Nick moved over to the grayish blue couch and sat, but he had barely touched the couch when he got up and paced the room again. He stared at the plain white walls, then down on the mocha-brown carpet, trying to find something to distract him.
Kerri skidded to a stop when she stepped into the dressing room. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you know about the joint interview?"
She smiled and nodded, slipping her bag off her white sleeveless lace top. "That's what I'm here for. Why?" she asked when he didn't reply to her. "Did they change it to something else?"
"No, it's still an interview."
She nodded and gestured to his shirt. "We match. White top and jeans. Should one of us change?"
He waved it off. "I didn't believe Roland when he said you agreed. I thought he might've tricked you into coming." Not that he thought badly of Roland, but he just never thought Kerri—or her mom—would agree to this interview. It didn't help that Roland had kept this interview under wraps until he was in the dressing room.
Kerri dropped her bag on the white dressing table with two large pieces of mirror, each with a line of light bulbs along its length. "I knew."
"I didn't think your mom—"
"I called Roland and told him I'd do it."
He arched his brow. "Why?"
"Because I know, more than anyone, how hard you work. I think you deserve a chance to present your music without people thinking of you as Mr. Bad Influence."
"I don't want you to do this interview." Not when she was doing this all for him. "I wanted to call you, but I don't have your number."
"Why not?"
"You changed your number."
Her grin broadened. "I mean why don't you want me to do the interview?"
"Do you know what this interview will be like?"
She shrugged. "Like every other interview. Someone asks a question, and one of us answers."
"No." He licked his lips as he went over and placed his hand on her back before leading her over to the couch. "Did you watch the series of videos on couples or ex-couples asking each other questions?"
"No."
"There will be a stack of cards with questions printed on them, and we'll each take a turn to ask the questions."
"Okay ... and what's wrong with that?"
"The questions may be sensitive."
She turned to Dana when she entered the room. "Dana, will you get me a cup of green tea latte and an espresso for Nick?"
"Yeah, okay," Dana said and left.
Kerri waited until Dana closed the door before she continued. "We may not have kept in contact over the past three years, but I think I know what happened to us when we were together. I've always been honest with you, and you've come clean about ... everything, right?"
"I cheated on you. I'm sorry for that. If I could—"
"It's over, and I'm okay."
He held her gaze. "Then say it."
"What?"
"Say that I cheated on you."
She looked away, staring at the floor.
"You can't do it."
After taking a deep breath, her gaze shifted and she looked right at him. "You cheated on me, and I've gotten over it."
"Kerri ..."
"I'll be fine. We'll do all right. I guess people still think I'm heartbroken over what you did to me. As long as I can convince them that I'm fine and we're on good terms, I think a large amount of hate will stop."
He sighed and reached for her hand. It was so natural to do so, and the thought that she might not appreciate his touch occurred only after he had done so. He waited for a moment, but she didn't pull her hand back. "You don't have to do this for me. You don't owe me anything."
"You're my friend, Nick. This is the least I can do for you. It isn't fair to you. You've always taken the blame for whatever mistakes I made, and you've never complained."
"Kerri—"
"I'll be fine, I promise. If I can't handle it, you'll know."
He would. He could always sense when she was upset. He might not know what upset her, but he would know when. "I still don't think it's a good idea."
"I've already said I'll do it. I'm sure they've set everything up. We can't bail now."
"I don't care. If you want, I'll leave with you right now."
"I know." She leaned forward. "But I want to do this."
He sighed softly.
She gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm sure it isn't as bad as you've imagined."
"We'll end it whenever you want."
She nodded as Dana came back into the dressing room with two cups in her hands.
"I'm sorry, but they have to mic you two up," Dana said, handing one of the cups to Nick.
"Thanks." Nick took it and stood. "I'll see you in a bit."
Kerri nodded again.
Less than fifteen minutes later, he and Kerri sat across from each other, a long white table between them. Two glasses of water were on the table, one on each side. Next to each glass was a stack of thick white cards. Nothing was printed on the side facing up, so he supposed the questions were on the other side of the cards.
