Bree: I’m thinking of hiring a rent-a-date, so I don’t look like a loser walking into all these places by myself.
Me: We can eat at my place or yours if you don’t want to go out.
Bree: Are you kidding? And miss the opportunity to eat at Ralph’s? Um, I’ll meet you there.
Me: LOL. Are you more excited about having steak tonight or seeing me?
Bree: Trust me, I can handle a lot of meat in one night.
Me: I just laughed out loud. You’re something else. I can’t wait to see you, Bree.
Bree: I can’t wait either. Have a safe flight, Luke.
“Do you think I’m being overly cautious by having Brighton meet me at the restaurant?” I asked Hank.
He looked up at me and frowned. I could see the concern in his eyes. “I don’t blame you for wanting to protect her and the relationship the two of you are building. You know more than anyone the type of pressure and strain that comes from dating a celebrity. I’m not so sure Brighton is ready for everything that goes along with that.”
I slowly nodded. “There’ve been a few times where I’ve told myself I need to let her go…but I can’t. I think about her nearly every moment of the damn day when I’m not with her.”
“Because you’re falling in love with her?”
Leave it to Hank to get right to the point. He never failed me on that.
I didn’t even have to think about it. “I do love her. I think I fell in love with her the moment she looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers and said I looked like Gene Kelly.”
Hank laughed, and so did I.
“And what happens when she wants more of a normal relationship, or gets tired of the sneaking around?” he asked. “Or living on two different coasts?”
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I haven’t let myself think that far ahead.”
He tilted his head and gave me a look that said he was disappointed in me. “You can’t ignore it forever, Luke.”
Dropping back in my seat, I let out a heavy breath. “Fuck if I know anything. No, that’s not true, I do know I don’t want to lose her. If the media gets wind of our relationship, they’ll invade her privacy. She hasn’t even told her parents about me because she’s worried they’ll say something. Brighton is content with how things are, for now. I don’t honestly know how long she’ll stay that way.”
“What about how long you can keep this up. You know you can’t keep flying back to Boston every weekend.”
I exhaled. “This is why I’m glad you’re my friend, Hank. I would lose my goddamn mind if I didn’t have you.”
He laughed. “I highly doubt that. You would, however, never show up anywhere on time.”
I smiled.
“Have you talked to Brighton about how things will be once you two go public with your relationship?” Hank asked.
“No. Right now we’re in this fucking bubble, and she’s having as much fun as I am. To be honest with you, I’m afraid to take the relationship public. Brighton isn’t the type of woman who wants that kind of attention. Don’t get me wrong, she’s tough, and I know she can handle gossip. But at the same time, she didn’t really sign up for it, and I don’t want the press to taint it.”
“She knows you’re an actor.”
I scrubbed my hand down my face. “She knows what I’ve shown her. She didn’t go to the Oscars with me, or any public event. I haven’t had to leave the country for weeks at a time yet, since I haven’t shot a full movie while we’ve been dating. I feel like I’m playing a goddamn role and I’m the only one aware of it. Brighton seems to be blissfully happy the days I’m in Boston. When we were in Maine, it was like we were two normal people. That’s what she saw as the beginning of our relationship. She’s perfectly content hanging out at her place or mine. At least, she seems to be. I don’t want to risk what we have to be able to walk into the front door of a goddamn restaurant.”
Hank stared at me for a moment, then said, “Maybe you need to give her a taste of what your life is really like.”
I drew my brows in. “I’m not sure either one of us is ready for that.”
“Let her see what it’s like when people know it’s you and how they react. Give her a preview of what her life could eventually be like. I mean, if you love her—and I’m pretty sure she loves you—it’s going to have to happen at some point.”
I was hit by a sudden urge to throw up so fast I had to swallow a few times to keep the bile from moving up into my throat. I knew what it would be like once the press found out about me and Brighton. They would tear us apart. Not at first, but eventually.