Page 162 of California Wild

This was someone else.

Someone serious.

Someone hurt.

And she had put that look on his face.

“Caid…” She swallowed, the lump in her throat unbearable. “We’re a band. We’ve been in this together since day one. Don’t throw that away because of me.”

His jaw flexed.

“I’m not throwing anything away. I’m protecting myself. Because I can’t fucking stand by and watch you wreck yourself again.”

Her stomach twisted.

She hated that he thought this was about Jesse.

Because it wasn’t.

Not really.

It was about her.

About what she wanted.

And for the first time in her life, she wasn’t letting anyone else decide that for her.

She squared her shoulders, meeting his stare head-on.

“I’m not wrecking myself, Caiden.”

His eyes flashed.

“You sure about that?”

Silence stretched between them, thick, heavy, suffocating.

The world around them kept moving—

Cars flying past.

A busker playing some old Nirvana song across the street.

A woman in heels shouting into her phone as she stormed down the sidewalk.

And yet, here they were.

Stuck in this moment.

Until Caiden exhaled, a slow, bitter laugh slipping through his teeth.

“You know what? Do whatever the fuck you want.”

He shook his head, stepping back.

“But I meant what I said. If he’s in, I’m out.”

And then—

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