He looked at Kerri as she took a sip of water. "Are you sure about this?"
She nodded.
"We'll be in another room, so it'll be just the two of you here," the producer said as the other guy checked the angles of the three cameras in the room.
"Okay," she said.
"The cameras are rolling, and the microphones are recording. You can start whenever you're ready." With that, the two guys left the room, leaving Kerri and him behind.
"Who starts first?" Kerri asked.
"You," Nick said. If he could, he would answer all the questions.
"Okay." Kerri reached for the first card on her side of the table. She grabbed the card and lifted it to her face.
He sighed softly when she broke into a small smile.
"Do you remember the first time we met? When was it? And what was your first impression of me?"
"Backstage of the music awards. I thought you looked stunning, and all I could think about was getting your number so I could have a chance at seeing you again."
She laughed. "I didn't want to give you my number."
"What?"
"I thought you were cocky."
"I was aiming for confident." They laughed, and she gestured for him to pick the next card. "Do you remember where we went on our first date? What was your impression of me then?"
Kerri looked to the side as her lips curled into a small sweet smile.
He had always loved it when she smiled and was tempted to reach over and brush his thumb along the edge of her lips.
"We went to this small, obscure restaurant. It was a great night." She paused as her head bobbed up and down. "We talked and talked, and we connected."
He couldn't stop himself from smiling as he thought about that night. Having grown up in the spotlight, Kerri knew how it felt to have every step scrutinized and judged. And having gone through what he did with his mom, he understood why Kerri found it hard to trust people around her.
"It was a wonderful night," she said. "I really enjoyed myself."
"So did I."
They held their gaze for a moment before she leaned forward and took the next card from her stack. "When did you realize you were in love with me?"
He clasped his hands together and thought about the question.
"Were you ever in love with me?"
"Of course." He frowned, surprised that she would think otherwise. "I just never really thought about when." He took a deep breath and thought about the question. "I remember there was this time we were at my place. You fell asleep on my lap while watching a movie. And I remembered just looking at you, stroking your hair, and thinking ... there's nothing I'd rather do, nowhere I'd rather be. We weren't doing anything spectacular, but that moment felt ... complete." He laughed.
He wasn't sure what else to say, and he found himself gazing at Kerri.
He loved the way she was looking at him, the softness in her eyes. He wasn't sure how long they remained looking at each other, but Kerri eventually blinked and turned her gaze to the table.
"Do you want to stop?" he asked when he saw her throat move up and down as she swallowed. Thus far, the questions seemed simple enough, but he knew they wouldn't continue that way.
Kerri cleared her throat. "I'm fine. I just haven't thought about us for a while." She smiled as she took a deep breath. "Let's continue."
He picked up another card while observing Kerri. "What's the sweetest thing I've ever done for you?" he asked after she nodded at him.
"There are so many ... I can't decide which of them is the sweetest." She tipped her head back. "I loved all the little things you did. How you listened to me and made it a point to understand why I felt what I felt. How you always wore a jacket so you could put it over me during dinner."
"You always feel cold, but always forget to bring your sweater."
She nodded slowly, her eyes creasing. "I remembered mine today." She moved one of her shoulders forward.
"You didn't have that when we were in your dressing room."
"You didn't have that on just now either." She pointed to his light gray blazer.
He was afraid she would be cold.
Kerri didn't say another word on the topic. She grabbed the next card, and Nick knew something was wrong when she froze momentarily. He arched a brow and waited.
Kerri forced a smile with her pursed lips. "Why did you cheat on me?" Her voice cracked a little before she cleared her throat. "Was I not enough for you?"
"Of course you were." He leaned forward. "It was a stupid mistake, one that I'll never stop regretting. I was drunk and ..."
She threw the card aside and crossed her legs. "I don't really want to hear this," she said.
"I never meant to hurt you."
"I know."
