28
Iarrived late to practice the next day. I didn’t want to risk catching Liam alone if we were both early.
I knew he'd want to talk to me after what had happened the previous day. One of my oldest friends had just proposed to his girlfriend — now fiancée — and instead of sticking around I’d made a lame excuse and bolted.
It was becoming a habit. A bad one. But it was the only thing I could think of doing. If I’d stayed, I would have been able to muster up a fake smile and offer them my congratulations. Morris would have seen through it. He knew me too well.
I had to hope Liam bought my excuse. Or at least, I had to hope he wouldn’t push the issue. I didn’t want him to know the awful memories that had resurfaced the instant Morris dropped to one knee.
I texted Gael I was running late and to start setting up without me.
You okay?he’d texted back.
Slept in,I’d replied.
So you picked up some man-candy and had a late night?
No! My alarm didn’t go off.
Sure, sure,he teased.
He didn’t text again for another few minutes, but when my phone pinged again and I saw his message, my heart sank.
You disappeared yesterday,he wrote.
I could hear the unspoken question.
Girl stuff, I wrote back, knowing that would shut him down.
Liam looks worried, he wrote back anyway.Says he hasn’t heard from you. Poor guy probably thought you got into a car accident and were lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
Tell him I’m fine.
Should I mention the man-candy?
No!!
I turned my phone on silent, ignoring any further texts as I drove to the rehearsal studio.
I was only a few minutes late, but the guys were already practicing without me. I was glad they were taking things seriously.
All music stopped when I walked in as the guys stared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Late night?” Nathan drawled.
“Why does everyone assume I hooked up last night?” I asked. “Can’t a girl sleep in and not have her sex life questioned?”
“You do look a little worn out,” Seth piped up. “Bags under your bloodshot eyes, messy hair…”
I hadn’t realized it was so obvious I’d tossed and turned all night while fighting back tears.
“I had some trouble falling asleep,” I said. Liam’s gaze burned into me. I steadfastly avoided looking in his direction. “Let’s get started.”
Our rehearsal went well, sounding almost as good as we did in concert. You couldn’t replicate the kind of energy you felt on stage, but damn, we sure did try. There were no missed cues or off pitch notes.
We played for most of the day, but stopped before fatigue crept in. We’d learned to pace ourselves.
