Page 63 of Where the Little Birds Go (Little Bird Duet 1)

A married man.

A former friend.

The end of me.

His hand finds my face, but I find the energy to brush it off. “Do you mean that?”

I part my lips but only manage to shake my head, backing away in retreat. If there was a white flag, I’d wave it. I’d do anything to take back those words and leave them buried inside to suffocate me like they have for over nine years.

A fucking decade I’ve lied to myself.

I’ve denied myself the truth.

For what? For this? For him? I don’t get a chance to ask because we’re suddenly in the same embrace that I’ve told myself I’m not allowed to be in—the same situation I’ve insisted on pretending I didn’t want.

But I did.

And I do.

And I hate myself more for it than I do him.

When he kisses me, it’s cemented.

We’re going to hell.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kinley / 17

The auditorium is full for the last night of the play, making a permanent smile plaster my face. Closing the corner of the curtain I’m peeking through, I step back into the backstage mayhem as everyone finishes dressing and practicing before it starts in twenty minutes.

Diane, the senior in charge of everything, stops in front of me red-faced and out of breath. She tries speaking but gets nothing out except a raspy breath. The hand clenching her clipboard that people make fun of her for shoots up, her pointer finger gesturing for me to give her a minute to collect herself.

Blinking as she bends over and breathes heavily for a solid fifteen seconds, I glance around looking for Corbin’s familiar face. Turns out, so is Diane.

“Where is he?”

“Uh…”

Her eyes widen in horror. “Kinley, where is our leading role? You’re always together. You have to know where your boyfriend is.”

I eye the clock. Fifteen minutes until showtime. “I’m not sure?” Wincing when she makes a startled noise, I add, “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. He was supposed to be back an hour and a half ago—”

She chokes out, “Back?”

Now my nerves are rising. “Everyone knows he started rehearsals for the movie he’s in. He goes to the capital region to run lines with everyone before they start shooting next week. He goes a few times a week after school. I’m sure—”

Diane’s eyes grow dark. “He signed up for this first! He can’t just bail on the last night. What’s wrong with him?”

My throat dries. He wouldn’t bail on it but telling her wouldn’t make much of a difference when she’s in freak out mode. I do my best to smile reassuringly, but she storms off yelling for the understudy whose name I don’t recognize.

Pulling out my phone, I shoot Corbin a text asking where he is. He kissed me goodbye before leaving last period and said he had a busy afternoon. He made it sound like he’d be back though, and I believe it.

I wait for a response.

When a few minutes go by, everyone in the back starts running around and trying their best to prepare the new lead. I gnaw on my thumbnail and stare between my message app and the time in the righthand corner of my screen.

“Anything?” Diana asks as she flies past me.

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