Page 113 of Before It Was Love

My jaw drops open. Paisley doesn’t shout or yell.

“What?” she asks as she pushes her glasses up her nose. “I support causes.”

“She even went to D.C. for a march,” Nova explains as she refills our shot glasses.

“Why don’t I know about this?”

Everyone ignores me as they raise their glasses.

“Long live mermaids!” Nova toasts and I down my shot.

The second shot goes down much easier than the first. Moonshine isn’t so bad once you’re used to it. Chloe slings her arm around my shoulders and leads me toward the stage.

“Where are we going? I want another shot.” Or twenty. Anything to help me forget how Flynn stood frozen in the room when I confessed I loved him. How he didn’t move an inch when I ran away. How he didn’t fight for me.

“I’d fight for him, you know,” I say. “I’d slay Flynn’s dragons for him. Should I track down his dad and have him assassinated?”

Mom swipes the shot glass from my hand. “No more shots for you.”

“But I want more moonshine. Moonshine is home. I missed home when I was away. And now I need to leave again.”

“You are not going anywhere.”

Chloe drags me forward. “Except to the stage to sing.”

“Sing? I don’t sing.” I notice the set-up on the stage. “Oh, look! Karaoke. What song shall I sing?”

I wave to Sloane. “Do you have the ten-minute version ofAll Too Well?”

“You are not singing breakup songs,” Chloe orders.

“Why not? I lost the man I love today.”

“You did not lose Flynn today,” Mom insists.

“Yes, I did.” I bob my head and nearly lose my balance. I grab hold of the microphone stand to steady myself. “Weston told Flynn he had to choose between me or him. Guess who he chose? Spoiler alert. It wasn’t me. Because I’m not worth fighting for.”

Mom marches to me and grasps my hand. “You listen to me, daughter of mine. You are worth fighting for. You’re worth everything. You’re my beautiful, smart, talented, stubborn daughter.”

“Flynn doesn’t agree. I was supposed to return home from Atlanta mega successful. He would take one look at me and realize I’m not his little sister.”

Mom squeezes my hands. “You can’t give up on Flynn. He lost his family when he was a teenager and Weston became his family. He needs time to realize he won’t lose Weston. He’ll gain an entire new family.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.” She kisses my forehead before releasing me and jumping off the stage. “Now play something upbeat.”

The speakers switch on and a piano intro plays.

“I Will Survive!” I announce the song although every woman over the age of fifteen knows it.

It’s a lie. I don’t know how I’ll survive when the man my heart latched onto at eleven doesn’t want me.

Chapter 34

All my life I thought I knew who I was. Then, Sophia happened.

Flynn

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