailed off, very obviously choking over her shame.
Kylie was equal parts pissed off and sympathetic. Lily’s dad was clearly an ass who could care less about his daughter. She’d learned enough already as she watched Lily sit around waiting for him to call, or show up at a concert, or Skype her, to know that he hardly bothered. Guess he thought throwing money at her and paying to send her on tour to keep her busy would be good enough. And the girl obviously felt bad. Really bad. She was always so annoyingly perky that seeing her so defeated and upset was disturbing.
Kylie took a deep breath and shook her head. “It’s okay. I mean—it’s not okay okay. And in the future, it would be awesome if you kept your mouth shut about anything to do with me. This is bigger than us and people can use me to cause problems for Trace.”
“I’m sorry. About earlier too. I really am.”
As much as Kylie wanted to stay mad, she just didn’t have it in her. She’d used up all her energy on Mia. “It’s fine. Forget about it. I have.”
Lily nodded, her small, pink mouth turning down at the corners as she retreated to her room.
“Well, aren’t you just little Miss Congeniality?” Mia snorted. “When it was me, you were on a rampage, but Princess Lily runs her mouth and all is forgiven. Nice.”
Kylie closed her eyes and tried to gather herself. “You know what, Mia? Why don’t you just say whatever it is you want to say to me so we can move on?”
The other girl’s eyes narrowed. “That really what you want?”
Kylie’s heart pounded in her chest. Was it? She wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t take any more of the unadulterated hatred constantly coming at her either. “Yeah, it is,” she confirmed.
Mia licked her lips and swallowed hard. “I think you got where you are because of who you’re dating. I think you’d step over anyone who got in your way to be the next big thing.”
Kylie recoiled, feeling the sting of the words as if she’d been slapped. She didn’t say anything as Mia closed the door in her face. For once, she didn’t have anything to say.
Because everything she said is true.
“THANK you, Birmingham! Y’all are beautiful!” After two encores, Trace exited the stage at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater and headed back towards the bus. Gretchen was closing the first show and he couldn’t have been happier. He’d waited all day to talk to Kylie, and then she’d canceled their Skype date because of a meeting with the guy helping them with their tour site stuff. She didn’t have a show tonight so he’d promised to call her as soon as he was
done performing.
Once he’d thanked the guys and chatted with Mike a bit to make sure he was hanging in there, he hopped on the bus and grabbed his phone.
“Hey.” She sounded tired and kind of like she’d been crying.
“Hey, baby. Everything okay?”
“Oh yeah. Everything’s wonderful.” Her tone was laced with something lethal. Anger. She was angry. But she was playing it off for some reason.
“Doesn’t sound wonderful. You and the girls gettin’ along?”
“Not really. You and Gretchen gettin’ along?” Oh shit. That did not sound good. She said Gretchen’s name like it burned in her mouth.
“Er, I guess so. I mostly avoid her. She’s…got some issues.”
Kylie snorted out a harsh laugh. “Really? From what I saw, it doesn’t look like you’re avoiding her at all.”
“Um, babe, I don’t know what you think you’ve seen but Gretchen and I—”
“You listen to me, Trace Corbin. Don’t you dare talk to me like I’m some naïve idiot who doesn’t know what she’s seen. Please go suck it up and Google your fucking self.” With that, she hung up. Actually hung the hell up on him. Well this night was going downhill fast. She knew good and well he had a strict rule about not ever looking himself up online. He forbade his sisters from doing it too. He’d advised her to do the same. Because people were assholes. The anonymity of the Internet really tended to bring out the inner asshole in some. But his girl was upset about something she’d seen and he had to know what it was. As soon as he got a drink.
His hands shook as he poured himself a few inches of dark liquid in a plastic cup. He made a point to screw the lid back on the bottle. This was it. Just enough to take the edge off, to slow the adrenaline coursing through him.
He pulled out his laptop and tried to log onto the Internet. Apparently the backside of a mountain in Alabama wasn’t a great service area. He didn’t even want to imagine what she’d seen about him and Gretchen.
