Page 188 of Goodbye Note

Hugo raised a brow. “I don’t think you know how hot you are. Believe me, everyone wants you in that.”

Hugo was right. The second I stepped out, there were photos all over the gossip sites talking about it, and the comments on social media were feral. It also inflamed the Varik shippers.

It gave me the ego boost I needed to not spend the night hiding like I used to.

* * *

Arik held court.

Like a king, every eye in the room was on him when we made our entrance.

He was dressed in silver and purple. He’d let his hair grow out over the years, the faded colors a thing of the past. He wore his in its natural black, faded down to the skin on the sides while longer on top so it could be styled.

Serafin stood next to him, happy to let Arik shine.

I exhaled, on a mission to stay on the other side of the room for the entire evening.

They’d planned it so our album played early so Second Star’s could start at exactly midnight. The reception to our album was amazing. The reviews were all good.

It never got any easier to release new art but this felt good until it ticked down to midnight, and suddenly—I was surrounded by my bandmates.

I lifted a brow. “I’m fine.” I’d been pounding whiskey like it was my job. Nothing could touch this buzz.

“Good. We plan to keep it that way.” Val clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“I’d like to introduce you all to the word ‘suffocating.’” I flagged down the bartender for another drink.

I thought I could handle it, but the entire club went silent after the first verse.

A hushed whisper moved through the crowd like wildfire.

My phone buzzed in my pocket over and over. I pulled it out and set it face up on the bar so the other guys could see the social media tags coming through faster than my phone could keep up.

“Fuck.”

Vallen rubbed a hand down my back. “Breathe.”

“Does this mean I’m going to have to come out?” I said under my breath.

“No. There is nothing tying you two concretely together. Even if his new music feels shitty because you lived it, there’s nothing the fans could directly tie to you.” Vallen tried to reassure me, but it didn’t work.

“I’m going to go take a minute.” I turned on my heel and stalked away. Seeing the reactions of other people made this album so much worse. Usually, listening to it before was enough, and I was numb, but him coming out like that…

I hated myself for leaving.

I didn’t know how to forgive myself for ruining my own life.

I shoved into the bathroom and turned on the sink. I braced against it, focusing on breathing. The door banged open, and my head came up as I schooled my face.

He stopped, meeting my eyes in the glass, and didn’t immediately leave. His brows pulled. In a moment of madness, I thought about confessing that my wife left me, bringing us full circle to the night we met.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey there,” I replied, barely holding it together.

“I’m sorry.” Arik’s voice came so soft, I wasn’t sure he actually said it.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

---