“What? She wants more money?” I ask, trying to add a sneer but it comes off as a juvenile taunt.
She studies me for a long moment as if weighing how much to tell me, and actually how to tell me, then she sits down on the bed. “No. She’s not coming back. She’s leaving Flipping Texas.”
For a long moment, the words don’t register. Once they finally make sense, alarm lances through me. “What the actual fuck?”
Her eyes widen at my tone. Okay, I sounded a little panicked there, but it has to do with the fact that she’s my co-host and nothing to do with the fact that my heart feels like someone has taken a dagger to it.
“She told her agent she couldn’t work with you anymore.”
I signed my contract three months ago. It wasn’t due, but at the same time, I made sure that Nancy was getting the same deal. We always look out for each other that way. But apparently, I pushed her too far. I was an ass this season, but I needed to be. Otherwise, I would have done something stupid. Really stupid. Like grab her and kiss her. And that’s just wrong. She has no idea how close I’ve been for years to doing just that. Being in love with a woman who wants nothing to do with you isn’t fun. Working with that woman for ten plus hours a day is painful.
Nancy and I have known each other for well over a decade, and I can’t think of a day that I didn’t wish she was mine. From the moment she smiled and introduced herself as Syd’s best friend—by the way, within ten minutes of meeting Syd—she’s been in my heart. Well, at first, it was a simple infatuation, which quickly turned into lust, which morphed into all out obsession. But we work together, and nothing can ever happen. Still, her hanging around with Carter Hawthorne has been…okay, fuck, it pisses me off. The guy has so much money and is kind of my boss in that his family owns the network, and he’s been flirting with Nancy. Hell, he flew in for a few hours just so he could attend the wrap party we had yesterday.
“Listen up, I’m going to lay it all out there for you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
She smacks me on my ass hard enough to cause a sting to me both physically and emotionally.
“Fuck, Syd. I’m not five years old.”
“I can’t tell by the way you’ve been acting lately.”
“Sydney, stop being mean to your brother,” Grady says from the doorway of my room. Great, the CEO of Hawthorne Enterprises is here to witness my embarrassment.
I turn to look over at him standing in my doorway. He’s dressed in a suit that probably costs more than one year’s education at a state university, and he looks perfectly groomed. Not one hair out of place for the oldest Hawthorne sibling.
She snaps her fingers to get my attention back on her. “Get up. Grady made coffee. We’re going to figure out how to save your show.”
With that, she pops up off the bed and stomps out of the room. The door shuts and I groan. Fuck, there’s no way out of this. Syd will come in here with water to pour over my head next. With a sigh—because I’m not kidding about the water—I sit up on my bed. My bones creak and I sigh again. Jesus, I’m getting fucking old. Granted, I’m turning thirty this year, and I’m in excellent shape, but when you have a job that requires a lot of physical exertion, you notice the aches a little more.
After relieving myself and brushing my teeth, I slip on a pair of workout shorts and a t-shirt. All the while, I think about my co-host and best friend. She might be Sydney’s best friend, but I consider her mine too. I have friends from back in Juniper and some of the guys on the crew—and to an extent the Hawthorne brothers—but Nancy knows me better than anyone, except my sister. I close my eyes as I try to beat back the worry, but that, of course, makes me envision her. All that long dark hair, blue eyes, and a smile that always knocks my socks off. Add in her home improvement store addiction and one of the best asses I have ever seen in a pair of jeans, and she’s the perfect woman. Well, if you ignore her temper and the fact that she might have threatened our former producer’s balls with a nail gun. That last part, I’ll give her because Garrett Howard definitely deserved it.
I shuffle out of my room as if heading to the gallows. The scent of coffee hits me hard. I thank God for small favors. Syd is in the kitchen pouring herself a cup. Grady is murmuring to her, something I can’t hear. They are standing close together and Grady has his hand on the small of her back as if to soothe her. She worked for Grady as his executive assistant for about a year and a half before they fell in love. Now her job is Talent Liaison. She might be here as my sister, but she is also here to kick my ass as part of her job.
Syd notices me and frowns, but she hands me a cup of coffee. I sip the brew, enjoying the heat as it slides down my throat and the jolt it gives me. I should be able to have a conversation like a normal person in about fifteen minutes. Of course, Syd’s not going to wait for that.
“So, we have to save your show.”
I frown as I settle at the little dining table. “Why would we have to worry about that?”
“Uh, your cohost is gone, jackass.”
Grady chuckles and I shoot him a dirty look. He says nothing as he sips his coffee. Not much I can say to him. He might be my sister’s whatever—boyfriend?—but he’s also my boss. I turn back to Syd, who is standing in the kitchen, her arms crossed as she taps her foot.
“Nancy leaving will not hurt my show.”
“First of all, it was not just your show. It was Nancy’s too. From the beginning.” I stay silent because I know it’s true, but I’ll be damned if I admit it. Syd, being who she is, goes in for the kill. “You never would have made it without her.”
“I would have made it without her.”
Grady gives me a look of pity because he probably knows what’s about to happen. In the past, I might have counted on him for support, but now that he’s in love with my sister, he will let me burn in the fire he’s envisioning Syd is building. Hell, he’d probably hand her the matches after she douses me with lighter fluid.
“You and I both know that it wasn’t easy for you to do this, and without her there to coach you, you never would have been able to succeed like you have. And must I remind you, it was her idea to begin with?”
It’s true and it shames me. Just a little. Nancy did coach me, but there’s more that I don’t think even Syd knows—which is odd. I thought they shared everything. That first year, I had panic attacks every week we were filming. Nancy had been there to hold my hand, calm me down. And I really fucked things up. Being silly on TV looks easy, but it isn’t. Nancy was there all the way. I would have failed miserably that first season.
“Okay, yeah, I might have needed some help.”
Grady shakes his head, but he still says nothing. He lets Syd do her thing, which is basically handing my ass to me. She’s very good at her job.
“So, I want to tell you what’s going to happen if you don’t get Nancy back,” Syd says. “You can get another cohost, but you know that is going to be iffy.” She’s right. Chemistry can’t be faked, or at least, I can’t fake it. One of the reasons so many people love our show is our bickering. We go back and forth in a playful way. Or we did. I can’t be sure that’s going to happen again with someone else.