“You’re the belle of the ball, love bug. No way in hell I’m letting you pay for our shit. That’s not how this works,” Titan says.
“When is the award ceremony?” Everleigh asks.
“Friday. So, we have three days to get everything done. Shoot. I’m sorry, Tan. I didn’t even ask if you’d be here. I don’t know when you have to report back.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be there,” Titan replies, and something in his tone tells me something is going on with him that I’m missing.
Lately, I’ve been so tangled up in my drama with Alek that I’ve been a lousy friend to both of them. I have no clue what’s going on in Everleigh’s world. Last I heard, she was dating a biker named Grimm from afar, but he’s vanished from her updates.
I remind myself to dig a little deeper with her when we hit the shops.
Everleigh means too much to let my self-absorption push her to the sidelines.
“Shopping date tomorrow?” Ever questions.
“Sounds good. Call me when you’re ready?”
“You got it,” she replies, sounding distracted.
“I’ll head into town and get my tux,” Titan adds.
“Thank you both. Seriously, this is huge, and I’m glad I get to share it with you.”
“I'm super proud of you, babe,” Everleigh says. You deserve to be recognized for your exceptional talent.”
“I’ve always been proud as hell of you. You put so much of yourself into your lyrics that people go into a frenzy to buy them from you. You’ve always had trouble seeing how special you are. It didn’t help that you had your two serious relationships questioning yourself. Lovebug, it’s time to see your worth. It’s time for you to see that it’s always been us who were never worthy of you. Fucking songwriter of the year, Hayvin Marie. Own the hell out of that shit, babe,” Titan comments.
His words hit me first in the heart, then burn their way down to my soul.
I’ve always known my worth, but Titan is right, and I let it take a hit by both of them.
No one should get to chip away at my worth. That power belongs to me alone. I let love cloud my vision, let them shape how I felt about myself. With Titan, I can forgive it. We were just kids. With Alek, I have no excuse except that I loved him too much, too fiercely, too deeply.
I let things slide that I never should have.
At least when it came to his friendship with Jerica.
“I hear you, Tan. I also appreciate you. One day, you’re gonna make some woman really freaking happy. I just know it.”
“Ouch. Kick me in the nuts, why don’t you?” Titan grumbles.
I laugh as he intended. “Hush.”
“Right. Gonna jump off here,” he says. “See you on Friday. I’ll pick you up in a limo.”
“What?” I exclaim. “No.”
“Quiet. Friday is your night, and you’re gonna get queen treatment,” Everleigh declares.
“Fine,” I grumble.
“Good girl,” Titan says.
His words send a shiver racing up my spine.
Nope. Not letting that shiver take over. Abort mission.
It’s just the words and the way they remind me of Alek. It’s his favorite thing to say anytime I did something that pleased him.
