*Trisha*

"Maybe we shouldn't keep doing this." Nate says as I lay in bed with him.

"Why?"

"I feel like I'm cheating on Julia."

"But you're not. The whole time she was on tour with you, she reminded you how you weren't together. Then, the night before she leaves, she tells you she forgives you and wants to marry you?? Nate, that girl doesn't know what she wants."

"Yeah, still.."

"Still nothing. Didn't Paul just tell you today he caught her and James kissing when he went to the Avalon to see her? She doesn't know whether she's coming or going, that one. Maybe you can have a serious discussion with her once you are together and she's of sound mind. But she doesn't make any sense right now." He knows I'm right. One minute, Julia wants to be with Nate. The next, she's breaking up with him. It's this constant thing lately.

"Nate, you're overthinking things. You will drive yourself crazy. You never cared about this shit before..."

"Things are different now, Trish." He sighs. "I'm in love with her."

I push off him and lay on my back. "Yeah, we all know...." I huff.

"What??" Nate turns to his side, propping his head up and stares at me. He really doesn't get it, does he?

"Nothing. Nevermind." I shake my head. He really doesn't get it, does it?

"No..... talk Banks."

"Nate.. you guys just aren't compatible. I don't know how neither of you see this. Everyone else does. You fight constantly. You break up constantly. You make up constantly. It's such a toxic relationship."

"Oh please, like you and DAVE weren't toxic together?" Nate blurts out. "Sorry."

He's not seriously comparing their relationship with what I went through with Dave Brennan, is he? I can't believe he would even bring that up right now and awful memories I've been trying to suppress creep back in.

"That was a mistake. All of it." I croak out and turn away from Nate.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes again and lays up against my body, spooning me. "I didn't mean to bring him up."

"You guys still aren't good together." I repeat. "One day you're gonna realize that, Playboy." I close my eyes, beginning to drift off to sleep before saying one last thing under my breath -

 "I can make you happy."

******

*James*

For the first time in a long time, I wake up stress-free.  Me and my sisters all fell asleep in the den while watching a movie last night. I conked out on the recliner and didn't budge all night. And when I wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs, my stomach growls. I look over to see Jennie still sleeping. She's always the last to wake up.  This means Gwen and the dog are downstairs making breakfast. Glad I'm wearing sweatpants, I'm able to use the bathroom without asking for help and then I make my way downstairs.

"Morning." I say through my yawn.

"Nice hair." Gwen points at my messy hair with the spatula and turns back to flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs.

"You too. Rats nest." I tease, though her hair is in a ponytail and perfectly fine. It's long and dark like Julia's, but Gwen has bangs.

"Maggie is out in the backyard."

"Thanks." I head to the coffeepot and then stall for a minute. I absolutely HATE asking for help. When I'm with our little village... Trisha and the gang, they just automatically know what I can and can't do. A cup of coffee would be set in front of me without hesitation. I'm kinda missing my crew right now, as dysfunctional as they all are. "Um... Could you help me with this?" I point to the coffee.

"Oh yea, right. Sure." Gwen turns down the stove and walks over. "What do you need help with?"

I chew the inside of my cheek, feeling embarrassed now. "Everything. I- I can't pick up the coffee pot or pour it. And....yeah, I can't really hold the cup well. You have to make sure I have a good grip before letting go, or I'll drop it." I can feel the heat rising to my face. 

Gwen looks at me for a moment, not realizing how much help I really need with life and a look of sympathy washes over her face.

"Don't you dare." I furrow my brows at my younger sister. "Don't start feeling bad for me. I'm used to this shit, ok? I'm doing PT and getting my coordination back as best I can."

"Sorry... I didn't mean - Here." She drops the subject and pours me a cup of coffee. She puts the mug in my hand but is about to let go too early.

"Wait!  I don't have it..." I suddenly get nervous. The coffee is hot. That's all I need... 3rd degree burns. Gwen is startled at first but then holds the cup until I can concentrate more on my grip. But now I'm flustered, and my coordination isn't working like I need to.

"You know what. Nevermind. I don't need coffee." I frown. "Take it. I ca-can't" 

The look on my sister's face right now.... she looks like she is going to cry. I get it the girls haven't been around me a ton but thought for sure they knew what they were getting into. I don't think Gwen really thought much about it until now.

"Sit down... I'll come help you when I'm done cooking, ok?"

I nod, now mortified...completely and utterly embarrassed. I miss being with everyone who knows how to take care of me. My sisters are amazing but it's going to be a learning process for them all and there's a LOT of them. I'm now feeling a little down and out having to explain all the things I can't do. When I was with Nate and all of them, I never had to talk about it. Sometimes 
I'd even forget I had issues..unless I dropped a fork or something, but even then, Casey or whoever was helping me would just quickly pick it up without drawing attention to me. 

But with my sisters, everything is still new to them, and the shock factor is setting in.

*****

*Trisha*

"She WHAT?!" It's ten in the morning here in Milan, which means it's only around 1am in California, so Nate getting a call from Paul isn't good.

Everyone is in our suite eating breakfast before we have our "Spa Day" and all stop eating and listen to the one-sided conversation now.

"Only Julia. That big heart of hers is going to get her into trouble." Nate looks at Jonah, shaking his head. "She's helping other people detox now. At one in the morning."

"Now what?" I ask.

"Julia is helping someone go through detox... Mike Maloney."

"Huh...." I scoff a little and look away.

"Huh- what? Spit it out."

"Nothing. He's just a very attractive guy. She can relate to him. They're both going to detox and at the Avalon...." I say in a nonchalant way while stabbing a piece of fruit from my plate.

"Stop." Nate doesn't take me seriously, but just watch. I'm calling it first.

