Page 99 of How to Love a Rockstar

“Too fast? I thought you were okay with fast. In fact, you promised to become a stage-five clinger.”

I’m joking but she doesn’t smile.

“Ginny,” I plead. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s a break. Not the end.”

I don’t believe her. A break is the beginning of the end and we both know it.

“I love you. You love me. We belong together.” I’m begging now and I don’t fucking care. I can’t lose her. She’s my sun, my stars, my everything.

“I do love you, but I need time.”

“Time for what?”

She motions to the dresser still blocking the door. “Time to figure out how to love a rockstar. Time to figure out if I can handle being the partner of a rockstar.”

“I’m not a fucking rockstar,” I growl. “I’m Dylan Mitchell. The man you love.”

She smiles up at me but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “You’re also Dylan Mitchell the lead guitarist forCash & the Sinners.”

“I’ll give up the band.”

My words should shock me, but they don’t. It’s been a grueling ten years of recording an album every year and being on the road ten to eleven months out of the year. I’ve barely seen my family for a decade.

I certainly don’t need to work for the money. I’ve got enough for the both of us for the rest of our lives and to set our children up after we’re gone.

She clutches my t-shirt. “You are not giving up the band for me. I’m not Yoko Ono.”

“I always thought the world was too harsh on her.”

“I’m serious, Dylan no middle name Mitchell. You are not quitting the band you love for me.”

I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love you more.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise I love you more than the band.”

If those daggers in her eyes were real, I’d be dead now. “Not what I meant and you know it.”

I rub a hand down my face. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t let you go. You’re the love of my life. The woman I’ve been searching for.”

Tears well in her eyes but she blinks them away before they can fall. “Give me time. I need time.”

“Will we be in touch during this ‘time’?”

She shakes her head. “Giving me time means I need to figure things out on my own.”

“Can I at least phone you to check up on you?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I will message you once a day and you will respond. That’s my final offer.”

“I didn’t realize this was a negotiation.”

“Ginny, please. I need to know you’re safe.”

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