Founded on Goodbye by Kat Singleton

Sweat drips down my back as I finish up the last of my reps. My muscles strain as I try and push my body a few more times.

“Keep pushing, Nash!” My trainer, Zach, says, clapping aggressively next to my ear until I’m done.

“Three…two…one…done!” he says, stepping back as I drop down from the pull-up bar.

Catching my breath, I walk toward the bench a few feet away from us. Grabbing the water bottle and a towel, I wipe at my face, removing the sweat from the workout.

“You psyched for the hometown show tomorrow?” he asks, taking a seat.

I follow his lead, falling onto one of the benches.

“Yes and no,” I answer. The truth is, I get to perform at the stadium I grew up attending football games at with my dad and brother.

It’s always a surreal moment when I’m standing on stage, on a field, remembering this is my life. But being in Colorado also reminds me of the rocky relationship I still have with my parents. They didn’t ever really give a damn about me or my younger brother until I made it big.

My dad laughed in my face when I told him about the talent show that would go on to change the trajectory of my life. He called me names that would stick with me for years when I told him I wanted to go for it and join a boyband.

And then our first record went platinum. Our songs could be heard on every local radio station, our tour selling out instantly. After that, he started to play the role of a father who gave a damn. My mom was just a passive parent, never really showing affection but never disciplining either.

As soon as I had any sort of money, I would send it home to my younger brother, Aiden. Our family wasn’t poor; there was always food on the table and a roof over our heads growing up, but he was a handful of years younger than me and I wanted him to have anything he wanted.

When I could, I would fly him out to travel with me, but he didn’t love being on the road like I did. He liked being home. He had a better relationship with our parents than I did, which made me only see him occasionally.

I know he’ll be there tomorrow. Despite the harboring resentment toward my parents, I still sent them two tickets to the show, just in case. Although deep down it wasn’t out of the kindness of my heart, it was to remind my dad that the dream I had that amused him so much was still selling out arenas.

“Any plans tonight?” Zach lines the weights back up on their rack, keeping the gym we rented out for the day neat as always.

His question brings a smile to my face, thinking of the plans I have for Nora. “Actually, yes,” I tell him. “Nora and I have plans.”

He nods his head. Nora has come to a few workouts with Zach over the last two weeks, claiming she needs to stay in shape. The two of them have gotten along great, which doesn’t come as a surprise. She gets along with everyone I’m close to. She’s slowly started placing herself more and more in my life, and I have no desire to stop her.

“Right on. Enjoy them! I can’t believe the North American leg of our tour is almost up.”

“I can’t either. Time has flown. But I’m also ready for a break before going overseas.” My brain has been all over the place trying to think of what Nora and I will do with our days off together. I asked her if she was going to go home at all, and her answer was an immediate no.

She’s been down about not being able to see Riley recently though, so tonight, as a surprise, I flew Riley out for the show. I rented us a cabin up in the mountains, a place that a few of the dancers, Sebastian, my brother, and Riley can all hang out with me and Nora. I thought it would be a fun way to get together the people that we’re closest to before heading abroad for a few months.

Nora doesn’t know it, and I’ve been amped all morning to surprise her with her best friend.

“Hope you get a few workouts in while on break.” Zach smirks, giving me shit.

I roll my eyes at him. He knows I’ll keep up with my workouts. They’re a part of my daily routine.

* * *

I’m kept busy the rest of the day with meeting after meeting. My team has been pressuring me about the next album, asking about songs I’ve written so far. Truth is, I wasn’t writing anything worth a damn for a while. But the more time I spend with Nora, the more I manage to throw together lyrics and some chords.

The song journal that was sitting empty for months is now starting to fill with ideas, with little snippets of lyrics or melodies for a song. She’s made me feel inspired again. She’s become my muse, but that doesn’t mean I want to share my words with my team just yet. The label is breathing down all our necks for me to release an album after this tour ends, but I’ve been pushing back.

They’re fine with me releasing songs I had no part in writing, but I put my foot down. I want this next album to be different. I want to go back to the way it was with my first album, where I had part in writing every single song. I assure my team that soon I’ll get them a couple of songs to demo; I just need a bit more time. They surprisingly allow me the time, something I wasn’t expecting them to concede to so easily.

“Has she landed?” Sebastian asks me from the driver’s seat, turning into the private airport’s parking lot.

Checking my phone, I see a text from the pilot from five minutes ago, stating that they’ve landed.

