Only With You by Monica Alexander Page B

of me knows she gets it too, but this whole thing is still hurting her. She hates that we have to pretend to just be friends when we’re out in public, and only our families can know the truth. All of our old friends either think I’m a giant dick for breaking up with her for you, or they think I’m the shit, because I’m supposedly sleeping with you, but they’d never tell her that.”
    Poor Dillon. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days, and his hair was sticking up at odd angles because he kept running his hands through it.
    “How’s the tour going?” I asked, changing the subject.
    “It’s great. We’re selling out venues, the fans are awesome, and it’s so much fun getting to sing on stage each ni ght. I love it. I just wish Mer could understand that. Shit, I even managed to get her backstage for our show in Detroit, but it wasn’t good enough. I don’t know what she wants from me.”
    I did.
    “Do you want me to talk to her?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. She sort of hates you.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Of course she does.” Then I grabbed my phone and dialed my manager. “Hey Chris.”
    “Hey Syd. What’s up?”
    “I need a favor. Can someone send an airline ticket to Meredith Kendrick, you know, Dillon’s girlfriend, so she can fly down here tonight? Get her on the next flight out of Detroit.”
    Dillon sat up straight and looked at me with wide eyes. “Are you serious?” he asked, and I just waved him off.
    “Yeah, sure Syd. We’ll get right on it,” Chris told me.
    “Great, and can you have a car pick her up at the airport? They can drive her right to the arena so she can see the show.”
    “Done.”
    “Thanks, hon. You’re the best.”
    “You got it.”
    I set the phone down after I ended the call and faced Dillon.
    “Did you really just do that?” he asked in awe.
    “Yeah, I did, and you’d better call her and tell her to start packing. I’m not sure when the next flight is, but she should probably hurry.”
    He nodded a few times. “Okay. Yeah, okay,” he said as he fumbled with his phone.
    I went into the kitchen and refilled my water bottle.
    “Hey baby,” Dillon said a few seconds later. “I, um, I have a surprise for you. . . Yeah, so I had to fly down to Florida to do a song with Sydney, . . . Yeah. . . Yeah. . . I know. . . I know! . . . No, I told you nothing is going on with us. It’s all fake! Anyway, I was telling her . . . Babe, listen, please. I was telling her how much I missed you, and she offered to fly you down tonight. . . Yeah. I’m serious. . . I know. I miss you so much . . . Uh-huh. . . I know. . . I know. . . Okay. Well, I’ll see you in a few hours then. . . I love you too.”
    When he hung up, he was smiling so wide that it made my heart ache. I wanted someone to think about me, miss me and smile that wide at the thought of me visiting them. And I wanted that someone to be Ryder.
    “Thank you, Syd,” Dillon said, crossing the room to hug me. “You’re the best fake girlfriend a guy could have.”
    “Aww, Dill, you’re welcome. Just have fun tonight and show her how much you love her. I’ll even let you guys take my room.”
    He pulled back and looked at me. “Where will you sleep? With Paul?”
    I threw my hands up. “No! Why does everyone think I’m dating Paul?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. I read it in Celebrity Weekly. ”
    I punched him lightly on the arm. “You idiot! According to Celebrity Weekly, I’m also dating you. You really can’t believe everything you read.”
    He grinned at me. “I know. I’m just messing with you. I thought you guys might have something going on though. The last time we got together, at the start of your tour, you talked about him non-stop.”
    I shook my head. “He’s just a good friend. That’s all.”
    “Oh, well. He seems like a cool guy. But you di dn’t answer my question. If Mer and I are in here, where will you be?”
    “I’m actually going to visit a friend after