Page 100 of Tell Me When It's Over

“You two promised.”

“I don’t think that’s nec—”

“My character is supposed to walk back in, where she gets her final answer. It’s pivotal, Kyler. They’re going to ask us to do the whole thing during auditions, so I need to make sure I do the full run through.”

“Mia,” my voice cracks. “I really don’t think that’s necessary,” I repeat slowly, trying not to look in Leighton’s direction. From my peripheral, I see her flinch, her hand trying to unlock with mine, but I won’t let her.

I’m not trying to embarrass her. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable because of Mia. Why the hell couldn’t Dylan be here for this?

The thought instantly clears when I realize what I’m saying. That would mean he’d have to kiss Lenny, and I’m not okay with that. At all.

Free hand twitching into a fist around the script before loosening on the crinkled paper, I blow out a breath. My sister is giving me the fucking puppy dog look that normally wouldn’t work on me. Maybe it’s the fact she’s eight months pregnant and moody, or that there’s a chance she’ll coerce someone else to fill my shoes if I say no again that makes me nod once. Grimly. Reluctantly. Hesitantly because I know part of me wants to do this, and another part scolds me for that eagerness. “You get one.”

She claps. “Yay! Okay. One.” Her eyes turn to Lenny’s, and I can’t help but do the same, noting the pink settled into the apples of her cheeks. “Ready, Lenny Lou?” The way she says it makes me narrow my eyes at her

, but she ignores me completely. “Remember, your character holds a lot of uncertainty. Sam needs to win you over.”

Leighton gives her a tiny nod, our hands finally letting go of each other’s. “Ready.”

Turning to her, I lift my script. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What look?” Lenny returns quietly.

I step closer. “The one you’re giving me right now. You feel guilty. We can’t force ourselves to love somebody because then we’re not giving them our all. Who would want to settle for second best?”

“Alex is your best friend,” she responds quietly, eyes still glued to the paper in front of her.

“Exactly.”

She peeks at me through her lashes. “I consider her a friend, too. Whatever this is, don’t you think we should consider—”

“No.” Another step closer. “I’ll always care about Lizzy. But she’s never going to be you. Whatever you’re thinking, the scheme you’re trying to convince yourself of, it stops right here, right now.”

Licking my lips, I take the last step toward her, my shoes skimming hers. My throat tightens as my heart thumps harder in my chest, my free hand rising to brush her cheek. “She’s not you,” I whisper again.

Leighton’s breath catches.

My hand cups her jaw, caressing the smooth skin that’s flushed of color.

Her eyelids flutter closed.

I lean in and say, “If breaking her heart is what it takes to gain yours, then I’ll be the bad guy.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Leighton / Present Day

The tenderness of his touch steals the oxygen from my lungs as his palm glides down to cup my jaw. Thumbing my bottom lip, I watch the intensity in his brown eyes grow with the desperation that matches my own.

Thump, thump, thump. The drumming of my heartbeat echoes in my ears, and if I put my hand over his heart I know I’d feel the same thing because we’ve always been synced that way.

He exhales like he’s in pain, his grip tightening on my face and I inhale like I can absorb the suffering. Every conscious breath taken is a step toward something we can’t come back from. “How did we get here?” he asks.

Closing my eyes so I no longer see my reflection, I place my hand over his and press it harder against my face to absorb any warmth he can give me to thaw the uncertainty icing my mind. “I don’t know.”

Throat thickening, I shake my head and squeeze my eyelids to stop the tears from falling because the swarm of emotions lodging in my chest are threatening to splinter and burst. I turn my head and press my lips against his palm, listening to his shaky breath release.

He asks me again, this time a nearly inaudible whisper that rips open the reality of what people may never understand. This is how we’ll both go out because nobody will ever accept what’s changed easily.

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