Page 9 of Where the Little Birds Go (Little Bird Duet 1)

I shake my head and place the frame back where I found it, staring at the smile young me is casting to young Corbin.

“Why Corbin?” I ask quietly. When he doesn’t answer, I gesture around us. “Why Ryker? Why this movie? Why now?”

His lips part, but nothing comes out.

I take the Twizzlers out from the bag hanging on my shoulder and slam them into his chest. Only a few are missing since he gave them to me. I couldn’t get myself to accept the gift, but the sugar was exactly what I needed when my nerves got the better of me this morning.

“Why the candy?” It comes out a broken whisper that has his lips curving down. “You shouldn’t have bothered. With the food, the candy, the note. The note. There’s no point, so why?”

He takes a step forward despite the little room between us already. The tips of his expensive looking shined black shoes tap my basic heeled wedges that I got from the clearance rack at Target. Nothing about my floral wrap dress screams money or class like the button-down white shirt tucked into belted black dress pants does on his slim frame. I know Ryker’s signature look—the rolled sleeves, the three top buttons undone, and the messy bedroom hair.

I also know Corbin Callum even though I wish I didn’t. He dresses to impress. To play any part. And he plays it well, just like he always has.

The best friend.

The loving boyfriend.

The heartbreaker.

“There’s always a point,” he tells me quietly, keeping his hands tucked into his pockets. His gravelly tone has the power to make me come undone, and I hate it. “It’s an apology, for one.”

Now I’m rolling my eyes and moving around him, bumping his shoulder with mine to get some air that isn’t full of his woodsy scent. “You’re a little late on that front.”

“I won’t deny it,” he agrees. “I can make excuses as to why things happened like they did, but the truth is, I let my career take precedence.”

I say nothing.

“I chose success,” he continues, turning to face me as I pretend to study the rest of the room. Thankfully, the crew has finished and let us be.

“Shock,” I murmur.

“I chose … me.”

I stifle a giggle, but it turns into an unattractive snort. Stopping in front of the vanity attached to the dresser, I study my reflection. I look tired, but not overly so. The bags beneath my eyes are only noticeable if you look close enough. My bottom lip is chapped from the amount of times I wet and nibble on it, which I’ve subconsciously done a lot since watching my book play out in front of me.

My cheeks though … they give me away.

They’re colored with the faintest tone of pink, a natural color since Corbin came back into my life. It’s hard not to blush when he pays you attention, especially with the memories I have of us together all those years ago.

The touches, kisses, whispers.

We were young and sloppy and invincible back then. That’s where we went wrong. Heartbreak was inevitable as soon as we thought nothing could touch us. Eventually, something did.

Reality.

Dreams.

Us.

Looking down, I say, “You always chose yourself, even when you made pretty promises. They were just words and I always knew it. It was my fault for falling for them.”

“Kinley—”

“But everything else?” I conclude, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “Everything else was your fault. You can apologize as many times as you want, I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago because holding onto that resentment was too much.”

He’s smart enough not to say anything.

“But I’ll never forget.”

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