Page 67 of Dear Rockstar (Dear Rockstar 1)

He let me lead him back to the bed. I could tell he was waiting and letting me struggle. I sat cross-legged, facing him, but he was only half-turned toward me, half of him facing the door, like he wasn’t sure which way to go.

“I know it seems crazy on the outside.” I looked at my painting, glancing around at Tyler all over my walls. “But I fell in love with him when I was fourteen. You know how girls are. I mean… you know.”

“I guess.” He blinked, looking around the room in disbelief. It was a lot to take in for the first time. “I get being a fan. I know girls go crazy for rock stars. I mean, obviously.”

“That’s all this is.”

He met my eyes, eyebrows raised. “Sara…”

I sighed. “Okay, maybe not all. Maybe I… maybe I took it a little too far. Maybe I… maybe I hate it here so much, I started fantasizing about a way out. And somehow my magical thinking or wish fulfillment got mixed in with Tyler Vincent and things just snowballed and before I knew it…”

I shrugged, turning my hands up and looking around the room, trying to see it like he must see it. How crazy it must all seem.

“Oh Sara.” He shook his head, my words bringing back the incident the night before, his gaze skipping to my closed door, and I knew he was thinking about the stepbeast.

“I’m sorry.” I felt my tears falling. They slipped down my cheeks and fell onto the denim of my jeans, making dark splotches. “I can’t help how I feel about him. But it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

He raised my hand to his cheek, rubbing it gently across his skin and that delicious five o’clock shadow.

“The truth is…” Dale reached out, turning my face up to him. “I have never felt like this before in my life. Ever. It’s so strong, and it happened so fast.”

I nodded as he cupped my face in his hands, wiping away my tears with his thumbs.

“Do you feel it, Sara? Do you feel it too?”

I opened my mouth, knowing the best, most logical thing to do would be to deny it. I knew I should end this now, for both our sakes. But I couldn’t. He was right.

“It scares me,” I choked out.

He pulled me into his arms then, cradling my head against his chest, and I felt the steady, beautiful beat of his heart.

“Me, too,” he whispered into my hair. “Oh God, Sara… you could hurt me right now more than I’ve ever been hurt...and I’ve only known you a week. If I stay, knowing you’ve built your life around some guy who doesn’t even know you exist... do you know how vulnerable that makes me?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” I felt more tears building in the back of my throat and I willed them to stop. “And I have a feeling I will.”

He took a deep, shuddering breath, holding me so close he was crushing me. “So should I go?”

I shook my head, sobbing. “Do you really want to go?”

There we were. An impasse.

“I guess the better question is…” He lifted my chin, eyes searching, my face full of tears and God only knew what else, but he looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “Do you want me to stay?”

His face was inches from mine, eyes glinting, too bright.

“Stay,” I whispered.

I felt him let out his pent-up breath and his arms went around me, strong. I could hardly breathe, but I didn’t care. He buried his face in my hair and I breathed him in too, his scent, a smell that was completely and utterly Dale.

ached over and brushed a long, sleep-fuzzed strand of hair out of my face, cupping my chin in one of his hands. He turned my head back and forth, like he was looking for something.

“Does he hurt you? Because if he hurts you, this is over right now. You’re coming with me. I don’t care what you say.”

I shook my head, the lie coming as easily as it always did.

Finally, he sighed. “This is crazy.”

“What did you say about crazy?” I reminded him, smiling.

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