Page 91 of Wild

"Noah told me you've had offers from other agents," she continued.

"There've been some, yeah, though I don't usually pay much attention when they come in."

"Why not?" Erin was genuinely curious.

"Well, he gave me a shot when nobody else would. I feel like I owe him that," she said, though she sounded uncertain.

The doctor ran a hand through her hair.

"You don't owe him anything, Mia. And even if you think you do, I'd say you've made him enough money by now for that debt to be settled."

Mia looked at her without a word, but grateful that, for the first time, someone watching her life from the outside was giving her advice based on her own wellbeing, with nothing to gain from it.

They step out of the shower and get dressed, laughing. They're in Charlotte now; since it was a longer stretch from Washington, she and Mia, Noah, Nell, and Mia's security team had flown in the next day. They arrived mid-afternoon, and Erin managed—after arguing with Jude—to get the singer the rest of that afternoon off and move her scheduled interview to their last day in the city. The following day they had a costume fitting and sound check in the morning, a full run-through in the afternoon, and then a rest day before the show, which was last night and went off without a hitch.

They got back to the hotel at midnight, Mia still buzzing with adrenaline and Erin not far behind. They fucked hard and fast on the bed, a quick release, and then sat on the floor against the couch talking until nearly three in the morning, when Mia, after finishing her joint, felt exhaustion hit her all at once and they finally went to bed.

This morning is free, and it's the first time they're going out together outside the hotel. They're going to explore the city, and for lunch they've made plans to meet Nell and Noah at the restaurant the tour's production director suggested. In the afternoon, there's a meeting with Jude and Violette to discuss the proposal for Erin to become Mia's full-time medical supportgoing forward. As expected, Jude flatly refused to let the doctor's decisions override his own without question, and when Mia told him it wasn't a request, he held her stare before saying they couldn't make a firm offer until they'd talked it over with Violette. Mia knows he'll have pushed for a stack of ridiculous clauses designed to make Erin walk away. What the agent doesn't know is that, for the first time since they've known each other, she has no intention of giving an inch.

"Let me," Erin says, when Mia fights with the cap she's about to put on, trying to pull her ponytail through the back opening.

The doctor helps her, adjusts the brim, winks at her, then turns and heads for the door.

Chapter 34

Two months later.

The last song ends and the crowd roars as Mia and the musicians take their bows at the edge of the stage. Erin rubs her arms as another wave of emotion moves through her—one of many she's felt throughout the show. The tour ends here for everyone, and for her it marks the close of the four most intense months of her life. Her eyes well up and she tries to breathe steadily. She hadn't imagined feeling this way when the moment finally came, but it's here, and she realizes how much she loves this.

She loves traveling with the tour, even though she's lost track of time more than once and had to think a few extra seconds to remember what city they're in. She loves this pace—somewhere between crazy and stressful—that makes the days fly by and the nights too short beside Mia.

Her bond with Nell has grown deep, and the woman has become something close to a second mother to her. She's also built a real friendship with Lexie Farhall, and the two of them grab a drink whenever their schedules line up and they get the chance. She's grown so fond of Noah that she thinks of him more as a brother than a friend. She'll miss several people on the crew she's worked with nearly every day, and then there's the singer—the one Erin feels things for so intensely that she's long since stopped trying to define them. They don't scare her the way they used to, either. She's accepted that she's in love with the girl with lavender hair, that the age difference between them doesn'tbother either of them, and that she's willing to face whatever comes their way.

After another seemingly endless roar from the crowd, the lights go out and the singer and musicians make their way offstage guided by flashlights. Mia follows the beam until she spots her and walks toward her, eyes just as wet as Erin's. She's not only moved by the end of a tour that has brought her so much—she's also feeling the weight of this being the last day Erin will be with her.

They hold each other without needing anything else, and Mia ends up crying because her emotions are right at the surface. Erin kisses her neck and doesn't bother checking her vitals, because right now her pulse is through the roof.

"Go shower," she whispers, wiping her tears away with her fingers. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

Mia sniffles, they share a kiss, and she disappears down the hallway. Erin walks toward Nell, who's waiting with her arms crossed beside a massive speaker that's finally gone silent. They look at each other, and the doctor feels her throat tighten just before the woman smiles and opens her arms.

"I'll come see you when I pass through New York," Nell says, pulling her close, "and I expect you to sneak away and visit me in Baltimore."

"I promise." Erin wipes her own tears.

Tomorrow Nell catches an early flight home to get ready for the next tour she has to direct, so this is the last time she'll see her.

She spends the next few minutes saying her goodbyes to the crew, and finally—after a brief wave to Jude—walks toward the dressing room. They emerge half an hour later with the singer's security team.

They head to a back exit where a car is waiting, but as always, some fans have found their way there through what seems likepure magic. They walk out hand in hand, and Mia presses close to her as camera flashes go off. It's official now—they're together, publicly. After talking it through between themselves and then with Noah and the singer's publicist, Mia made a short statement on social media confirming she was officially dating the doctor, and while Erin had a hard time adjusting to the attention those first few weeks, she's gotten used to it and doesn't mind posing with her anymore.

She gets into the car while Mia signs a few autographs, and when the singer finally climbs in, the driver pulls away—only this time they're not heading straight to the hotel. They've asked to be taken to a lookout point Erin found while searching for things to do in the city, one they both wanted to see before leaving.

Getting there means winding up a narrow road for twenty minutes, then the driver turns onto a dirt path where they travel a couple of miles until the car's headlights finally catch the wooden railing at the edge of the overlook.

The driver stops a few yards back after turning the car around and leaving it ready for the return trip. They get out, pull on jackets against the cold, and walk toward the railing alongside a bodyguard who circles the area, and once he's satisfied there's no one close enough to matter, steps back a safe distance and makes himself invisible.

"It's beautiful," Erin murmurs, taking in the sweeping view of the city spread out below them.