In The Heat of Los Angeles

I woke up snuggled into Harry’s arms listening to him lightly snoring in my ear. I’d missed this. Sleeping next to him. Waking up next to him. I even missed his snoring. I missed the way his body heat shot up when he slept and I felt like I had a heater next to me sometimes. I missed the way he mumbled in his sleep if I moved telling me not to go anywhere. I missed how he instinctively hugged me tighter to him after he mumbled thinking he could hold me tight and I wouldn't move. I tried to move so I could get out of bed and felt his arms tighten around me.

“Where are you going?” he mumbled, voice showing that he was still asleep until I moved.

“I have to pee.” He laughed as he opened his arms. I hurried to my bathroom not even bothering to shut the door.

“Your naked ass running across the bedroom is something I’ve missed this week.” I flushed the toilet and peeked out of the door. He’d laid himself flat across the bed on his stomach. The sheets barely covering his lower half.

“I missed you mumbling in your sleep.” I walked back over to the bed and climbed under the covers and he pulled me into his arms. “I only sort of missed that you are like a million degrees when you sleep.”

“It’s why I sleep naked.”

“I know. I don’t mind the naked thing.”

“I like that you’re becoming okay with sleeping naked next to me.” I heard my phone vibrate on the nightstand.

Message with Dad
I’m not crazy enough to go upstairs. I don’t want to find my daughter and her boyfriend in bed together. But your crazy ass mother has me up already. Whenever you’re ready for a run let me know.
We are up. We’ll put on our running clothes and come down.

“Dad is awake. Evidently Mom is being crazy. Want to go for a run now?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s do that. I do wish I could just lay here with you though.”

“After the run,” I said. I moved and kissed him. I got out of bed and started to put on my running pants and sports bra. I found a tank top and a jacket, it would be cool along the lake this morning. It didn’t take long before we were both ready and heading down the stairs, we found Dad in the kitchen.

“Good morning, kids,” he said. He threw me a bottle of water that I handed to Harry and then a second that I kept for myself. I grabbed a power bar of some sort from the basket in the pantry Mom kept them in.

“Baby, want something to eat first?” I asked. He followed me into the pantry finding something. We left the house and headed towards the park, walking the whole way. It was a good warm up and a chance to be with just Dad and Harry.

“So either of you hungover today?” Dad asked.

“I mean, I’ve felt better but it’s not going to be like the run after Mom’s birthday last year where I threw up in a trashcan like three miles from home.”

“Good. How about you Harry?”

“I should be good,” he replied.

“Have you run with Evie?” Dad asked.

“No.”

“Remember that she has shorter legs than you.” I moved to kick my Dad and he grabbed my foot. I managed to keep my balance hopping on one foot. “Everlee Mae, you just tried to kick me in the crotch.”

“Maybe.”

“Do you want your foot back?”

“Yes.”

“What won’t you try to do again?”

“Kick you in the crotch.”

“Good. I mean what if I couldn’t give you any other siblings.”

“Don’t want anymore,” I said as I finally got my foot back. “Three is more than enough. Plus knowing my luck there’d be a girl and then I wouldn’t get to be your only one and I rather like being your only daughter.”

“Spoiled brat,” Dad replied. “So how much do you want to run?”

“I don’t care. I have been slacking the last few weeks. Been a bit distracted.”

“That’s my fault. She’s been working a lot and when she’s not working I have been dominating her time.”

“I’m okay with that,” Dad said as he put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “If you can keep her from sleeping in the office I think the world can handle her skipping the gym.”

“Ty might not like it. He’d have to order new sizes in all of my clothes.” I laughed as I started to stretch for the run. It was nice to be with just Dad and Harry. It was something that I was happy was going as smoothly as it was. I always sought Dad’s approval in my decisions but especially in the men I dated. I wanted him to get along with whoever I eventually chose to spend my life with. To love them and I don’t know, want to hang out with them without me. I wanted to know that Dad was more than just happy that I was happy. I wanted him and Mom to love whoever I shared my life with.

I would always be concerned about what Pops would think of the decisions I made in life but in a different way than I was with how Mom and Dad felt. I was concerned about how it would effect our lives because of how complicated our relationship was due to being business partners with each other. It made our relationship difficult. Sometimes he couldn’t just be happy to see me happy, he’d be harsh because I wasn’t working as much. I think in reality he enjoyed when Drew and I broke up and then again when the relationship with Anthony never took off. I buried myself in work so that I didn’t have to think about how I failed at having a personal life.

Me with no personal life meant me with a thriving professional life. I needed to spend time and figure out how to have both. I didn’t want to end up like my Pops. I didn’t want a trail of ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends. I didn’t want to wonder if the person was with me because of how my life could benefit theirs. While it was a complicated start with Harry because my professional life did tie so closely to his I knew deep down that he didn’t need me. He was already a success. He wanted to make a change and the person overseeing that vision that he wanted was me. And maybe as much as he needed me to change the path of his career, I needed him to change the path of my life. It felt weird to admit that I thought I needed someone, even to myself. I’d only ever needed my family. I never needed anyone else. It was nice to have my friends and I loved them but if they walked out of my life, I’d figure out how to survive. Maybe what I needed to do was allow myself to need someone in my life. And as I glanced next to me at my Dad and my boyfriend running at a slower pace than either of them normally would so my little legs could keep up, I realized who it was I wanted to need.

We finally hit where we would turn around and head back home. The run was nice and therapeutic after a stressful few weeks. We got back to our starting point in the park by the house and I laid down on the ground to catch my breath. They’d started to try and torture me and ran faster on the way back because running at my speed was something that neither of them really enjoyed doing. I put my jacket behind my head and laid there with both of them standing above me stretching.

“I hate you both,” I whined.

“You don’t,” they replied in unison.

“I do. I’m tired. I’m sore and now I’m hungry.”

“We’ve got brunch,” Harry said.

“And you can take a nap this afternoon. You’re probably jet lagged which isn't either of our faults. We’d probably both prefer you in one place full-time. Though I’m going to guess we’d pick different places.”

