He looks mortified. “Oh God, you didn’t tell him what I said, did you?”
“No. At least, I don’t think I did.” I grab his hand and pull him toward the foyer. “Harley, this is Lyric. Lyric, Harley Valentine and his bodyguard, Brix.”
Harley glances at our joined hands and then back up to Lyric’s gorgeous face. “Right. Lyric. The nanny.” He looks up at his giant boyfriend. “Come on, I’m so right. Am I right?”
Brix nods. “Definitely.”
“Right about what?” Lyric asks.
I sigh. “When I wanted to hire you, Harley accused me of wanting to sleep with you. Crazy, huh?”
Lyric grins. “Insanity.”
I lean in and kiss his cheek.
“Aww, you guys are so cute, and now knowing this revelation, this totally isn’t my bodyguard either. I mean, well, he is. But he’s also my partner.”
Lyric turns to me. “Did you lie? You told me Harley wasn’t gay.”
“Did I say that? Or did I say the Ryley4Ever rumors weren’t true?”
“Oooh, sneaky.”
“So where’s your rug rat?” Harley asks. “I haven’t seen her since she was, what, two?”
“Three.” I call out for Kaylee, and she and Chase come running.
“Whoa. Did you have another one and not tell me?” Harley asks.
I laugh. “This is Chase, Lyric’s nephew.”
“Are you, like, collecting children or something?”
I cock my head. “You know how you said you shouldn’t have kids because they will age you? I think you shouldn’t have kids for other reasons. Just a thought.”
“Not even going to dispute that.” Harley kneels to Kaylee’s level. “Hey, kiddo. Do you remember me?”
“You’re Harley Valentine,” Chase says for her.
“Ooh, a fan? Nice to meet you, buddy.” Harley shakes Chase’s hand much like I did the first day I met him.
Harley talks with the kids for a while and pretends to listen to their rambling until he can’t take it anymore. Which takes about three full minutes before he’s giving me a please help me stare.
“As fun as this is,” I say, “why are you here?”
His gaze turns all glimmery and cocky. Shit. “You know why I’m here. I told you once I was done with my tour—”
“Yep, thought so. Let’s go to the studio to talk.”
“Hey, kids,” Harley says. “You know what’s super fun? Trying to get my bodyguard here on the ground. It’s impossible because he’s a tank. Have at it!”
Brix mutters something about paying for that later before he’s engulfed by the two kids trying to climb his sides.
I turn to Lyric. “You all good here?”
“Yup. Go.”
With every step toward the studio, butterflies and dread fill my stomach. Harley wants to get Eleven back together, and even though I’m longing to be an artist and perform again, it breaks my heart because I have to say no.
As soon as the door is closed to my office and we take our seats, the room goes quiet. Harley sits there and blinks at me as if he’s waiting for me to fall at his feet and give him whatever he wants.
“I expected a bigger sales pitch,” I say.
Harley looks smug. “I figure I don’t have to say much because I know you want to do this.”
“I do, but I can’t.”
“Why not? You have a nanny and Maggie out there. How long is she home for?”
I hesitate. “She didn’t re-up.”
His glee is evident. “Perfect.”
“No, it’s not perfect. I can’t leave Kaylee on her own.”
“You can leave her with her mom.”
I glare. “Seriously. Don’t have kids.”
Harley laughs. “There’s something else, and I want you to be a part of it.”
I narrow my eyes. “Oh God, you’re not coming out publicly and getting married or some shit, are you? I’m calling not it on being your best man.”
“Ha, ha, and no. Although, I have an idea about the whole coming out thing if you’re interested and want do it with me?”
“That would be a hell no.”
“Thought so.” Harley shrugs. “It’s not gonna happen for a while anyway. We figure if I come out, it won’t be long before everyone realizes the big guy is more than my bodyguard, and we’re enjoying being us right now.”
“That’s really good. Keep hold of that for as long as you can. What’s the news, then?”
“I’m starting my own label.”
I perk up. “Really?”
“I got out of that ugly contract mess with Joystar, and I really don’t want to go through that again. So I figure …”
“You figure you’d bankrupt yourself? Smart.”
“I’m serious. I want Eleven to get back together and do new music on my label. We can do our own sound, and you can produce. We’ll find some new talent and build a fucking empire from the ground up.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
“But how much fun will it be?”
I can’t deny that.
He turns big puppy dog eyes on me. “Please, Ry? Please? I’ll be your best friend forever.”
“Are we twelve?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know why you’re coming to me first. You really think you can get the other guys to come back? Blake doesn’t even sing anymore. Mason could be dead for all we know.”
“I came to you first because even though the others will be a hard sell, you’re the one I want to do this with most. We were like brothers on the road, and I fucking miss you, okay?”
“Why are you so obsessed with me?” I throw his words from earlier back at him.
“You’re going to say yes. I can feel it.”
I groan. “I want to. You know I want to. But … I can’t.”
There’s a knock on the door, and then Lyric pushes his way through. “Hey, sorry to interrupt, but Ryder, can I talk to you for a second?”
How long has he been standing outside that door?
“It’s about Kaylee,” he adds, and I’m out of my seat as fast as humanly possible.
But when he pulls me through the house, past where Kaylee is still playing with Brix and being watched by Maggie, I realize he’s lying.
“You were eavesdropping.”
He leads me to our—er, my—bedroom. “Guilty.” He spins to face me. “You have to do it.”
“I have to do it? Says who?”
“Me.”
“Last I checked, you weren’t the boss of me.”
His hands find my shoulders. “You deserve this. You want this. You can’t keep Kaylee locked in a tower her whole life.”
“She can’t come on tour with us. Which would mean leaving her for months. I’m not okay with that.”
“From the sound of it, Harley wants you two to make your own rules. Set up tours for the summer when she’s out of school, and pay me to go with you as her nanny. Or hell, pay Maggie to be her nanny … Wait, is it technically being a nanny if it’s her mom?” He shakes his head. “Either way, this is doable. You just have to let go of that protective streak and take the leap.”