“Yes, they have,” I tell Bash. Pulling out a pair of sunglasses from a holder, I place them on my nose.

“What about Aiden?” he asks, putting the SUV in park.

“Aiden’s flight was earlier today when I had a meeting. I sent Monica to go pick him up.”

Bash laughs, his hand running over his lips to cover his smile. “Sorry, boss, but I’m picturing Aiden driving her fucking nuts the whole entire ride.”

I snicker, imagining the same thing. Aiden is only five years younger than me, but our personalities are vastly different. I would bet a lot of money that the fact that he never stops talking would drive Monica absolutely bat-shit-crazy.

“Why’d you have to pick Riley up? You have people for this, you know.” His jet-black hair is freshly cut, the hair cropped short on his head. I stare at a hair that appears longer than the others, spacing out before he gets my attention again.

“Yeah, well I didn’t know who to trust with Nora’s best friend. Plus, it’s not like I had anything going on,” I joke, both of us knowing there’s always something I should be doing.

“Is that her?” he asks, his eyes trained on a spot over my shoulder.

Turning around, I find Riley making her way toward us, fully enamored in a conversation with the pilot. Jake, one of the pilots I use often, appears to be wheeling her suitcase for her, his eyes trained on her as she babbles on about something we can’t hear. Whatever it is, it must be interesting, because he nearly walks right into a parked car, not paying attention to anything but her.

“Yep,” I say with a smile, just now noticing the captain’s hat that is perched on top of Riley’s head.

“You didn’t tell me Nora had a friend that looked like that,” Bash hisses, looking at Nora’s best friend.

Chuckling, I look toward Bash, my hand reaching for the door handle. “Put your tongue in your mouth, Sebastian. That’s Nora’s best friend. She’d probably kill you for looking at her friend like that.”

“Oh, but she wouldn’t have a problem with your pilot looking at her like that?” he argues, opening his own door.

I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips, suddenly incredibly fascinated with how Riley is ruffling Sebastian’s feathers before ever even speaking to him. I’ve only met Riley in person once, the encounter brief when I sabotaged Nora’s goodbye dinner with her. However, I’ve gotten to know Riley a little better through the video chats Nora has had with her lately. Even though I don’t know her well, I can tell she has a huge personality, it’s completely obvious when she stops in front of us, Jake still beside her.

“Nash!” she says, showing off her white smile. “Have you met my friend Jake here? He let me wear his hat.” She pulls on the navy brim of the hat to show it off.

“Of course, he’s met him; he signs his paychecks,” Sebastian says from over the hood.

Riley’s head swivels to Sebastian, her mouth agape before quickly gaining her composure. “And you are?”

Jake suddenly looks uncomfortable, as if it’s just occurred to him that he’s heavily flirting with someone I paid him to fly here.

I join in on the conversation before Sebastian can be even more of an asshole. “His name is Sebastian,” I tell her, looking over my shoulder to give him a dirty look. “Someone whose paycheck is also signed by me.”

Bash sighs, looking away from us, suddenly very interested with something on the hood of the vehicle.

“Anywayyyy,” Riley drawls, “now that I’ve flown private, I don’t know how I could go back to flying coach. You ruin me, Nash.” Pulling the hat off her head, she gives it back to Jake with a smile. He takes it quickly, his eyes hesitantly looking to me as if I give a damn that he let her wear it.

“So, the flight was good I presume?” I question, reaching to grab her suitcase from Jake.

Riley flips her hair over her shoulder, biting her lip to hide a smile. “Real good,” she snickers. “It was full service.”

Sebastian chokes on air just as Jake hurriedly excuses himself.

Riley steps up until she’s uncomfortably close to me. Pulling off my sunglasses without even asking, she looks me up and down. Her thin eyebrows pull together while she looks me over. “Nash Pierce in the flesh,” she muses, handing me back my sunglasses.

“Can I help you?” I laugh nervously.

Shrugging, she says, “Just had to get a good look at the famous popstar who’s fucking my best friend.”

Before I even have time to react, she pulls open the rear passenger door and climbs in. Sebastian and I both stare at each other dumbfounded as she slams the door. My fingers tighten around the handle of her suitcase, at a complete loss for words.

“Holy shit, I think I’m in love,” Sebastian announces, running a hand over his clean-shaven chin.

“Well, she’s something.” I walk to the trunk of the car, waiting for Sebastian to pop it. He takes the suitcase, then throws it in the back of the car.

Riley spins in her seat, her brown eyes assessing the two of us. “Can we stop for food? I’m famished.”