“She doesn’t need to be in one place. But if she could attempt to not be in places on the opposite end of the country from me that would be great.”

“You two forget I’m helping run a huge company. We represent artists who do billions if not trillions of work a year. If I just followed him around I’d be failing at my job.”

“You’d be doing a really great job for me though.”

“Yeah, and then Nick and Ed and I don’t know half of the artists in the top 100 on iTunes would have a problem with me.”

“I’m more important,” Harry said.

“He’s probably right,” Dad added. “Now get your ass up. We need to go home and get ready for brunch. You’ve got the whole circus at the house and three hungry brothers.” Harry pulled me up off of the ground and kissed me softly. We walked back to the house. I could hear Mom in the living room with Eliza and Kammi. I waived at all of them as Harry and I headed to the stairs to go up and get ready for the day.

“Your Dad is fantastic,” Harry said as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it in a hamper that Mom kept in my room. I’d need to remember he’d done that and do laundry at some point while we were home.

“He is. He’s very important to me.”

“I figured that out very quickly. You were quiet on the run today.”

“I know, I was just trying to give you two time to get to know each other. And running along the lake is sort of therapeutic for me. I was thinking.”

“About?” he asked as he wrapped his arms round my waist. I was down to just my sports bra and pants.

“You."

“Oh really?” I nodded. “What about me?”

“That I’ve never been good at having a professional life and a personal life. In fact, most of the time I fail epically at the personal part. It’s part of why I’m as good as I am at my job. But I want to figure out how to at least attempt to have both.”

“A proper work life balance.”

“Exactly. Mom and Dad always did. Mom may have worked a lot of weekends because of the traffic the museum saw but if she did they were both off together on Mondays. He took her on a date every Monday night while I was growing up. He still does or at least attempts to.”

“Mondays sound like a strange date night.”

“Well, he works nearly every other night and is especially busy on the weekends unless it’s something like this where he’s off the whole time. They knew that Mondays they could have a date. Grandma would come watch us, I was usually catching up on school work and practicing for my Tuesday piano lessons so he’d take her out to dinner. Almost always somewhere that she had an excuse to get dressed up.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It is. And they were and still are wonderful examples of how to be successful at home and work. Jimmy however, is not and I spent so much time looking up to him because I wanted to be him professionally. I’ve never wanted his personal life. I don’t need a different spouse or significant other every few months. It’s why I settled in with Drew and stayed when it sucked. I thought that at least if I was in something long term I wasn’t like my father. But I was. Work wins for me when it comes to everything except my family. I learned that lesson from my father early on. The gifts may have softened the blow when he missed a recital or concert but I still have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he picked work over me a lot. He wasn’t a wonderful example of how to have it all, but for some fucked up reason he’s the example I follow.”

“So where does thinking about me on our run fit into this?”

“I want to learn what it’s like to need someone in my life. And I think I need you.” His smile softened from being silly and inquisitive to this look that I could’ve sworn was a mixture of happiness, gratitude, a bit of pride that it was him I decided I needed, and love.

“I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t need someone. I have spent so much of the last five years of my life in this bubble that I convinced myself I didn’t need anyone either. I had my mates and if I really needed something I had Mum. But I wanted to need someone, I typically ended up feeling like the person I needed didn’t also need me or even care. My relationships were usually a disaster. But you want to know something?” I nodded. “I need you too.”

“Not just because I’ve sucked at relationships in favor of being a badass at work?”

“No, not just because of that. In fact, in spite of that I still need you. I think we need each other. You have this level of blunt honesty about what you’re thinking. Most girls would play coy and try to avoid telling me what they were thinking about during a quiet moment, you just spilled it out.”

“I wanted you to know that I think I need you.”

“I’m glad. I’m glad you told me and I’m glad you need me.” He bent down to kiss me. It was soft and tender. I could feel it down to my toes. “Now, I’m going to ask you again. This time as my girlfriend and not my manager. When I go home in a few weeks for that photo shoot would you come with me?”

“I’m going to answer you as your girlfriend. Yes, I will come home with you. Okay, now the manager needs to pipe in for a minute. The girlfriend can’t spend the entire time in London just being romanced, she will have to work and she, in fact, has an office in London that would probably benefit from seeing her in it. And when you’re on the set of this magazine shoot she’d going to do her best to act only as manager and not as girlfriend.”

“As long as I get the girlfriend when I take her home to meet my Mum I don’t care if both of your personalities get on the plane. Just make sure that when you pack that they know they have to share the weight limit on luggage.”

“You are such a smart ass,” I said hitting him.

“You like it.”

“I maybe do. We need to get ready for brunch.”

“Do we get to shower together?” he asked.

“Sure, but no funny business. We need to actually get ready.” We moved like we did at home. Handing shampoo to each other and reaching areas the other couldn’t as easily. There was an ease to life around him. He sort of floated through everything as if nothing in the world was going to make him lose his smile. I obviously knew that wasn’t true, but it put me at ease as well. I dried my hair as I watched him spray his and it develop this gorgeous curl. “I hate you.”

“What?” he asked turning to look at me with this pained expression.

“Your hair looks effortlessly gorgeous. Mine will take forever.”

“You look much better than I do when you’re all done.”

“Can I straighten your hair sometime?”

“No,” he replied laughing. “I let someone do that once. It was terrible.” I pouted. “Don’t make that face at me. You aren’t straightening my hair.”

“Fine.” I went back to drying mine and turned the hair dryer on him. He scowled at me before laughing. He finished getting ready before I did but sat in the bathroom talking to me while I finished my makeup. I threw on jeans, a gray tee and a flannel shirt. It was warm enough in California that it felt like summer however today in Chicago it was chilly. I threw on flat ankle booties and grabbed my jacket before we headed downstairs to meet everyone. He held my hand as we walked down the stairs.

“You two are finally ready to go?” Joe asked as we walked in the room.

“Yeah, some of us got up and went for a six mile run this morning. So shut it,” I replied.

“You voluntarily ran on vacation?” Kammi asked. “I didn’t even get up and run.”