"I don't know... doesn't she have some kinda.. hyperactive sex drive or something? Hyperwhatever, whatever?"

How is Nate not worried about Mike Maloney around Julia?

***

Even while getting ready, even while our driver brings us to the well-known high-end spa in Milan, I can tell Nate's brain is going a mile a minute thinking of Julia. His brain just doesn't shut off, and it's killing him that nothing is in his control anymore.

Staff walks us our separate ways, Jonah and Casey excitedly go with one host while we head in the opposite direction with our host, while Evan follows behind.

But being a couples massage, we are led to one changing room, where the host and Evan wait outside the door.

"You better hope this doesn't crash the internet, Trisha. That's all Julia needs." Nate is worried about this now, too? My God! No wonder his heart is tired.

"It's a massage, Nate. I'm not giving it to you. I'm just going with you.... with Jonah....with Casey.... As a group."

Once we are undressed, we slide on the large white robes and slippers and head back out. We are led to another private room that has two tables side by side that we lay on face down. Our robes are removed, and a towel is draped over our asses.

"I'm glad you decided to come." I smile over at Nate as the two ladies begin our massages with hot oil. "Will you relax? You're as tense as a board."

"Kinda why I'm here, doll."

"You need to shut that brain off of yours. That's what's gonna stop that heart of yours." We stop talking after that and enjoy the massage instead.

An hour later, we are both feeling like Jello and ready to shower off the oil back in the dressing room. Nate begins checking me out while we shower, and I smirk when I see his hard on.

"You're all hot and bothered now, aren't you? I told you - you were.... tense." I laugh a little but then quiet down, drop my hand, and begin stroking him.

"Really, Trisha?" He furrows his brows like he's mad but then closes his eyes. I take that opportunity to get on my knees. I'm going to make sure this guy is as relaxed and stress-free as possible. I take him in my mouth to prove it.

"Shit." Nate groans, and I know my techniques are working.

*****

It takes a while, but Nate finally begins to relax. A good little session with me helped. And we did everything on the itinerary at the spa, even the detoxifying mud bath, which I learned Nate has never done before. Once showered, we wait for Jonah and Casey to be done. We sit in the luxurious lobby sipping mint tea.

"See? That wasn't so bad." I curl up on the comfortable leather couch, completely relaxed, and Nate sits next to me. Evan is in his bodyguard stance near the door. Like Paul, he is a quiet man most of the time.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Nate waves me off, but I smirk, knowing this day was good for him. The doors open, and I turn my head to see ....shit...Mila Giovanni.

"Nate! Ciao!" Mila says excitedly, shoving her purse in her bodyguard's chest and walking towards us. Nate has a panic-stricken look on his face as we both stand up at the same time. I'm invisible, obviously, but Mila pulls Nate in for a hug and then kisses each cheek before backing away, saying something in Italian and smiling at him. Blocking her number and ghosting her apparently doesn't piss her off? Though, from what I've seen. She's always a happy person, and even though she's this big supermodel at like 23 years old, she is not a diva and treats everyone with respect and kindness. I can certainly see why Nate would gravitate to someone like her. They are a perfect fit. But we can NOT go down that road again.

Fortunately, Jonah and Casey both come out right behind her, and we all quickly walk out.

"Of course you'd bump into her here. This is where she lives." I mumble s as we pile into the SUV. Nate is quiet, and I wonder what's going on in that head of his now.

Well, there goes THAT relaxing day. At least he was stress-free for a few hours.

"Hey. I think I'm actually going to skip on the reservations tonight if that's ok with you guys. That massage made me really tired, and I think I'm just gonna go up and rest.

"You sure, playboy?" I am a little surprised. He was looking forward to checking out this authentic Italian restaurant. Maybe he's down because of Julia or now overthinking that Mila encounter.

"Yeah, you guys go without me. Trish, use my card. Evan - take my place and eat enough for both of us."

"Yes, sir." Evan gives Nate a little nod before our driver drops Nate off at the hotel.

Ok, this suddenly feels weird now. Like some double date even though it's not. Fortunately, Evan is a gentleman about it, pulling my seat out for me when we get to our table and sitting next to me so we don't look awkward. I actually don't know if I've ever hung out with Jonah and Casey without Nate before, so at first, we don't really know what to say. Until Casey breaks the silence.

"Trish....check your phone..." She says with a concerned look while glancing at her phone. I pull my phone out of my purse and unlock it to get to the internet.

"No... shit.." I hiss.

"Do you need another minute?" The waiter comes back over to our table with our drinks. No one ordered wine or any kind of alcohol, not even Evan. I don't drink, but I wonder if Casey did it for Jonah and Evan knows about his addiction or something. Regardless, we ordered sparkling waters and fresh unsweetened iced teas.

Once we order food, I excuse myself to clean up this whole Mila mess out in the hall of the Italian Restaurant. Fortunately, Nate's publicist, Elliott, was already on damage control, putting out fires and false rumors left and right, so our conversation was short-lived. 

"Do we need to worry about this thing with Mila Giovanni?" Evan asks as I sit back down.

"Nope. All taken care of. False news. His publicist was already on it." Everyone at the table lets out a little sigh.

"Maybe I should have stayed at the hotel with him." The bodyguard second guesses Nate sending him out to eat with us, now feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Why? Enjoy this food. He's not going anywhere. I can tell you that much. He's exhausted and probably on the phone trying to clear the air with Moretti as we speak. Their relationship is......" I think of a word but can't seem to come up with anything, so Jonah chimes in.

"Exhausting." He blurts out. "Sorry. But it is."

I raise a brow a little shocked because Jonah is always team Nate and Julia, but he also is starting to see the toll it takes on Nate when it comes to stress.

Maybe everyone will finally realize how much Nate and Julia just aren't compatible. They are far from it.