Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“So you were willing to drag my name through the mud, too? Just to get Alyssa to back off of me?”
“I just wanted to remind you of who you were dealing with,” she continues, with a wicked grin on her face. “You were starting to act like you were the famous one and I was just some backup guitarist. I like you, Rhys, but not when you forget how important I am. You should feel lucky I even let you touch me.”
“…Right.” Rhys slightly nods along with his words. “You’re right. How about this? From here on out, I treat you exactly like you deserve, my dear.”
“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” Geesha beams. “So, does that mean we’re finally going to be Instagram official?”
“Won’t your followers be pissed to see that I’m back in your life?”
“No way.” Geesha rolls her eyes before letting out a small chuckle. “I’ll just tell them that Alyssa is the slut that she’s always been. They’ll totally buy it. I mean, I love my followers, but they’ll pretty much believe anything I say. It’s like they think I can’t tell lies or something, just because I sing some of their favorite songs.”
Geesha chuckles again and shakes her head. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll know what that’s like, whenever you get your band back up and running. Speaking of…”
Geesha’s words trail off before she continues with her train of thought. “How would you feel about me leading your band?”
“…What are you talking about, Geesha?”
“Okay, I know it’s kind of wild, but just think about it! You already have a chart-topping debut album, now all you need is a real lead singer, not some wannabe who can barely record songs in her bedroom without stumbling over herself—”
“Get out.”
“Babe, what?” Geesha frowns. “I’m sorry for whatever I said about your stupid, little band, okay? You know how much I care about you, Rhys. At the end of the day, everything I do is just me looking out for you—”
“I said get the fuck out please, Geesha.” Rhys cuts her off, mid-sentence. “Fuck. Didn’t you ever wonder why we never amounted to anything outside of the bedroom? Didn’t you ever wonder why I cut things off with you before I started seeing Alyssa?”
“Rhys—”
“Because she’s so much better than you’ll ever be, Geesha Riley,” he goes on. “And not just when it comes to her talent. When it comes to her heart, too. She’s everything you’ll never even have a chance of becoming, because she says what she means and wears her emotions on her sleeve. And you wouldn’t know a fucking genuine emotion if it was staring you right in your face.”
“Whatever, Rhys!” Geesha folds her arms across her chest. “Are you going to take me to bed or not? You’re wasting my time with this white knight routine, even if it is kind of hot—”
“I never want to see you again, Geesha,” Rhys interrupts her again, heading over to his apartment’s front door, soon holding it wide open for her to walk through. “Have a nice life.”
“Right.” Geesha rolls her eyes as she walks through the doorway. “I’ll see you whenever you’re in the mood for a blowjob that’s worth anything, Rhys.”
A few moments after Geesha’s out of his apartment, Rhys loudly calls out, “Please, tell me you guys got some of that?”
“We got all of it!” Van replies for the both of us, eagerness lining his tone. “We got fucking all of it, Rhys!”
Chapter 20
Alyssa
“So? Are you missing the spotlight yet?” Marina asks, plopping down on the couch in my hotel room, her fingers flipping through a glossy magazine. “Or are you completely devoted to the whole living-in-total-anonymity aesthetic?”
I’ve been hiding out in my hotel room for at least two weeks, occasionally jotting down a song idea in a nearby journal and completely avoiding my phone, trying my best to slip into full M.I.A. mode. It’s been hard, almost fucking impossible if I’m honest, not to reply to the myriad texts and phone calls I’m receiving from the guys, but I know that keeping no-contact is only going to make things easier since I’m done with the band for good.
Even though it’s absolutely killing me inside, not being able to hear Rhys’s laugh, not being able to see Van’s smile, not being able to swim in Cameron’s radiating magic.
“It’s not an aesthetic, Marina,” I correct. “I’m just…trying to figure everything out.”
“Well, at least you’re still writing music.” She smiles over at me. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Pretty sure that just means that I’m not emotionally blocked.” I sigh. “Although I kind of wish that I were. Maybe then things wouldn’t feel so fucked up.”
“I don’t know if ‘fucked up’ is the phrase I’d use to describe how you’re feeling, babe,” Marina replies. “I think it’s pretty damn normal to miss your boyfriends when you’re changing into a long-distance situation.”