“I know. Dad asked Harry and I to do part of the Lakefront Trail this morning. So we got up and ran with him. You know that I do that with Dad when I’m home. Normally because he doesn’t just barge into my bedroom at obscene times.” Kammi flipped me off.

“It’s fine that you took a little longer,” Mom said. “Our reservations aren't for another half hour anyway. Dad booked the private dining room at Bambina for the Saturday brunch. We figured that 11:00 was a good time since it’s all you can drink. Get you guys there early enough you can have a nap before you all decided to go out tonight.”

“Where are we going tonight?” Nick asked.

“I don’t care,” I replied. “Eliza Joy, any ideas?”

“Are you thinking Wrigleyville or downtown?”

“Doesn't matter to me. We can think on it. I’m sure that some of our friends will want us to go out so we can maybe just text them to see where everyone will be.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she responded. In Chicago, Eliza and I were always put in charge of where we went out. If it was just the two of us in town we’d stumble in and out of bars all night and not care where we went because we usually found friends from when we were still living in the city. But with the entire circus we needed to take their likes into consideration. We all climbed into Mom and Dad’s cars and took off for brunch. Most of the staff hugged me upon entry to the restaurant. I was glad we were here for brunch today. When we sat down Harry opened the menu, flipping through it. When he got to the back there it was, the picture of me as a kid standing on a chair at the bar with a drawing of what the bar should look like in front of me and I was directing Dad where to put things behind the bar. There was also a picture of me in between Dad and Pops on the opening night and then again just about a year ago.

“You look cute there,” he said pointing at the picture.

“Thanks, Mom took that. Dad has had that in the menu since we opened. Somewhere around here there are some other pictures of me from when we were building the restaurant.”

“I'll show you after we eat while everyone is just sitting around drinking,” Dad said. He’d chosen to sit next to Harry which sort of made my heart explode. Mom sat next to me on the opposite side of Harry.

“Dad likes him a lot,” she said.

“I had hoped that.”

“No, I was upstairs while he was showering after you got home. He really likes him. He said you were quiet on the run but it gave them a chance to talk. Evidently they talked quite a bit last night too. Dad is impressed. Said that he can really tell that Harry cares a lot about you.”

“I care about him too.” I felt Harry’s hand move to my lap and take mine in his. I turned to look at him and he smiled at me. “A lot.”

“We both like seeing you this happy. Dad told me this morning that Harry is the kind of man he’s always hoped you’d find. Someone that supported you and was proud of how great you are, not intimidated by it.”

“You’re trying to make me cry at brunch.”

“Evie, I nearly cry just looking at you two sitting next to each other. The smile on your face is something so beautiful and pure.”

“I am really happy.”

“Good,” Mom said before leaning forward and kissing my cheek. I started to look back at my menu again when Harry leaned over to whisper to me.

“Your smile is huge right now.”

“I’m happy."

“Me too.”

We ordered drinks and food. This was something this group could sit and do for hours on end. Talking and enjoying each other’s company when you added in food and the Bambina brunch punch we were content for hours. My brothers usually got bored of all of us so today they’d stayed home with video games and homemade food from Nana Ferrera. Eliza's parents and brothers all arrived shortly after we had. This was what it felt like anytime Eliza and I came home. One big happy family together. I watched as Eliza tried to coyly flirt with Joe without her brothers noticing. They were actually pretty cute together. As soon as we finished eating and were settling in for drinks and conversation I watched my Dad and Harry stand up.

“I’m going to show him around,” Dad said. “Want to join?”

“Sure,” I said filling up my glass from the pitcher on the table.

“Where are you going?” Kammi asked.

“Dad and I are going to show Harry around the restaurant.”

“There’s embarrassing pictures of her in this place. The man deserves to know what he’s getting into,” Dad said. Everyone at the table laughed as I flipped him off. Harry pulled me into a hug.

“I am fully prepared for this,” he replied.

“I don’t know if I am.” He kissed the top of my head as we headed out of the room. Dad of course led us through the place back to his office first.

“So I tend to office out of here, it’s closest to home and has the most space.” When he opened the door I couldn’t help but smile. The office was a shrine to our family. A lot of restaurants had walls of photos of the famous people that ate there, Dad’s office was things like Christopher covered in pasta sauce when he ate spaghetti and meatballs for the first time, which was here, and me on my high school prom night, which also featured dinner here. My favorite picture was one that he had framed on his desk.

“Is this from your wedding?” Harry asked Dad. It was just of Dad and I. He was in a black tux and I was in a white dress.

“It is,” Dad responded. “That’s Evie’s favorite picture in the entire place.”

“You look adorable. Look at those little curls,” Harry gushed at me. “And the cheeks.”

“I was seven, I mean come on.”

“You were cute. Still are.”

“My favorite is this one,” Dad said as he pointed at a photo on the wall. It was a photo of Dad and I asleep on the couch together. It was when he first had moved in with Mom and I. The night of the photo had been rough. Mom had been out with friends and I’d gotten sick. Dad wanted to prove that he could take care of me without her help. He wanted to show her that he’d be a good Dad. She found us asleep when she got home. “Evie was so sick that night. Could’ve sworn it was a live performance of The Exorcist. I finally got her to keep down medication and sleep. We look peaceful but you never would’e imagined the demon child she was when she was sick an hour before her Mom found us.”

“Where was Grace?” Harry asked.

“It was Marie’s birthday. They had a girls’ day planned. I didn’t want to ruin her time out. I’d never dealt with a sick kid before.”

“You’re a pro now,” I said hugging my Dad. “Don’t tell Mom but when I get sick in LA I miss you, not her.”

“These photos are great. Who took them?”

“All of us. Some are professional photos. But most of them are Grace’s.”

“They are beautiful.”

“She’s got talent,” Dad said. We took a tour of the rest of the restaurant. There were occasionally pictures of me and Dad on the wall. It was named after me but still was a bit weird that like above the hostess station was a photo of me. “There’s more at home that are a little bit more embarrassing. She has veto rights on anything that goes in here.”

“She has a few picture in her bedroom here, she doesn’t have any in Los Angeles.”

“They are all in my office,” I replied.

