Chapter 7: Ed

The arrival of starters shifted conversation onto a neutral topic of food. While Mac and I didn't talk directly to one another, we joined in with the girls' discussion.

I watched Soph with awe and wonder. Her attention bounced between all three of us, controlling the pace and direction of each talking point. She was a natural. A stage in front of millions of fans might be my niche, but an intimate dinner with a group of people who didn't all get on was hers.

Years of training, and intense love for my girlfriend, kept me engaged with each conversation, but I'd have been equally happy sitting back and just watching her. Happiness glittered in her beautiful brown eyes. I'd enjoyed having her to myself in Costa Rica, but witnessing this side of her stirred a different kind of affection in me.

Friendship held a deep spot in Soph's heart. I was partly to blame for that. I'd contributed to the downfall of her relationship with Becca, then I'd inadvertently got in the way of her and Mac. All water under the bridge now, but still.

"What's next for you, Teddy?" Gabby asked.

"You can call him Ed, Gabs," Soph said.

A tight smile stretched across Gabby's face. No chance of her calling me Ed.

"Nothing at the moment," I replied. "I've been doing some song-writing, but not much is sticking."

"Lacking inspiration?" Mac delivered the question with a light, friendly bounce, but I didn't miss the way his eyes roamed across to Soph next to me.

I waited a beat before answering. "I've got a song in the charts that's outperforming everything I've written since. It's tough to follow that. The pressure. The expectation."

"But you've got a girl by your side who the world is obsessed with. Surely you can rustle together some nice lyrics about her?"

"Easily," I replied, because I refused to let him belittle our relationship like that, "but there are parts of our relationship I'd like to stay private. I don't get much privacy."

"Huh." Mac tipped back the rest of his wine and then reached for the bottle. "Pity you didn't feel that way the last time you wrote a song about her."

"Mac." Soph's eyes narrowed to unimpressed slits.

"No, you're right," I said to him. "I wish I'd kept that song private."

His lips quirked up. "And then maybe you wouldn't have this pressure on you. Because the world really loved you slagging off your ex-girlfriend."

I sucked in a deep breath and released it with an easy smile. "Yeah, exactly."

By the way his jaw ticked, I could tell he wanted more of a confrontation. I couldn't give him one in this restaurant. More than that, though, I didn't disagree with him. I respected his protectiveness of his friend. Soph had people looking out for her, and I'd never resent him for showing that.

"Anyway!" Gabby's bright voice cut through the tension. "I had the weirdest thing happen to me at work on Thursday."

Soph's hand strayed to the back of my chair before coasting up through my shoulder blades and settling at the nape of my neck. Her fingers toyed with strands of my hair, and focusing on Gabby became increasingly difficult.

I couldn't wait to get her out of this dress. Would she be wearing underwear? Of course she would. Stupid question. She'd never go out in public without it.

The dress did look like it was painted onto her, though. Maybe thin scraps of lace. Just enough to keep her dignity. She had at least five sets that would fit the bill. It was probably the black pair. Everything else on her body was black. Her shoes, her nail varnish, her eye make-up. I was going to ruin her later. Unleash every bit of frustration that had built throughout this meal until she was begging me to—

"Ed?"

A sharp pinch to my neck tore me out of my daydream. My eyes snapped across to Soph's. She arched an eyebrow at me, but her twitching lips suggested she could read my mind.

Yep. Absolutely ruin her.

"Sorry." I scraped a hand through my hair and dislodged her fingers. "Totally drifted off for a minute there. Jet lag."

"Don't worry. It wasn't the most interesting story." Mac nudged Gabby and winked.

Shame zipped down my spine and curdled in my belly. Now I felt like a dick. Even if that hadn't been Mac's intention—and it probably had been—I didn't want Gabby thinking I'd lost interest. I sifted through my brain to try to dredge up the conversation I'd only half-listened to.

"Yeah," I said to Gabby. "What you experienced sometimes happens. I personally don't like it. If you want to perform at a venue, you shouldn't expect them to jump through hoops for you, and you certainly shouldn't try to deceive or trick employees to find out confidential information about another artist."

"So your team's never done it, then?" Mac asked.

"Never," I said. "If a date is unavailable, it's unavailable. We'd work around it. We wouldn't try to find out who had that date if it's not public knowledge, and we would never try to undercut that artist, either. It's shady."

Gabby's cherry-red lips lifted into a small smile, so at least I'd won her over again. Mac seemed less convinced. I applied more weighting to Gabby's approval, so his sceptical expression washed over me.

When the two of them became engrossed in a different conversation about a mutual friend from Cambridge, Soph's mouth found my ear.

