Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Not until I slide my key in the front door and open it to the sound of people goofing off in my kitchen do I think, Oh wait, no one should be at my house.
But they’re not just people. They’re my people. The guys from Eleven are here. I can hear at least Harley and Blake. Does that mean …
My heart pitter-patters loudly as it jumps to conclusions, but as the door shuts behind me and the noises stop, Harley pops his head around the corner from the kitchen. Then Ryder appears.
One by one, they each come around the corner. They’re in my house. They’re here.
The last one is Denver, his head held low, his hands in his pockets. I hate seeing him like that.
“Denny.” The name gets stuck in my throat.
“Don’t be mad at him,” Blake says.
Mad? Why would I be mad? He’s … he came for me.
“As soon as he told me you had left yesterday, we called Harley, and we were all planning to come and get you back. Your mom let us in.”
“You … you all came for me?”
This is what I wanted eighteen months ago. This is the missing piece that had me running away from Hollywood.
We stand there, staring across the room at each other, the four of them and then me, hovering by my door.
“You’re one hundred percent right about Hollywood,” Harley says. “It’s toxic, it’s intrusive, it’s exhausting, and it’s shallow.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Blake says. “Before they offered me the Coby Godspeed movies, they told me to gain thirty pounds of muscles because ‘Nobody will believe your lanky boy band body could hang from buildings and kick asses.’ Then they don’t let me kick any asses anyway! Damn stunt doubles.”
“My point is,” Harley continues, “there’s a lot of shit we have to deal with to live our dream, so we understand why you want to run when things go wrong. But unlike last time, the four of us don’t have our heads too far up our own asses to see you need support.”
“We fucked up,” Ryder says. “We all fell out of touch because the second the band split, we reveled in being independent for once. We were selfish, and when one of us failed, we forgot that even though we were apart, we will always be a team. All five of us.”
“We weren’t going to make the same mistake this time,” Harley says.
My throat feels thick as I try to swallow, and I glance at Denver, wondering if he feels the same way. “Denny?”
He’s been quiet, not having said a word since I stepped inside this house. He’s barely even looked at me. His eyes finally lift, and as he pierces me with his aqua gaze, I’m hit with clarity and guilt and regret all at once.
Everything—the industry, Cameron, Eleven, even what Denver and I have—all of it is bigger than me and my stupid fear of failure and isolation.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt at the same time he says, “I should have asked you to stay.”
“What?” I ask.
“I didn’t want to talk about it last night because I didn’t think I could change your mind, but knowing you were going to walk out of my life, I didn’t want to run away again without talking about it first. Because …” He bites his lip and looks at the others and then back to me.
I spare a quick glance at Harley, Blake, and Ryder, just long enough to see their confused expressions, and then my gaze is back on Denver.
“Last time, I thought I was in love with you. This time, I know I am.” Someone gasps, but Denver ignores them and keeps talking. “I’m not going to give you up without a fight. That’s what I did two and a half years ago, and like Harley says, we’re all here because we’ve learned from past mistakes.”
Fuck. I drop my bag and cross the room, rushing into Denny’s arms. “I’m sorry.”
Everyone leaves him in one way or another, and here I am doing the same because of stupid fears and insecurities about him and the rest of LA doing it to me first.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I murmur into his neck. “And …” I breathe him in and hold him tight because the millions of apologies aren’t enough. So I build the courage to say the words I’ve only ever said to one other person before she ripped my heart out. But I remind myself this is Denny. My feelings for him might be new, but our bond isn’t. “I love you too.”
He freezes in my arms and goes statue still.
I pull back and cup his cheeks. “Did you hear me?”
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
Then his mouth is on mine, and kissing him is like second nature now. I’ve memorized the feel of his lips, his commanding tongue, and the way he pushes against me just that little bit harder than anyone else would. Everything seems right with the world.