“Her real home,” Dad answered. I flipped him off. “You know I give you a hard time because I think you need to slow down. You don’t need to take over the world by 30.”

“I’m going to though.”

“I don’t doubt that. But I’d like to know my little girl leaves work and has something to go home to. Not just more time with her laptop.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know and that makes me happy.” He looked at Harry and I as we stood holding hands at the front of the restaurant. “Very happy. I mean it’s about fucking time you left that office on occasion. No one believes you live in California when you come home.”

“Hey! I have a tan.”

“Barely,” he said. “We can only tell you’re a California girl by this blonde hair and the fact that you don’t sound like you’re from Chicago anymore.”

“If Eliza, Pops and I are together too long everyone starts to point it out. Give me another few hours and the accent will be back.”

“I’m not gonna hold my breath.” We headed back to the room and sat for a while longer. This group could talk for hours on end if we were put together with enough alcohol. Even Kammi, Nick and Joe were like family with my family and the Richards family. We eventually headed home. I watched as everyone headed for the stairs, Joe, Eliza and Ty heading downstairs but stopped as Nick and Kammi hesitated to follow.

“What are you two going to do?” Kammi asked.

“I’m day drunk and kinda tired. I want a nap.”

“I’ll have what she’s having,” Harry replied making me start to laugh. “Do we want to all just take a nap and decide on what to do tonight later? Maybe grab dinner somewhere before going out.”

“I’m never going to want to eat again,” Eliza said.

“That was a lot of food,” Ty said as he rubbed his stomach.

“Well how about we all nap until like 5:00ish then?” I asked. “Then we can all get ready to go out tonight.”

“I have nothing to wear out tonight.” Eliza was in the clothes she’d worn yesterday while she helped me get the boys ready. Luckily most people didn’t see her and Mom didn’t say anything about it.

“You can borrow some of my clothes,” I replied.

“Perfect. I will just come upstairs when we wake up from our nap.” I high fived Eliza and started walking up the stairs with Kammi and Nick following.

“Ev, you doing okay?” Nick asked. I had swayed into the railing on the stairs.

“Just buzzed. Brunch punch is a delicious, delicious bitch.” I felt Harry’s hands on my hips. “Hi boyfriend.”

“Hi girlfriend.” I tried to hide my laughter. “You’re giggly when you’re drunk.”

“I am, that is a fact.” I turned to look at him as we made it to the second floor. “I also get a bit frisky when I’m drunk.”

“Ah! Dads don’t need to hear this,” I heard Dad yell from the hallway. Harry started to laugh.

“You should carry me up to bed.”

“You should walk,” he replied. I pouted. He threw me over his shoulder and started to carry me up the rest of the stairs. I couldn’t stop laughing. Once we were in my bedroom he kicked the door shut and carried me over to the bed laying me down. He took my boots off of me while I threw my jacket on the floor. I started to unbutton my pants. “What are you doing?”

“Taking my pants off. Jeans aren’t that fun to wear while I’m sleeping. So I have a no pants in bed rule.” He pulled my jeans off of me and I moved to climb under the covers now in just my gray t-shirt. “Are you napping with me?”

“Of course.”

“Then the pants come off,” I replied. He started to laugh as I waived my finger wildly around in the air pointing at his pants. He kicked off his shoes before pulling off his jeans and then his t-shirt. He climbed in bed next to me in just his boxers. I moved so that my head was rested on his chest. He started to play with my hair. “My Dad loves you.”

“He’s a great guy.”

“No, he loves you. Mom told me that he wouldn’t stop talking about you after we got back from the run this morning. He told her that you were the kind of man he’s always dreamed of me finding.” I was starting to get tired the more he played with my hair.

“I’m sure my Mum will say the same about you.” I could tell he was nearly asleep too. “She’s excited to meet you.”

“She knows about me?” I asked.

“She does. She knew about you when I decided to go with you as my manager. I maybe spilled in the same phone conversation that I thought you were beautiful and was trying to convince you to go on a date with me.”

“Have you talked to her since then?”

“I have.”

“And did you tell her more about me?”

“I did.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That I met this beautiful woman who made me laugh, who made me smile, and who made me think. That this woman somehow decided to go against her better judgement and follow her gut to see if things could work out with me. I also told her that I feel like I’ve won the lottery because she agreed to try.” I turned to look at him. “She wants to meet the woman that has me talking in a sing-song voice because evidently you make me talk in a sing-song voice.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous about meeting your Mom.”

“Why? I met your grandparents last night and a few of your aunts hit on me.” I laughed, my aunts were all very affectionate.

“Yeah, but it’s your Mom. I don’t know how you survived meeting mine.”

“Parents love me,” he said. He sounded less tired now.

“Clearly my whole family does. I think that you won Jonny and Toph over last night by helping them get ready. It’s not as cool to have your big sister help. But when her boyfriend is a pop star it makes it a little bit of an easier pill to swallow that your Mom thinks you still need help getting dressed for big functions.”

“Your brothers are all really great. Mason kept telling me about his favorite restaurants in Los Angeles and asking if I’d ever been.”

“Not surprising. He sends me a list of places he wants to go about a month before they make a trip so I can make reservations. There’s a few places that I’ve had to lie, cheat and steal to get reservations at just so that I didn’t disappoint him.”

“I hope that the next time they come visit that I’ll be in town.”

“I’d like that but I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m hopeful that you’re in France on a movie set.”

“Trying to get rid of me?” He rolled me onto my back and moved down on the bed so he could kiss me.

“Yup, you take up space in my bed that I’d like back.”

“My bed will miss you.”

“It might not have to. Your house is quieter than mine. I might just move in while you’re gone and then move out before you get back.” He started to laugh at me as his lips moved down to start kissing my collarbone.

“You’d miss the noise.”

“I’d miss yours. Not Ty’s and he will likely become more annoying with Kammi moving this week.”

“She’s starting that already?” His mouth ghosted over my t-shirt that covered my breasts as he pulled at the hem on the bottom of the shirt, his lips reconnecting with my skin just below my bra.

