Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
His “yes” was so sad maybe I would’ve played a tiny violin if I’d been in a better mood. If this had been any other day. Just maybe if I had been by myself.
One glance up had me meeting Rhodes’s frown. Amos I guess was watching too, wondering who the hell I was talking to at a random gas station in the middle of nowhere. I knew then, in that moment, that I had to tell them about Kaden. That I couldn’t just keep giving them, especially Rhodes, vague details about my life. I knew I’d gotten lucky so far that he hadn’t poked at the huge holes in my life story considering how much we’d nudged at just about every other painful thing in our lives.
“Okay, I’m glad you feel bad. There’s nothing for us to say to each other. Please let go of me, Simone,” I said, giving her a long look.
She looked tired, and I wondered who she was on tour with now, who they were on tour with. Then I reminded myself it didn’t matter.
“No, please, give me a second. I was just thinking about you earlier, and it’s a miracle you’re here. Someone said you’d moved to Colorado, but what were the chances?” she rattled off, and I just kept on staring at her, but noticed out of the corner of my eye that Rhodes started heading over.
I lifted my arm and snuck it out of her grip. “Yeah, a coincidence. Bye.”
“Ora.” Arthur’s voice was quiet. “We are sorry.”
I’m sure, I thought, almost bitterly, but I really genuinely didn’t care much anymore. What I cared about was wasting my time talking to them when I could be around people who hadn’t turned their backs on me. People who wouldn’t just start ignoring my phone calls when their boss and I broke up, even though I’d technically been their boss too in a way. Because always, always, I had thought we were real friends. At some point over the years, I’d ended up spending more time with Kaden’s band than I did with him because his mom started to complain about how flimsy my excuse of being his assistant was.
These people, Arthur and Simone included, had . . . they had taught me how to play their instruments. They had told me when things didn’t work with my songwriting. We had gone to movies together, the theater, out to eat, birthday parties, bowling . . .
Even when we hadn’t been on tour together, they had still texted.
Until they’d stopped completely.
“Kaden just told us you two broke up, and then Mrs. Jones sent out an email saying that if she caught any of us communicating with you, that would be the last day we worked for her,” Arthur started to say before I gave him my own flat look.
“I believe you, but was that before or after I’d tried calling you with my new number and left voice mails and texts you never replied to? You knew I would never rat anyone out to her.”
He closed his mouth, but apparently Simone decided it was a good idea to keep talking.
“We’re sorry. We didn’t find out until a few months ago what all happened, and Kaden’s been a mess. He’s asked all of us if we’d heard from you, and he canceled his tour, did you hear? That’s why we’re out here with Holland.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I know that Mrs. Jones had told you all we were breaking up before I knew. Bruce told me.” He was the roadie I had stayed with in Utah. “You could have warned me, but you didn’t. Both of you know I’m not a snitch. If it would have been one of you, I would’ve said something. Like I told you, Simone, when Mrs. Jones was whispering about firing you when you gained weight, remember? Didn’t I warn you?”
“But Kaden—” Simone started to say.
“I don’t care anymore, and that’s the truth. You don’t need to feel bad either. At least I can say thank you for not giving them my number . . . even though you didn’t say anything so you wouldn’t risk getting fired if Mrs. Jones thought you were lying about actually talking to me, huh?” I snorted. “You know what? Good luck on tour,” I said as calmly as possible before turning around and coming face to chest with Rhodes, who had snuck behind me.
Beside him was Am.
And they were both looking at me with guarded, huge eyes that instantly sent panic piercing through my chest. Not much, but enough. More than enough.
Shit.
I didn’t want them to find out like this. Well, I hadn’t wanted them to find out, period, but I’d planned on eventually telling them anyway. Admitting the last piece of the Aurora’s ex puzzle.
And now these two “friends” that I’d used to have, who had stopped answering my calls and texts, had taken that away from me.