Page 123 of Harrison's Wedding

We leave his office, and I pay for the appointment before we take the elevator into the underground parking garage.

I hover next to Heather as we exit, unsure how to say goodbye to her. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and I hate parting ways.

“Well, I’ll see you around, I guess,” she says.

I nod my head, unable to speak around the lump in my throat. She gives a half-hearted wave and walks away. I sigh and fight tears as I follow Michael to the black SUV. We drive back to Hayden’s, and I head straight to the music room. I’ve been playing for a while when my phone lights up where it’s sitting nearby. I look at it to see a text from Heather.

Are you at Hayden’s? I think we need to talk.

My heart plummets to my feet. This is about the apartment; I know it is. I don’t want to reply. I want to put off having this conversation as long as I can, but I know that Heather will be waiting for a reply, and I can’t do that to her.

Yes. I’m here. You can come around any time.

I put the guitar away and head to my room, where I take a shower and put on a fresh set of clothes before I go to find Hayden in his office.

“Hey, how was your session?” he asks me.

“Not great. Heather’s coming over to talk.” My voice cracks, and I can’t fight the tears that fall.

“Shit. I’m sorry, bro.”

I shake my head and wipe away the tears. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”

“Do you want me to head out and give you guys some space?” he asks with a concerned frown on his face.

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” I tell him, feeling bad at pushing him out of his own apartment.

“It’s fine. I really don’t mind. I’ll stay if you want me to, but otherwise, I can go to Seb’s.”

I consider his offer and nod my head. “Thanks. I think…I don’t know. It’s probably going to be…not good.”

“Not a problem. Give me half an hour to finish this up and I’ll head off.”

I thank him and head to the living area to await my doom. I pour myself a drink of whisky, remembering the session from today and cringing over the fact that this is my instinct at the moment. I’ll just drink this one and no more.

Heather arrives about ten minutes after Hayden leaves. She’s still wearing the pink dress and looking gorgeous, despite the worried frown on her face.

“Hi, Harrison,” she says softly. “Is Hayden here?”

I shake my head. “No, he went out so that we could have some space.”

“Oh. That’s good, I suppose.”

“Do you want a drink or something?” I ask her.

Heather’s expression closes off, then she says, “A coffee would be nice.”

I make us each a coffee, and we sit across from one another at the dining table. Heather is rubbing the bare skin on her ring finger and looking nervous.

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask her.

“I guess that after our session with Brendan today, I realized that we really need to talk about what’s going to happen with our finances. I’ve opened a bank account in my name, but I hope you’ve noticed that I haven’t touched any of your money—”

“Heather, it’s not justmymoney,” I object.

She shrugs. “You’re the one who earned it, not me. I looked it up, and Illinois doesn’t have any rules around common-law marriages, so I’m not entitled to anything.”

I frown at her as she’s speaking. Yes, the money came to me, but I couldn’t have done any of what I’ve done over the last five years if she hadn’t been by my side. I remember all of the hours she worked, doing long shifts at shitty jobs to earn money before we got signed.

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