“Yeah, she starts moving as soon as they are back tomorrow. I can’t imagine it takes much time. She never bought much furniture for the place and said she’d leave her bed so that if Nick and Joe are gone she has a place to crash with us. So I’d imagine most of everything is gone tomorrow and completely by the time we get back Wednesday.” My fingers began to run through his hair instinctively. “We are supposed to be napping.”

“I know,” he said as he slid my panties down my legs. “We will nap later.” He started to kiss up my legs.

“Yes…later,” I said as his mouth connected with mine. He broke the kiss just long enough to pull my t-shirt over my head and let me unsnap my bra as he pulled off his boxer shorts. This time his mouth found my breasts which caused an involuntary moan.

“Thin walls, love. Shh,” he whispered as he glanced up at me. His mouth started to move downward again paying attention to my hips and belly button. It was a matter of seconds later when my heart rate sped up and my breathing stopped as he continued to move down my body. My thighs instinctively tightened around his head.

“What are you doing?” I barely managed to be able to speak. I was only able to manage a whisper.

“Reading the newspaper.” He looked up at me like I was crazy. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing?”

“I don’t know. You haven’t done this…” My head fell back down on the pillow as he sucked on my clit. “Oh god.”

“I haven’t done this because I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it. Liquid courage. I realized it was something I enjoyed and decided I wasn’t sure I cared how you felt about it.”

“Want to know how I feel about it?”

“Sure.”

“I think it’s about time you shut up and get to work.” He laughed. I could feel the vibration of his laughter.

“Don’t laugh,” I said.

“Why?” He decided now was time to add his hands to the game he was playing.

“You’re gonna make this game end sooner than I want it.”

“So you like this?”

“Fuck yes.” I felt my orgasm getting close. “B-b-baby.”

“You’re close I know,” he replied. He moved quickly reaching for where he’d stashed the box of condoms he’d packed last night. He had the wrapper open fast enough that I hadn’t even noticed he was done until his hips slammed against mine. He bent down towards me and hesitated over my lips. I lifted my head up kissing him. “So you’re okay with that?”

“Yup.” He kissed me again, his hand sliding behind my head and lifting it up off of the pillow slightly. I felt him tug at my hair. “So if you are into that I’m going to take a wild guess that you like having the favor returned.”

“There’s not a sane man I’ve met that doesn’t. But only if you wanted to.” He looked me in the eyes. “Do you?”

“Oh, I do.”

“Good to know.” He bit his lip as his body moved above me. “Fuck you feel so good.” His lips captured mine. Our kiss didn’t break until I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I reached for the pillow next to my head and covered up my face. I moaned into the pillow. I heard Harry laughing at me. I moved the pillow just enough that I could glare at him.

“Don’t fucking laugh at me.” I was speaking directly into the pillow. His rocked his hips back and forth again. I moaned loudly again into the pillow.

“You’re funny I can’t help it.”

“Good to know I’m funny when I come…asshole.” I was trying to catch my breath as I felt him hit his orgasm, holding his hips against mine. He gave up and his body fell against mine.

“You’re funny a lot,” he said as he kissed my neck. “You’re particularly funny when you cover your head with a pillow so you can scream and not be heard.”

“That was just a whole lot of unfair business. You have the control when you’re on top. You know how to torment me and make me want to scream. I’m pretty sure that the entire house would hear me. They don’t need to.”

“I agree with that. Those are sounds for me to hear.” He kissed me before standing up. We both got ourselves cleaned up before crawling back under the covers. “Now we can take a nap.” His voice sounded tired and it was a matter of moments before we both fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later in bed alone. I threw on the jeans and gray shirt I’d worn earlier and opened the bedroom door. I heard the sound of a guitar floating from the ballroom. I walked quietly across the old floor in my bare feet. As I walked into the doorway I saw my brother and my boyfriend sitting on the side of the stage with guitars in their hands. Harry had mine and my brother had what was obviously the guitar he’d bought Jonathan for his birthday. I listened to what they were playing and singing. I immediately recognized the song as a Fleetwood Mac song, one that Mom had played on repeat when I was growing up. “Hey sleepyhead,” Harry said as I walked over to them.

“You have been snooping in my room to find my guitar.” I bent down to kiss him before sitting down behind him and resting my head on his shoulder.

“I told him where it was,” Jonathan replied. “I can’t believe you guys got me an Apple Watch and a new Martin.”

“I can’t take credit for the guitar,” I said. “It was all him.”

“Thanks man,” Jonny said. I could tell by the look on his face that my brother was impressed.

“Evie told me that you wanted a new one but that with your training for baseball that the watch made more sense for her to get you. I figured that I could help make sure you got both.”

“It’s awesome. This is way nicer than I expected getting.”

“As long as you like it.”

“I love it,” he said. Harry smiled, he felt good about having gotten a great gift for my brother. I laid on the stage listening to them play a few songs. “Evie, Harry told me that you haven’t played for him before.”

“He heard me play piano last night.”

“You used to play a lot. It just shocked me that he hadn’t heard you.”

“I’ve been kind of busy. I signed a new client who is poised to take over the world now that he’s parting ways from his boyband. Haven’t had time to try and show the new boyfriend how I slay at guitar.”

“You still sound tired,” Harry said turning to look at me.

“I am. I’m exhausted. I’ve been in three different timezones this week.”

“Go get back in bed.”

“I’m okay. Maybe we just won’t stay out as late tonight. Considering everyone flies out so early I’m hoping that is the case.”

“You evidently haven’t met The Circus,” he said. “Your friends and staying out late go hand in hand.”

“I know. I’m just thinking we can just come home and leave them all out.”

“Just go back to bed.” I sat up and kissed him before walking back to my bedroom. I laid on the bed and was out in a few moments. I’d left the door open so the sound of the guitars drifted into the room and coaxed me to sleep. When I woke up after another hour Harry was laying in bed next to me with my iPad in his hand.

“Whatcha doin’? I asked.

“Reading a book. Sorry, my iPad was dead. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“Not at all but how did you get in it?” I had it password protected.

“Umm, I used your thumbprint while you were sleeping.” I just started to laugh.

