Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
His face went flat. Ah, so I could hurt him. Good.
Then, he shook my hand.
“A deal is a deal. I’ll be in touch.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
I pushed past him and out of my childhood kitchen. Chase was seated next to my mom, but they both looked up when I came into the living room. Chase rose to his feet at my face.
“Give me two minutes,” I said.
I all but ran into my room, tossed my clothes on the floor, and pulled on black jeans and a tank top. I was back in the living room a split second later.
“Let’s go.”
“All right.” He held his hand out to my mom. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”
She stood and wrapped him up in a quintessential mom hug. “You too, dear.”
I left the house like a tornado, set to tear the world apart, and only stopped when I reached the locked Porsche.
“Hey,” Chase said, setting his hands on my shoulders. “Talk to me.”
“She’s not supposed to be with him. She said they weren’t together anymore.” I whipped around, unable to hide the fury and despair roiling through me. “He’s the worst person absolutely fucking imaginable, and she’s still with him.”
He nodded. “I understand that sentiment more acutely than probably anyone else.”
“Why did your mom stay?”
“I wish I knew. She loved him. She didn’t want to uproot her life.”
“And now, you have a baby brother!” I said with a headshake.
He’d told me when his dad’s mistress had a baby boy, but we rarely spoke of it. His father trotted the kid around like a trophy. The divorce had gone through, but he still hadn’t married the girl. The whole thing was reprehensible.
“I’m sure the kid will hate him when he grows up. Just like you hate your dad.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “This wasn’t how I wanted today to go.”
“No,” he agreed. “What did your dad say?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does since you’re pretty upset.”
“He’s not going to tell anyone we were together.”
“I wasn’t worried about that.”
“Oh, really?”
He sighed. “Okay. I was worried about that, but more about how you got him to agree to that.”
“That doesn’t matter either.”
“Harley…”
“Just say what you were going to say,” I said with a sigh.
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t this the point where you break it off with me?” I asked.
“That isn’t…”
I breathed out through my nose. “Don’t. Not right now. Just tell me.”
“I talked to your mom.”
I laughed hoarsely. “Oh God, what did she say?”
“That she doesn’t disapprove.”
“What a winning statement.” Then, I threw my hands up. “As if she has any room to talk.”
“She loves you, Harley. She’s only worried about you. It’s not like Owen.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. I leaned back against the car and braced for the inevitable. “What else did she say?”
“That she doesn’t want you to have to choose between your dreams…and me.”
My eyes widened. “Wow. Did she really?”
“And I agree with her.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
“You…you do?”
“Of course. Isn’t that the point of us not dating? You want me to grow up and get to decide what I want when I have a more fully developed prefrontal cortex.”
“I mean, those aren’t exactly the words I’d use.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not stupid. In fact, I’m very smart when it comes to everything but you, apparently.” I sighed and released the tension from the conversation. I had known it was going to end up like this. I’d known, and I’d done it anyway. I wrapped my arms around his waist. “This is a dream, Chase. This entire weekend is a dream. Graduation is the end date. You set it from the beginning. I knew that this weekend wasn’t going to change anything.”
He held me closer. “I hate this.”
I pulled back enough to slip my arms up around his neck. “I knew the weekend would end. I’d do it again.”
“Me too,” he breathed.
Our lips touched. A bittersweet tragedy. An inevitable conclusion met again.
I just hoped when we did meet our end date that I didn’t have to make the choice my mom assumed I’d make.
My dream or Chase?
Was there much of a difference anymore?
19
Harley
October
“The new album doesn’t have enough keys,” West said to Campbell.
Campbell, the lead singer of Cosmere, flipped him off.
“God, you’re so whiny,” I said, pushing my brother.
Whitt snorted, basically his agreement.
West pulled me in for a hug. “Shut up.”
“A few years ago, you were dreaming of selling out venues, and now, you’re complaining because you don’t have enough solo moments?” Whitt asked with a scoff.
“Hey! I was playing sold-out venues,” West argued.
Campbell laughed. “Yeah, at a pub in Germany.”
“Those are the best fans, man.”
Cosmere’s latest studio album had hit all the Billboard milestones. A number one hit, a number one album, most sold vinyl in twenty-four hours that year, most streams for a new album that year, and on and on. Their tour was kicking off from Lubbock, Texas, and they’d sold out the entire football stadium with seats on the field, totaling to nearly a hundred thousand people.