Page 14 of The Love Chase

Stop it, Emma. That Liam, that friendship, is gone.

“It wasn’t like that,” he replied. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I scoffed. “I don’t care what it was like. While you were off making music and chasing women, I was here trying to make something of my life. You’d know that if you hadn’t left, if you hadn’t stopped calling. You’d know that if you hadn’t shut me out of your life, replacing me with all those other women.” I shook my head, unable to meet his gaze. “No thank you, Liam. Not interested. Goodbye.”

And then I shut the door in his stunned face.

Liam

Ididn’t know which cut deeper—Emma knowing about the reputation I had earned or the fact that she believed it was true. I thought, of all people, she would be the one person who wouldn’t believe the tabloids. The one person who would still see me beneath all the fake headlines, the lies, and the poorly timed photos.

But instead, it seemed like her perception of me had been tainted by all the stupid choices I had made—starting with leaving her behind two years ago. I didn’t blame her for being mad.

I’d dropped off the planet as far as she was concerned. I stopped calling, stopped talking to her, because I was so focused on proving that I had what it took to make it big. I never should have sacrificed our friendship. If I had made time for her, sucked up my pride and called her, even if I’d found out she was disappointed in me, maybe we wouldn’t be here in this situation.

I loved making music in California, I really did. It had been a dream come true to do what I love, and to finally have me and my music appreciated.

Before the tabloids got wind of me, I was just another male country singer in cowboy boots and a hat. But then one night, I took a risk and went to a club and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, with some random woman draped across me, kissing me even though I didn’t even know her name, dozens of cameras flashing…

I was on the front page of the tabloids the next morning.

Everyone knew who Liam Walker was then.

My streaming numbers skyrocketed, as did my social media following.

For the first time, people were seeing me. Well, maybe not me exactly. But I was no longer invisible.

It was just unfortunate that it came with a negative reputation, which furthered itself every time I made the stupid decision to leave the house. Those women didn’t care about me, or genuinely want to get to know me. They just wanted their five seconds of fame.

And now, it was all beginning to take a toll, not just on me but on the music numbers. Hence why Bridget sent me back to Meridel.

I went from talented to just another twangy singer.

From rugged good looks to they want to rip my clothes off.

From special to eww.

I never wanted to fall victim to that life. The partying, the women, the drinking.

It was the wrong kind of attention. I knew that. And yet part of me yearned for it.

The part of me that never felt seen or wanted by my family, who always felt left behind and alone. My parents did the best they could, but I was the youngest of seven kids, and by the time I came along, they were tired and had given up. My older siblings were all successful, and up until two years ago, I was just Liam. A small-town boy with a big dream.

I was used to being overlooked and ignored.

Until I wasn’t.

And once I started getting that attention, I couldn’t imagine going backward, and found myself doing anything to avoid feeling like that again.

Hence the stupid decisions that kept getting my picture in the magazines.

Emma had never made me feel that way though. Maybe that was why we became so close as kids. She was the first person to look at me and see me. She was always in the front row cheering me on at every talent show; she traveled into the cities with me for gigs at bars, then drove me home when I drank too much.

Emma had always been there, always supported me, always saw things in me that nobody else did.

And yet, I’d still left her here. Stopped talking to her.

I wouldn’t change the music career I had built, but part of me wished that I hadn’t sacrificed my friendship with Emma to make it happen.