She was right, but it wasn’t that simple. “Hell, Ivy. I’ve been a provider for so long, I don’t know how not to be. There’s so much to consider. My bandmates, my crew, my fans, and, of course, my manager. They all depend on me.”
She finished chewing. “Are you happy, Ty?”
“Right now?” I wriggled my brows. “Never been happier.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You should be happy all the time. And if the road doesn’t make you happy, the people who love you should respect that.”
If only life were that simple.
I nodded. “Would you ever consider leaving here? You’d love Nashville, Ive. It’s such a fun city. Great food and country music.”
She smiled. “My life is here, Ty. I just bought a business. I bought my first home all on my own, and I’m proud of that. My family is here, although I’m not happy with my mama at the moment. She knew how heartbroken I was after you left, and she never said a word.”
I set down my fork and swallowed the eggs I’d been chewing. “Mimsy never saw me that day. She was speaking her truth, Ive. She wanted the best for her daughter, and I respect that. I’ve always been crazy about your parents, and I harbor no hard feelings. In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing them at the wedding.”
“My mother should have had your back. I’m not surprised by Addy’s mom’s reaction, but my mom knows better. You remember how crazed Addy’s mom was when she broke up with Alec and started dating Jett. That seems like forever ago,” she said.
“Yep. That was the year Jett and I got close. We kept in touch over the years, and I’ve been thankful for his friendship.”
“I knew you guys talked, but I always asked Addy not to tell me anything because it hurt to hear about you and not be able to talk to you.” She shrugged. “I guess I can be a bit dramatic.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing about you, Ivy Baron.”
“I’d change one thing about you…” she said with a brow raised.
“What’s that?”
“I’d make you stay here forever,” she said over a mouthful of pancakes before laughing.
And for the first time in five years, I didn’t hate the idea.
But it wasn’t even a possibility.
We had the next ten days together and then I’d be going back to my life.
And she’d keep living hers. And for some reason, now that bothered the hell out of me.
Chapter Eleven
Ivy
“When you know, you know.” Maura, three months after working for Crew Carlisle
The sun was coming up when we finished breakfast. My body was completely out of sorts. I’d had a lot to drink yesterday, emotionally poured my heart out to the only boy I’d truly ever loved, had a boatload of orgasms, and then eaten a giant breakfast in the wee hours.
“Do you have to work today?” he asked as we walked back into my bedroom. I turned around and grasped his hands. I had ten days with Ty Greene, and I planned on making the best of them.
“I do. But I need to get cleaned up. Take a bath with me?”
He chuckled. “Remember that time you asked me to sneak in your bedroom window because you wanted us to take a bath together after you’d read about it in one of your romance books. But your dad caught me climbing up the tree to your bedroom window and sent me home to do the walk of shame.” His laughter bounced off the walls.
“Yeah. I got grounded for two weeks for that one. But guess what?” I said.
“What?”
“I live on my own now. No one’s going to catch you sneaking in.” I dropped his hands and he followed me into the bathroom. I leaned over and started the water. I poured in my jasmine bath salts and tied my hair up in a pile on my head.
“Good point. I haven’t taken a bath in about twenty years,” he said as he watched me drop my robe to the floor and his gaze scanned my body.
I climbed into the tub and leaned forward and wrapped my arms around my knees. “Come on. Hop in. I’m not ready for our time to come to an end just yet.”
His face startled a bit at my words, but it was the truth. This was temporary. My heart would shatter when this ended, but it would be worth it to have this time with him. Ty was leaving. He wasn’t mine to keep, he’d made that perfectly clear.
He dropped his boxers and climbed in behind me. “I don’t leave for ten days. Can I spend them with you?”
I was quiet for a long time before I looked over my shoulder and nodded. “It’s not wise, but I’m going to give myself this. I’ll deal with the fallout after you leave just like I did before. But at least I’ll have had this time with you. And now we can keep in touch, right?”
He wrapped his arms around me and he leaned back. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this content.
This happy.
“Absolutely. Tell me about college,” he said. “I want to hear everything I missed. And I have ten days to get caught up.”
We sat in the tub talking about our time apart until our fingers were pruned. I told him about my college days and how I was the president of my sorority. He told me about some of his crazy times with his band on the road. We laughed. We kissed. We talked. And it still wasn’t enough.
When we climbed out, Ty wrapped a towel around me first before wrapping one around his waist.
“Have dinner with me tonight? Let me take you out?” he asked.
“You know everyone in town will talk if we’re seen out together again.”
“Are you afraid for me to claim you as mine? Am I going to mess up your dating life after I leave?”
My heart sank at his words. The truth was—it wasn’t my dating life I was worried about. It was my heart. Sure, we were friends now and we could keep in touch. But I wanted forever, and Ty couldn’t give that to me. So, I’d continue to look for it and hope I’d someday find someone I loved the way I loved him.
“I’ve never been afraid for you to claim me, Ty. I’m not the one who can’t commit.” I narrowed my gaze.
“It’s not about not being able to commit, Ive. Hell, I’d commit to you right now if I thought you would be happy. But my life isn’t here. I don’t want children or the life we once talked about having. I’m not any good at it. You could come on the road with me. We could see the world together.”
“What about my business? Sure, it would be fun for a little while. But Ty, I’ve always wanted to be a mother. You remember how badly I wished for siblings when we were young. I see myself with a house full of little ones. I see Coco with Valentino and I want that.” I had filled him in when we were in the tub about what all the girls had been up to. How Coco had gotten married and was raising Tino, Roman’s son from his first marriage.