Page 22 of Heart Break Her

“Cassie?”

My stomach turns to knots as she pauses, her hand on the door, holding it open.

I grab the picture off her dresser, and tightness wells in my chest as I stare at the shaggy-haired blond man in the photo. He has his arm around Cassie, and he’s sporting a shit-eating grin I’d remember from anywhere.

“Why do you have a picture with Myth?”

“Myth?” Her eyes look over her shoulder to the photo in my hand, slowly processing what I’m asking. “Oh, right, you guys were friends. I’m not sure how I didn’t think about that. Or I guess I was tryingnotto think about that. He didn’t really want me in that scene. And now I get it…”

She trails off, and I recognize the pain in her eyes because I live with it inside me. Memories rattling around. Warnings blaring in my head.

“You knew him?” I know it’s a dumb question the second the words leave my mouth, but I can’t help it.

The room starts to shrink, and I swear I hear thunder in the distance.

“Knew him?” Her eyebrows pinch together, and she turns fully to face me.

That’s when I see it. The resemblance I didn’t notice a week ago, or even this morning. The same high cheekbones and bright eyes. Heart shaped faces and blond hair. Now, it’s painfully clear.

“Of course, I knew him,” she says. “He’s my brother.”

“Your brother?”

My head starts to spin.

No way, no fucking way.

This cannot be happening right now. I knew Myth had a sister, but he never showed me a picture of her. He said he wasn’t letting me get any ideas in my head because there was no way he was going to let me anywhere near her.

If our tour went through town and he invited her to a show, he’d hide her in the back of the audience and send her away with a quick goodbye when the set ended. He was fixated on not letting her into his world—into mine.

“This is it. You feel it, right?” Myth grinned at me.

I shrugged. “We’ll see. There were a ton of bands here tonight.”

“Shit bands in comparison.” He punched me in the arm. “I’m telling you, this is it. You guys are going to get signed and then the world better look the fuck out.”

“Whatever you say, man.” I laughed.

“Fuck.” Myth bounced up and down, and I swear he was more excited than anyone in the band at the possibilities of what tonight could bring.

Three of the biggest labels were in the audience, and Neon Records was already backstage with Adrian asking about us. This was it. I could play it cool all I wanted, but I knew it, just like Myth did.

Things were about to change.

Myth’s phone rang, and he frowned at the screen before tucking it back in his pocket.

“Who was that?”

“My sister.” He sighed. “My parents are still pissed I’m doing this shit instead of going to college. She’s probably trying to talk some sense into me. But just wait, this time next year, I’ll be working for the biggest band in the world.”

Myth slapped me on the back, and I shook my head.

“Fuck, can you picture it?” I said, tipping my head back and closing my eyes. “The money, the fame, the groupies.”

“Paradise, brother. We’re going to take over the fucking world.”

I looked at him, and it felt like the culmination of so many things coming together. We’d made it.

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