"Teach me how to do that."

"Do what?" I murmured back.

"Absorb a conversation while not listening to it at all." Her teeth grazed my earlobe, and a vision of black lingerie surged straight to the forefront of my mind again.

"I don't like that insinuation..."

"I don't like you not listening to my friend." Smart mouth. "But the skill is fucking hot, so I'll let you off."

Okay. Smart mouth forgiven. I tilted my head to face her so I could capture the reaction to my response.

"Practice makes perfect, and I practise on you all the time."

Angry heat flashed through her sultry eyes. I'd pay for that later. Future consequences would be worth the present reaction though.

"Hey, Soph?" Gabby saved me from death by evil glare. "You should think about including this kind of place in your blog. You could do like a spin-off to the travel posts. Normal person in not-so-normal places."

"Don't think she counts as a normal person these days, Gab."

"Sure she does," she said to Mac. "It's her brand. You'd know that if you read the gossip stuff like I do."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Please. Why would I read that shite when I can go straight to the source?" He gestured towards Soph.

"Because it's our best friend they're writing about?" Gabby's brow furrowed, but then she gave up on Mac and shifted back to Soph. "Anyway, you should. People would go crazy for it. And you're the ideal person to do it. You're already seen as relatable so taking that average gaze and applying it to somewhere that most people would never step foot in would be so cool."

Soph smiled. "It's a nice idea, but I'd have to get approval from the powers that be. My hands are tied with a lot of this now."

Mac chuckled. "We all know how much you like your hands being tied."

My heart dropped from my chest and my stomach fell with it. Every fibre in my body focused on not reacting externally. Internally, my blood boiled as it rushed to my head and fried all cohesive thoughts. Except one.

Surely they hadn't?

"Do we?" Soph fired back. "I don't recall ever mentioning that."

Mac's eyes slid across to me. A subtle smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"My bad," he said eventually. "Must have been my imagination."

Suffocating silence thickened the tense atmosphere at our table. Around us, the restaurant buzzed with happy chatter. It stopped at the wooden partition shielding us from view. An uncomfortable warmth crawled across my skin, burning every pore in my body.

Until I asked her about it later, I had no way of knowing if Mac was deliberately winding me up or if Soph was trying to defuse a potential confrontation. Either way, reacting to him remained the wrong choice—as much as I wanted to lean across the table and wipe that antagonising look off his pathetic, smug face.

I relaxed my jaw. Set my cutlery down on my empty plate. Flicked open the third button on my shirt—because I needed some damn air.

"Mac, while we're between courses, why don't you help Gabby take that photo?" Soph suggested.

"Sure thing, Palmer. I'll be nice and slow about it." His eyes flitted between the two of us, like he'd be doing her a favour.

Gabby almost leapt from her seat to escape the tension at the table.

"Sorry," Soph said under her breath once they were out of earshot. "I told him to behave."

"Hm." I scrubbed a hand over my lower face. "I didn't mind his comment about the song. That was fair enough. I don't appreciate the sexual references. It's disrespectful—to you as well as to me."

She threaded her fingers through mine between our plates. "I know. He has a bit of a hang-up about your dual personality. I think he's hoping to break you."

"Dual personality." I scoffed.

This was my brand. Nine years in the making. Besides, he was one to talk. Brutal lawyer during the day and playful friend at night? Give me a damn break.

Her thumb brushed over my knuckles as her eyes performed a quick sweep of the restaurant. "Bear in mind that he's seen a different side of you to most people. And now one of his closest friends is dating you. He's going to have concerns about that."

"Concerns are fine. I get it. There's no need to poke me with a stick, though, in the hope I'll lash out and break character."

"I know." She squeezed my hand and smiled. "Not lashing out will get to him far more than if you did. Trust me."

"Hm." I swung my gaze across to the window where Gabby and Mac were flicking through the photos he'd taken.

"I love you." She whispered the words against my ear and drew my focus back to the table.

The affection soothed my fiery mood, and in recognition of her efforts to appease me, I did something I'd only ever done once before. I kissed her in public. 

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Thank you for reading :) xx

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Another chapter in Ed's POV next, then we switch back to Soph. How are you enjoying Ed's perspective so far?

I've recently written a new bonus chapter. It takes place on the night of the concert (right at the beginning of Book 1) and shows what really happened between Ed & Becca when he invited her back to his room after the meet & greet. The chapter is available for Beach Holiday subscribers via my Ream site, but you can read a sneak peek on my Ream Community board if you're a follower (following is free) to help you decide whether you want to subscribe 💜