Page 74 of Follow the Rhythm
She sighed. “Not that I know of. The tour contract is officially dissolved, though. Something about Ellis and Kieran exercising their buyout clause? I don’t know; all the business part of this stuff is exhausting. I’m going to be flying back to L.A. in a couple of days, so I’m really glad I got to see you.”
“Me too. I’m sure the other Valkyries miss you.” I paused. “But you haven’t seen… anyone?”
“If by ‘anyone’ you mean Kieran, who has been blowing up my phone trying to find out what you’re up to, then yes,” Grace said. “Any chance you’re going to stop being such an idiot?”
I shook my head. He’d texted me once, but I deleted it, unread. “I’m not being an idiot. I told you, the whole bonding thing is not for me.”
“Why not, though? No offense, but you seem miserable,” Grace said.
“Nah. That’s just the depression rearing its ugly head.”
“She’s scared,” Austin said. I glared at them, then remembered that they had probably interrupted a full-blown depressive episode, so I couldn’t really be mad at them.
“Yeah, so what if I am? Wouldyouwant to trust that the person you tethered yourself to wasn’t going to change their mind and get sick of you? Or, I don’t know, turn into a psycho?”
“Kieran’s not a psycho,” Grace said. “He’s pretty tight. And, as I’ve said before, fully obsessed with you. Maybe now more than ever.”
“He’ll get over it,” I said dismissively.
Grace opened her mouth, but Austin laid a hand on her arm. “Drop it. She’ll figure it out.”
“I’m literally right here,” I said, annoyed. I wanted to ask about Charlie and Ellis, too, but I didn’t.
Austin wanted to spend the night, but I showed them the appointment confirmation for a virtual session with Dr. Williams in the morning, which was enough to prove I wasn’t completely off the deep end, and they relented.
I hugged Austin and Grace goodbye and gave Austin an extra squeeze. “Thanks,” I murmured.
“You’re welcome. You know I love you, right?”
My stupid eyes welled with stupid tears again. “Yeah. I love you, too.”
I slept in my bed that night, relinquishing the comfort of Charlie’s scent for more normal behavior. I didn’t deserve Austin and Grace’s friendship, but I promised myself I’d do everything I could to make myself worthy of it.
Chapter 22 - Charlie
Iwas stalling. Even with a flight booked for L.A., even with the label making it very clear I needed to vacate the apartment as soon as humanly possible, I was making any excuse not to leave Fairview.
Some deluded part of my brain was convinced Jess would call, and I wanted to be close by when that happened. Just because it hadn’t happened yet didn’t mean itwouldn’t. Right?
There was another option, which I was choosing to think of as the nuclear option. And with each passing hour that my phone didn’t ring, I got closer and closer to pushing the big red button.
I broke down on a Friday afternoon.
“Hi, honey,” my mom said when she answered the phone. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
“How’s everything going?”
“Oh, you know. As good as we can hope for. How are you doing?”
“I’m alright. I was thinking about coming up for a visit before I head back to L.A. Is it a good time?” I asked, already half hoping she’d say no.
“Of course, honey! We’d love to see you! Oh my goodness, Kristopher and your father are going to be so excited to see you,” she said.
I doubted my father would be that excited, but I didn’t correct her. “Great, I’ll take the train up tonight then.”
“Oh, we can invite Diana over tomorrow for dinner,” my mom gasped. I suppressed a sigh. I could handle one dinner with my perfect sister.
“I’ll see you soon,” I said, and hung up.
