Page 138 of Hope & Harmony

We break the walls that bind

Leave everything behind

Be the star so bright

The star that’s always been mine

Cuz you’re the only way to make things bright

Leave the world you say behind

Driving me insane

Help me find the way while begging me to stay

Follow you anyway

Girl, follow you anyway.”

I was too slow on the last part.

My voice cracked at least twice.

She stopped recording.

It was too eerily silent in that booth.

I gulped at least twice when she looked up at me and tossed her headphones onto the table in front of her. “Again.”

Yeah, I could have guessed that.

“And jump into the chorus when you’re done, do you need the replay of the demo?”

I almost said no, ma’am, like I was in the military. “No, I’m good.” I was just rusty, and it wasn’t helping that she was right in front of me the girl that got away, the one I walked from in order to protect my own career, her heart, the one I wasn’t careful with when she was the most precious person in my world.

She hit the music again without warning, pulling her headphones back onto her face. Her hair stuck against her pink lipgloss while she stared me down.

Why was that so sexy in the first place?

I locked eyes with her, I did the rap, and then I went right into the bridge.

“Exploding in the air.

Catastrophe awaits.

Come dive with me inside.

Destiny’s the only way.”

She stopped the music again.

Shit.

“Again.”

Was she a fucking general or something?

I knew I killed that last part.