“Find anything good?”

“Yeah, you had some books in here so I just picked one of them. I didn’t want to wake you up. You were pretty out of it.”

“I am really tired.”

“We could just stay in tonight with your family if you wanted.”

“No, The Circus is here. I need to go out with them.”

“You don’t need to. If they all decided to go out and you stayed home they would survive. You know that right?”

“I mean yes, I know that. But I don’t want to disappoint them.”

“Let’s see if they even have a plan for tonight. Maybe no one wants to go out.”

“Doubtful. They are used to Chicago having a night out. Everyone will want to go out. I’ll be okay. I just won’t drink much if at all tonight.”

“Just know that if you want to skip out I’m totally on board with that.” I watched him close my iPad and move to wrap himself around me. “I might actually like just staying home.”

“We can’t just lay in bed all day having sex.”

“I know that. Eventually your parents would wonder where we were. But I wouldn’t even mind just hanging out here with them.”

“You’ve got a crush on my Dad don’t you?” He started to laugh loud enough it filled the room.

“He’s awesome. It is nice to see you around he and your Mum. With James you’ve always seemed so business oriented. Even the first night we went out for dinner. He told stories about you as a kid which was nice but it was just different.”

“Different how?”

“Like even the stories of you as a kid it’s like you were a tiny adult. Like he wasn’t sure how to just let you be a kid.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it.”

“Have you never noticed that?”

“No, I have but most people don’t say that. They say it in a way that makes him still seem like a nice person. Like he treated me like an adult because he knew I was so smart or something else that makes me sound great and him sound like a present father.”

“You worship him. Why?”

“He was everything I wanted to be in my career. I also think I always thought if I turned out just like him that maybe there’d be a way to make up for the things we missed out on. It sort of has. You’ll eventually see that with Pops it’s not all business. We have family time but it’s usually a couple beers, pizza and a baseball game. I will try to plan something soon so you can get to know him as my father and not as the guy who owns the company your manager is part of.”

“That would be nice. He’s going to potentially terrify me for a while though.”

“I thought parents loved you.”

“They do as evidenced by your Mum and Dad. But he’s sort of like the boss of both of us. It might take me a little more time to not be terrified of him.”

“I will allow that.” I buried my face in his neck. “We should get up.”

“We probably should, yes.” We both got out of bed and headed downstairs. I could hear the boys playing video games in the family room. As we peeked in the living room there was no one. Once downstairs I saw The Circus and my parents in the game room.

“You two finally decide to wake up?” Kammi asked.

“Yeah, I was tired.”

“You also look like your hair has been messed with,” she said. I flipped her off.

“Bed head.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

“So what are we doing tonight?” I asked as Harry sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I wasn’t quite sure why we had started sitting like this. I was pretty sure he just liked trying to see if he could make me uncomfortable in groups of people because he knew that I was still adjusting to the idea of someone wanting to be like this with me and it did sometimes make me feel like I was going to throw up from nerves.

“I’m tired but I feel like we still have to go out,” Eliza said.

“This one can barely stay awake,” Nick said pointing at Kammi. She was sitting in an oversized chair next to him with her head on his shoulder.

“I want to go out though. I will chug some caffeine and be good to go.”

“Then I say we just bar crawl and find places to go,” I said.

“Sounds good to me,” Harry said. We all parted ways and started to get ready. Once everyone was ready we started towards a bar that we’d decided to start at. We’d all chugged a Red Bull while getting ready with Kammi and I grabbing a second on the way out the door. Harry had his hand in mine as we walked through the city. We wandered into the bar and found a table towards the back big enough for all of us. A waitress walked up to all of us and took drink orders. She obviously recognized the three famous faces sitting at the table, it usually made for an entertaining evening.

“Okay, I want to say something before we start drinking and probably get out of hand because that’s what we do,” I said. “I am so grateful to have the six of you in my life. Some of you have been here my whole life, some for a decade, and some for a few weeks. But each of you has had an impact on me and who I am today, this crazy girl sitting in front of you. I wouldn’t have survived a lot of my life without my sidekicks. As we all make major changes in life with moves in our housing and our careers we are all going to be here for each other. We don’t have to be under the same roof for us to still be this jacked up crazy circus family we’ve become. We will always be there for each other, even if it means I have to drag my ass out to Sherman Oaks.” Everyone laughed. “So let’s say a toast. To friendships meant to last a lifetime. Salute!”

“Cheers!” came the response of everyone else sitting at the table. We all clinked our glasses and took a drink. Eliza hugged me close to her.

“You’re getting all mushy with us. You’re in love aren’t you?”

“No way. It’s too early.”

“Sometimes you just know, Ev. And maybe that’s one of those times.”

“Nah, but I’ll let him stick around.” As much as all seven of us were dragging around the house while we got ready the second we were out in the bar we were back to our normal selves. Poor Ty was like the 7th wheel tonight with Joe all over Eliza. He was handling it well because all of us were trying to pick out someone for him to flirt with. Harry had offered himself up as a wingman which made me laugh.

“I don’t want you as my wingman. First of all, we don’t know which guy in here would be interested in me. Second, I’ve got three pop stars who are loved immensely from the gay community. I’m fucking chopped liver if one of you is playing my wingman.”

“Not true!” Harry argued. “You’re a fucking catch, Ty. I’m comfortable enough with myself to admit that you’re attractive.”

“Fucking hot is more like it,” I said. Ty started to laugh.

“Do you want to go to a different bar?” Eliza asked. “You know that I’m down for hitting up a drag show.”

“No, we are fine. I don’t need you fuckers to try and set me up with a drag queen. We are fine here. We can walk home from here.”

“Fine, but if you want to switch bars we can,” I said.

“I would go to a drag show,” Harry said.

“We are fine.” Ty couldn’t stop laughing. “This bar is great. They have good music.” At that moment One Direction started to play and the entire group started laughing.

“Which of you fucking did that?” Harry asked glaring at all of us. His eyes stopped on me as I started to try to hide behind Nick. “Evie, was it you?”