* * *

We manage to pull off the surprise for Nora. It takes her what felt like a full minute to process that her best friend was waiting on my bus. I’d texted Nora to come see me, telling her the door was unlocked and she could just come in.

Riley had been sitting in the driver’s seat, pretending she was driving the rig when Nora opened the door. Once Nora caught up to her best friend being here, she ran and tackled her, the two tiny girls falling to the floor in an embrace.

“I’ll leave ya to it,” Sebastian had said, patting me on the shoulder and escorting himself off the bus. He and Riley had spent the whole-time exchanging jabs on our way back from the airport. Neither one of them were bashful about their sudden attraction to the other.

It took a few hours to gather all the people coming up to the cabin with us. I had to spill the beans to Nora on the plan for the night when Riley basically ruined the surprise for her. Despite the surprise being spoiled before we even made it to the cabin, now that we’re standing in the doorway, it seems like it doesn’t faze Nora at all as she admires the vaulted ceiling of the log cabin.

“This is crazy cool,” she whispers, stepping deeper into the entryway.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t call this a cozy cabin like you said,” Riley points out from the other side of Nora. “Cozy means small and quaint. This thing is ten times the size of our apartment.”

“It’s fucking epic!” Aiden agrees, jumping over the back of one of the leather couches and falling onto it. “Shit, this is comfortable,” he says, his arms folding behind his head.

Kissing Nora’s temple, I try to read her face to see how she likes it. For some reason I desperately want her to love the place, the surprise a week in the making. “Whatcha think, Rose?”

“I think it’s amazing,” she answers, her eyes finding mine. Standing up on her tiptoes, she lays a kiss on me. “Thank you.” Her fingers delicately play with the hair at the back of my neck, something I recently discovered I love.

“If you would’ve told me a year ago that Nash Pierce would be looking at my best friend like a lovesick puppy, I would’ve questioned your sanity.” Riley stares at me and Nora, her eyes drifting between the two of us. The look on her face is unreadable, but before I can question her on it, Aiden speaks up from the couch.

“Is there any food at this place? I’m starving.” He crosses his ankles on the couch, making himself at home.

Pointing to the kitchen, I look at my brother. “The pantry should be fully stocked.” I had my team hire someone to buy groceries for us for the night, knowing there wasn’t anywhere that’d deliver this far up the mountain.

Aiden shoots up from the couch. He’s beelining toward the kitchen in an instant. “Let’s see what I can cook up!” Aiden has always been a good cook, his ability to throw random ingredients together to make an incredible meal very useful when we were kids.

“I can help,” Ziggy offers.

Michael, another one of my dancers, follows closely behind him offering to help as well.

This leaves me, Sebastian, Riley, and Nora all standing in the foyer.

“Want to go check out our room?” I ask Nora, needing to get her alone for a few moments.

Riley has been attached to us all day, which is fine. I understand she wants to spend time with her friend. But now I need to get Nora alone, get reacquainted with her body.

Riley pulls a piece of candy out of her pocket, popping it into her mouth. “Is that code meaning you guys are about to go bone?”

Sebastian clears his throat at the same time Nora punches Riley in the tit.

“Ow!” Riley shouts, rubbing at her chest. “What the hell, Nora Boo?”

I look at Nora curiously. “Nora Boo?”

“C’mon!” Nora groans, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the stairs.

“How do you know our room is up here?” I ask, letting her pull me up the large staircase. Our feet thud against the cherry wood, laughter erupting from the kitchen below us.

She doesn’t bother to look over her shoulder as she continues to climb the stairs. “Just a guess.”

Taking the lead, I point her down a long hallway. Our room sits at the very end of it, the master suite of the house. Walking in, we find a large room with a large, wood four-poster bed. Cabin-themed bedding covers the bed, a stuffed animal bear sitting at the end.

“This room is bigger than my apartment,” Nora observes, referring back to Riley’s comment from a few minutes prior.

She scans the room, taking it in. There’s a large fireplace with two wingback chairs in front of it. To the left of the fireplace is a wall of windows, showcasing the beautiful mountain landscape. The bed sits across from the windows, allowing the breathtaking view to be seen from the bed.

Coming up behind Nora, I lean over her shoulder, kissing the spot behind her ear that gives her goosebumps. “Penny for your thoughts, Rose?”

Her body relaxes against mine. “I’m kind of speechless,” she whispers. “This is just too much. You didn’t have to do this.”