He sighed heavily when a tear escaped her reddened eyes. "Kerri ..." He reached over to her, but she wiped her tear and looked away.
"I'm okay. Sorry, I'm fine. It's just that we've never really talked about that, but everything is behind us now. It was a long time ago." She pointed to his cards. "Go on."
He took the next card and tapped it against his other hand, but he didn't read it.
"I'm okay." Her chest rose slowly as she took a long, deep breath. "Go on."
He sighed as he flipped the card over. "Knowing what became of us, would you still get into a relationship with me if you were given a chance to have a do-over?"
"Yes." She gave a strangled laugh. "You're my first love."
"So are you." He said it so softly he wasn't sure if she heard him.
She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'd do it a million times over."
"If given a chance to do things over, I'd make sure I never broke your heart."
Her lower jaw loosened, and she opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't seem to get a word out. More tears fell, and she looked down while brushing them away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Okay, this is over." Nick stood and went over to Kerri.
She sniffed and straightened her back. "I'm fine, Nick."
He unclipped the microphone from his blazer. "This interview is over."
He helped Kerri to her feet as two members of the production crew, the same two members who were with them in the room, hurried over. He pulled Kerri into his arms and pressed her head against his shoulder. "I shouldn't have let you do this. I'm sorry."
"Kerri." One of the production crew members walked over and placed his hand on Kerri's arm.
Nick turned, pulling Kerri along with him. "Remove our microphones. We're leaving."
"Nick," the crew member said, "we can take a break if you want."
Nick clenched his jaw and reached one of his hands to his back. If they didn't want to remove the microphone for him, he'd just rip off whatever wire he could find.
When they saw how determined he was, one of them hurried over and helped while the other crew member signaled for someone outside the room. A female crew member ran in and went over to remove Kerri's microphone.
"You can take a break and continue later if you want," the female crew member said to Kerri.
"No," Nick said. "I don't want you talking to her. Just remove the microphone."
"I'll get her bag," Kerri's assistant, who had been standing right outside the room, said when he looked at her.
"I'll take her home."
Nick took Kerri's hand. He kept her close beside him as they moved out of the studio. He must've been wearing a determined scowl because even Roland didn't dare to approach them.
Roland had watched Kerri and him for a moment before unbuttoning his blazer and turning to the producer of the interview with a bright smile.
Nick knew then that Roland would handle the situation. The producer and the rest of the crew members wouldn't bother them anymore.
Kerri followed him all the way to the parking garage, but she stopped when he pressed the button on his remote and sent a beep across the parking garage. "What's wrong?"
"Dana can take me home."
"So can I."
"I'd rather you didn't."
"Kerri, I'm not going to leave you while you're upset."
She licked her lips and looked down again.
"I'll take you home, and that's that." He tugged at her hand and moved forward. He hadn't realized he was still holding on to her hand until then. It felt so right, so natural for her hand to be in his.
"The media will go crazy if they get photos of us together."
Nick clenched his jaw. When he got here, reporters and paparazzi were already gathered outside the TV station and the parking garage. He had no doubt more would have joined them. "Then let them go crazy."
"I'd rather not."
He narrowed his eyes. "You just don't want me to take you home." He let go of her hand. "Why didn't you just say that?" he asked, his tone slightly harsher than needed.
"I didn't want to be rude."
He sighed softly. "Kerri—"
"I just need ..." She took a step back. "A little space from you."
Space? "What did I do?"
"Nothing."
He hated that word.
Kerri's chest rose as she took a deep breath. "I'm serious. You haven't done anything wrong. I just ..." She sighed softly. "I just want to be alone."
He supposed that was Kerri's polite way of saying she didn't want to be with him. He flexed and relaxed his fingers. "Where's your car? I'll walk you there." That was when Dana appeared with Kerri's bag in hand. He walked with Kerri until they got to Dana. "Text me after you've dropped her off. Make sure she gets into her house all right," he said to Dana.
"Always do," Dana said.
He handed Dana his phone. "Your number."
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