“You are just asking for trouble,” Nick said. “Though I did warn you that she would start singing old One Direction songs at you at some point.”

“You did and so far she hadn’t. I felt lucky.”

“Luck runs out baby.”

“Yours might later tonight too,” he said as he glared at me and pulled me into a hug.

“After this afternoon I might have to figure out how to suck up to stay in your good graces.”

“I know what you can suck up on.”

“Did you just make a blow job joke?” Kammi asked.

“I did,” Harry said. “A very terrible blow job joke, but a blow job joke no less.”

“Have you discovered that this one likes to give head?” Ty asked. “I mean she used to ask me for tips.”

“Anyone ready to go home?” Harry had the whole group laughing.

“Not me,” I said. “It’s our last night out together before this one moves on me.” I hugged Kammi to me.

“You act like you will miss me.”

“I will.”

“You’ll still see me every day at the office.”

“But what about weekends?” I started to pout.

“We will always have Malibu.” Everyone laughed. “You don’t stay at home anymore anyway.”

“But he’s gonna leave at some point and then what?”

“You can come snuggle with me and Nick.”

“I get you both?” Nick asked.

“Eww no,” I replied.

“Fine, we can make Nick sleep on the couch and we can snuggle.” She hugged me tightly.

“I might miss your obnoxious ass when you should be waking me up at like 5AM.”

“I’ll call you every morning.”

“That might be worse. You’ll just keep calling. If you’re at home I can hit you with a pillow to shut you up.”

“Text me, I’ll go hit her with the pillow,” Joe said. Kammi flipped him off.

“Fuck all of you. You three are going to miss me.”

“Of course we will,” Eliza said. “It won’t be the same. The fearsome foursome is down to the three musketeers after you’re done moving.”

“And most of the time we are the dynamic duo.” Ty was on a roll tonight. “Though we’ve been that since we moved here. You two stay locked in your offices so often that we just sit and shit talk you in the lobby.” Everyone started laughing.

“You know that we know that, right?” Kammi asked.

“We have actually sat in my office listening to you shit talk us before,” I added. Ty looked surprised.

“And you think we don’t know when you’re listening?” Eliza started to laugh. “There is a light on the phone that lights up. Which I know you know because I’ve listened in on your conversations before. You can’t meet with hot boys and not tell me about it.”

“You four are hilarious,” Harry said. “I feel like I’m watching a television show of the four of you. Wait…why haven’t you pitched yourselves as a TV show?”

“What would we call it?” I asked.

“The Shit Show,” Joe replied. He got glared at by all four of us. “The Show of the Prettiest People Ever.”

“Sounds better,” I said.

“Our show would have too much hotness for one TV show,” Ty declared.

“True story,” Eliza agreed. Harry pulled me into a hug and I felt his lips on my neck.

“You look fucking beautiful.” I turned around to kiss him, my fingers finding their way into his hair as it got a bit more passionate than I intended it to be.

“You always look hot.” My watch vibrated and I glanced down to see a text from my Pops.

Check your email.

I pulled my phone out of my purse and went into the email app. There was far too much in there. I hadn’t checked it all day today or yesterday if I was being honest. I scanned for what he might be looking for and saw the new emails coming in. There was one from Pops, I clicked it open and waited for it to load.

From: James Scarcello
To: Everlee Scarcello
Subject: Breaking News

You might want to read this article and give me a call.

JS

When he signed things with his initials I got nervous. Normally emails from him were signed as Pops. I clicked the link he’d included and watched as my phone loaded a gossip site. I took one glance at the headline and felt my whole body go cold.

Harry Styles and New Manager Mixing Business with Pleasure?

“Shit.”

“What?” Harry asked. I showed him my phone. “Shit.”

“What?” Kammi and Eliza questioned. I waived them over to look at the phone. “Shit.”

“Who wrote it?” Kammi was trying to see the byline of the article.

“Teigen from Gossip Gang.”

“She’s at least funny,” Eliza said.

“I know.” I started to glance through the article.

everleemae: I don’t know that I’m ready to go back to reality. The weekend in Malibu was too short and my alarm is set way too early.

everleemae: Sometimes you need to leave #thecircus at home to have a quiet lunch. Thanks for enjoying the quiet with me @harrystyles. I think we have to go back to check on #thecircus now. #hairenvy #seriouslyhehasthebesthairever #workinglunch #okaynotaworkinglunch #thecircustakesmalibu

everleemae: When you’re suuuuuuper hungover after a night out in the city and need coffee you leave the apartment to go to the nearest @Starbucks you need to realize that @elizajoyrichards is going to take stupid pictures of your hungover ass to send to your boyfriend. I hope he at least enjoyed it. #thecircustakesnyc #elizajoypaparazziextraordinaire

everleemae: When your boyfriend texts you to tell you that you forgot your favorite pink hair tie at his house and you respond to tell him that you don’t have a favorite pink hair tie and remind him that the hair tie in question is his. #hehasbetterhairthanido #boyfriendhasamanbun #ithinkhemissesmealittlebit

everleemae: Happy Birthday @jonnyferrera17! Thanks for giving @harrystyles and I the best excuse to spend a long weekend in Chicago and for being a kickass little brother. #sweethomechicago #hbdjonny

1. Harlee
2. Stycello
3. Scarles
4. Evarry
5. Everarry

“I am sort of freaking out.”

“You’re fine. Don’t freak out. We are fine. It’s speculation and even then at least it’s of something true.”

“The article and public’s reaction isn’t my worry. Your fans will either love me or hate me. I knew that going into this as your manager and not just your girlfriend. But the email my father sent is what has me freaked out. I need to go call him.”

“Wait until tomorrow.”

“This is the kind of thing that James doesn’t wait on.” I picked my phone up off the table and headed outside. As I made it to the sidewalk I realized that Harry was following me.

“Well if you’re going to call him about it tonight I’m going to be here with you.” I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed it. I clicked the button to call my father.

“Everlee,” he answered. Shit he had his pissed off voice.

“Pops.”

“I take it you read the article.”

“I did. I didn’t see any problem with it. It’s all true.”

