Chapter one hundred and seventy-seven:

Becky was wedged amidst a sea of chairs in the VIP room.

She had found a chair that looked comfortable, and sat down with her book.

Before long she was stretched across two different chairs with her feet up on the back of a third.

She knew she probably looked ridiculous, but it felt very comfortable.

She flipped the page in her book and was nearly halfway through the page, when she heard a pair of clunky footsteps enter the room.

She knew immediately it was Zac by the sound and looked up to greet him with a smile.

He went to the fridge and removed a bottle of Gatorade.

“Hey babe. Comfy?” He teased.

“Actually, yeah.” Her smile broadened.

“Want anything?” He asked, motioning towards the fridge with his free hand.

“No thank you.”

Zac crossed the room and turned a chair around, seating himself backward in it. “Are you bored yet?”

“Not really.” She replied, closing her book over her hand. “That radio interview was quite interesting this morning…”

He lowered the bottle of Gatorade from his mouth. “Yeah? What was so interesting about it?”

She shrugged, and looked back down at the cover of her book. She pretended to scratch off an imaginary spot on the cover. “Just the part about you saying you were single…”

“Oh… That.” He paused. “Look, babe. That’s just… for the fans, you know? So they keep being fans.”

“Your fans aren’t twelve year old girls, Zac. They can handle that you guys have social lives.”

“I know that. But our management thinks that if we appear ready and available to women, we’ll sell more records. Sex appeal sells, right?”

“I guess….” She sighed. “I know that. There’s just a part of me that wishes you could admit to the world that you love me as much as you say you do…. Sounds really stupid doesn’t it?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Zac smiled and placed a hand on her knee. “One day, the whole world will know. Like when we get married…”

“You want to wait until then?” She asked.

“Well, no…” He paused. “I’ll call management when I get a chance today, and see if they’re okay with me telling the truth…. Will that make you happy, babe?”

“Zac, you don’t have to do it to make me happy. I know that it’s good for your career for you to be single. I just… I don’t know, would like it to be different.”

“Becca, I want to tell the truth too, you know. I want everyone to know the name of the girl I’m crazy about. I’ll just have to check with management.”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” She smiled slightly. “We’ll just end up arguing.”

Zac smiled. “Okay. I don’t want to argue with you either.” He stood. “I really should get back to the sound check though.”

Becky nodded. “Okay.”

“We’ll talk more later?”

She nodded. “Right, later.”

“Great.” He leaned over her and kissed her.

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