Page 9 of California Wild

Caiden on lead guitar and backing vocals.

Billy on bass, the solid, reliable one.

Kilgor on drums, a literal maniac with drumsticks.

And Hayley?

She was front and center, leading the chaos.

And it was working.

They were getting buzz. Growing fast. The kind of energy you couldn’t fake—the kind that meant something.

They just needed that one big break.

She was about to run through some new song ideas when her phone buzzed.

She grabbed it, expecting a message from her songwriting agency or a reminder about her afternoon students.

Instead—

Jesse Navarro.

Her stomach did a completely stupid, entirely unnecessary flip.

Because of course it did.

She hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen.

She shouldn’t care.

She shouldn’t even be curious.

But she opened the message anyway.

Hey Hayley.

I’ve been meaning to say this for a long time.

I know I can’t change the past, but I need to own it. So here’s the truth.

Then—bullet points.

Jesse made a list.

1. I was selfish with your time.

2. I was inconsistent, and I made you feel like you weren’t a priority.

3. I didn’t communicate, and I left you guessing instead of giving you real answers.

4. I acted like what we had didn’t mean as much as it did.

5. You deserved better than the version of me you got.

At the bottom, one final line:

I’ve been in therapy. AA. I see it now. I’m sorry, Hayley.

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