My arms wrap tighter around her. “I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”

Surprising me, she quickly turns around, her hands finding either side of my face. Standing on her tiptoes, she pulls my face closer to hers. She pulls until our foreheads rest against each other. “I don’t deserve this, but thank you.” Her lips find the corner of my mouth, her kiss soft and gentle.

“You deserve it all, Rose. I’m just trying to be the guy to give it to you.”

Her breath catches, her eyes frantically moving over my face. Before I can elaborate on the feelings bearing down on my chest, she’s sealing her mouth against mine. Her tongue is eager, pushing into my mouth as soon as I allow her in. She wraps her arms around me, pulling me in closer.

I deepen the kiss and lift her off the ground. Her legs wrap around my middle, her back arching as my hands knead at her ass.

Walking across the room, I rest her against the first surface I find, an old cherry wood desk that sits in a corner by the large windows. A few books and a vase fall to the ground while I make room for her on the desk.

Nora laughs against my lips, reaching down to grab the hem of my hoodie. She pulls up, leaning away from me enough to remove it.

Following her lead, I remove her T-shirt and sweater. Her hands run up and down my back, her nails digging into the skin. My hand finds the cold window behind her, holding my weight as I lean in, kissing a path down her shoulder. Reaching the strap of her bra, I use a finger to move it out of my way, letting it slip down her arm.

Nora’s fingers find the drawstring of my joggers, undoing the knot. Her fingers are cold against my skin as she slips a hand into my briefs. My head falls back when her fingers wrap around my length, pumping up and down in a tantalizing rhythm.

The urge to bury myself inside her is overwhelming. I’m stripping her out of her jeans and underwear as fast as I can. Not even bothering to completely remove my own pants, I sheathe myself in a condom as fast as I can. I’m inside her in an instant, pushing her further across the desk and into the window. Her heels dig into my ass as our bodies sync to the same rhythm.

Her hands are everywhere at once—on my back, in my hair, holding my face as we get lost in each other. There are noises below us, but it doesn’t deter us from stopping.

“Nash,” Nora pants as I bite the tender skin around her nipple.

Her moans send tingles down my spine, making me pick up the pace. Our bodies slap together, both of us desperately chasing release. Nora gets louder and louder the closer she gets to an orgasm.

I trap her mouth in mine, swallowing her moans. “You’re being loud,” I say, my teeth scraping against the hollow of her throat.

“Sorry,” she offers.

“Don’t be sorry,” I demand. “You can scream for all I care. Let them know how good this feels. How perfect it feels when I’m inside of you.”

My words have her moaning even louder. Between the moans escaping her lips and the way she’s rocking her hips back and forth to control the pace, I can’t hold on for much longer. I’ve been thinking about fucking her all day, and now that I’m finally able to, I can’t last forever.

She spasms around me. The way she tightens around my dick has me following her lead. My body hunches over her as I spill into the condom.

Cold air seeps in from the large window behind us. I pull out of her slowly, backing up so I can see the look on her face. Tendrils of brown hair have spilled out of her loose braid. I reach up and move a piece from her cheek. There’s a surge of peace that runs through me as she effortlessly nuzzles into my hand on her cheek.

Looking at her now, I can’t deny that I’ve fallen for her.

From the first day we met, there was something about her that had drawn me to her. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t fall at my feet. She didn’t seem to care about the fame or fortune. She was interested in the man underneath all the bullshit.

At first it infuriated me, the way she could see all the parts of me I didn’t want to confront, but over time, I grew to love those things about her. She’s the first real thing I’ve had in my life in a long time. Our friendship developed into something more, and it’s easy for me to admit to myself that at this point, I’m deeply in love with her.

I swore I’d never love again. It was something I sang songs about but didn’t intend to ever experience again. I should’ve known after we went to the arena together that eventually, my intentions didn’t matter. My heart wanted her, needed her, more than I ever could have imagined.

I’m seconds away from telling her my feelings when a knock sounds at our door.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Riley shouts from the opposite side. “Due to the silence, and Nora’s moans no longer echoing off these walls, we all can tell you’re done boning. Food’s ready whenever you decide to get your dick back in your pants, Nash.”

Just when I think she’s retreated back downstairs, I’m proven wrong. Riley speaks from the other side of the closed door once again. “Nora, Nash gets you for the rest of the tour. Get out here and hang out with your best friend! I know you got off so it’s time to join us.”

Nora groans, her head falling against my shoulder in embarrassment. “I can’t take her anywhere.”