Page 117 of Broken Bridges

I should pack soon. I had to leave in an hour to catch my late afternoon flight. Friday traffic was always cactus.

He jerked his chin back. “By going to your sister’s wedding? How’s that supposed to make you feel better?”

“Oh, it won’t be a love fest when it comes to my family. Being around them will kill any lingering flames I have for Tia. Guaranteed. Then, I’ll come home and focus on nothing but the tour. Deal?”

“Lingering flames, huh? So you do love her?”

Hmph. He’d picked up on that. “I won’t after this weekend.”

“Not sure it works that way.”

“It has to.”

“You’re as stubborn as she is.”

“I learned from the best.”

My conversation with Slip a couple of months ago slammed into my mind. Sometimes no matter how you feel about someone or how much you love them, there’s too much other shit blocking the road to being together. Tia’s inability to let go of the past had been our block. There was no way around it.

But was the flame I held for Tia eternal? Unable to be extinguished?

I still felt her in my soul, in every cell, and in my heart.

No. Stop. We are done.

I had to kill those flames.

Visiting my family for Lucy’s wedding would help see to that.

Chapter 34

TIA

On the last day of filming Angels in LA, the summer heat and brutal sunshine reminded me I was in hell. I sat at a shaded table with Sutton, just outside the studio on our afternoon break, sipping on iced water. When I’d come home last December, I’d prayed this city wouldn’t burn me again. But it had. The City of Angels was the breaker of hearts, destroyer of souls, and the crusher of dreams. I was a mess...again. No matter how often I’d told myself that letting Lewis go had been the right thing to do, it didn’t make it hurt any less.

The days were supposed to have gotten easier, but they hadn’t. I missed him. So much so, I ached all over, inside and out. I’d cried myself to sleep too often. The house felt empty without him. Something had to change.

That change would happen today.

Once work finished in a couple of hours, there’d be no more acting in front of these cameras or behind them. The producers had been devastated when I’d quit a month ago. They’d promised to write my character out of the show, leaving the door open for me to return if I changed my mind.

I wouldn’t.

I had my whole future ahead of me. School started in two months. I’d tried to psych myself up every day since enrolling but had always fallen flat. Jack had found me two small, local movie roles, but neither of them thrilled me. I had a few weeks to mull over them before deciding. And surgery on my foot had to wait. In a few days, I’d join Duke and Chloe on the festival circuit, one month earlier than planned. I needed to get out of there. Leave LA. But every time the high of joining them hit, so did a deep ache inside my chest.

Duke and Chloe were fun to hang out with. But they were nowhere near as full-on as my brother and the guys. That was the problem.

They weren’t The Flintlocks.

They weren’t my family.

Once our break was over, Sutton and I ambled inside. I sat beside her in our chairs, waiting to film our final scenes. She curled her arm around my elbow and rested her head against my shoulder. “I can’t believe this is your last day. I’m going to miss you.”

“Yeah. I’ll miss you too.” I rubbed her arm. “But we’ll see each other all the time.” Hopefully.

“But why aren’t you excited about finishing?” She sat upright and smacked me with her rolled up script. “Every time I’ve asked you lately if you’re okay, you’ve brushed me off. I’ve never seen you so focused on your lines before. I know you’ve been lying when you’ve said you’re too tired to come over for dinner and hang out with the band. I know you miss Lewis. So stop avoiding him. He’s just as messed up as you are.”

I winced. Hearing his name made the hole in my chest ache. I hadn’t meant to break his heart. That was what I’d wanted to avoid. Epic fail. “For now, it’s best to cut all ties so we can move on quicker. Down the track, we’ll be friends. I’m sure of it. Stop worrying.”

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