“It makes you look unprofessional. It makes the agency look bad.”

“Pops, the article joked about how it was the dream to fall for the hot guy the cubicle over from you. Everything was positive in it. We went through the same thing with Nick and Kammi when they started dating and the media loved it. In fact, it actually increased the exposure on the agency and Kammi which meant it increased my exposure. If he was dating a junior agent we never would’ve gotten the press. Isn’t it you who told me once no press is bad press.”

“This is. I think you need to end it. Your career comes first.” It was as if every last bit of air was squeezed out of my body.

“I can’t do that. You can’t ask me to do that.”

“I shouldn’t have to ask you to do that.”

“So are you telling me that you and Jessica have broken up since she’s your client?”

“No we have not, which isn’t any of your business. And I need you to start treating her with respect.”

“You need to treat me with respect. Pops, I refuse to let my career dictate my personal life anymore. I’ve met this amazingly wonderful and perfect man. I am not about to let your fears of what the public will think of us together change the way I feel about him. I care about him and he cares about me. That should be all that matters to you. Not if I’m going to make the papers next to him. I would’ve thought you’d enjoy that. You always get a kick out of the times you make the papers with the flavor of the week.”

“Everlee Mae!”

“Don’t you dare try to scold me on this Pops. Don’t you dare. I am 25 years old and am at a place in my life where I should be dating and should find someone who makes me happy. I have and you can’t stand that I’m actually leaving the office at the time the rest of the building does so that I can spend time with the man in my life. You need to realize that I am no different than you, I just don’t intend on making it a habit of only dating the clients and then trading them in for a newer model when they stop getting cast.”

“Evie, baby, calm down a bit,” Harry said. I glared at him.

“You are so disrespectful.”

“No, in fact I’m not. I may be in this moment but it’s because you disrespected me by suggesting that I should break up with the first decent guy I’ve dated the second a gossip blog figures out that we are dating. That isn’t going to happen. The only person who dictates my life is me.”

“I’m your boss.”

“No, technically based on the contracts that you and Cameron signed as you passed on some of the company shares to Kammi and I, I am your business partner. You wouldn't talk to Kammi or Cameron like this. You only do this because you still wish I was the kid who just did what you asked. In this circumstance I refuse to. I am not choosing a work life over a happy relationship. I’ve done that my entire life and I refuse to do it anymore. I’ve met the person worth fighting for.”

“I can clearly see that I’m not going to be able to have a rational conversation with you and that you have been drinking. We will talk about this later.”

“Whatever. Bye.” I hung up the phone and couldn’t decide in that moment if I wanted to scream, cry or both.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked as he looked at me cautiously.

“Not at all.”

“What happened?”

“James is pissed. He thinks we should break up.” He stood there silent. He looked as shocked as I felt. “He told me my career comes first.”

“If it needs to it can.”

“No! It doesn’t need to. I need to come first. He hasn’t put me first since I was 4! I need to come first in my life. You need to come first in my life.”

“Evie, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” I could feel myself start to cry. “I don’t want to be him. I don’t want to have a string of relationships. I don’t want that. I want you.” He pulled me into a hug and held me tightly against his chest.

“Evie, please don’t cry. I hate hearing you cry.”

“Ev, are you okay?” Kammi asked.

“She’s gonna be fine,” Harry said. I sobbed into his chest.

“What happened?” Eliza asked. I turned to see both of the girls standing next to Harry and I. I tried to wipe my tears and look like I wasn’t overly emotional.

“My Father said that my relationship with Harry is not only unprofessional but that it is giving me and the company a bad reputation. He as my boss demanded that I end my relationship.”

“What?!” the girls said simultaneously.

“Yeah, when I pointed out that he loved being in the tabloids with the flavor of the week he got pissed.”

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Harry said.

“Why not? It’s true. He upgrades as soon as they stop booking jobs. Jessica is nearing her expiration date.”

“Everlee! Did you actually say that?” Kammi asked.

“Yup, he insinuated that my career should come first and that I was being stupid and selfish for choosing to try and have a life and letting myself build a relationship with a man who has been nothing but supportive and kind to me.” Harry was still hugging me tightly.

“Do you need to go home?” Eliza asked. “Go be with Grace?”

“No, I’m fine. I just need to calm down.” Both of the girls embraced Harry and I in a giant hug.

“You two are going to be fine,” Kammi said. “James is just going through something fucked up. Ev, the rest of us like seeing you happy. Just remember that.”

“Maybe this was what you needed to say to James,” Eliza added. “He’s always felt that he could be in charge of your life. And you’ve let him. You just always needed to find the reason tell him that you were in charge.”

“I found my reason. I found what was worth fighting for.”

“And we couldn’t be happier about that,” Kammi said.

“I do think you should go home though,” Eliza said. “You’ve been through a lot. Talk to your Mom and Dad or just go home and be with Harry. We are going to pay our tab and head that way.”

“That fucking asshole ruined my night out. Every time I’ve tried to go out this week it’s been ruined by assholes. I don’t want it to be ruined by assholes.”

“Don’t let it be ruined. Go home and maybe you can get in some quality time with your reason,” she finally whispered to me. I hugged Eliza and agreed to leave. Harry and I walked through the streets to my parents’ house holding hands. We were relatively quiet for most of the walk until we got closer to a bar with music loud enough it poured into the streets. Harry stopped walking so I got a bit ahead of him before he spun me into him, wrapping his arms around me. He swayed me back and forth to the music that was playing.

“What are you doing?” I asked quietly.

“Dancing with you. You need to calm down. You’ve had a rough week. So we are just going to dance for a moment so that we can forget about all of the fucked up shit from this week and just focus on us.” I felt a tear slide down my face.

“How did I get this lucky?”

“I don’t know because I haven’t figured out how I got this lucky either.” He bent down to kiss me.

“Thank you for being worth fighting for.”

“Thank you for fighting for yourself and then for me.” He kissed me again. “I will fight for us too but it’s your relationship with your father. I’m not sure that jumping into the middle of this is a good idea. But I want you to know that whatever I need to do, I will do. You are worth fighting for too.”

Notes