I interrupt strongly, “Who says I won’t be able to come?”
“What about school?” he demands and gives me a pointed look. Bending down, he grips my knees. “Your education is important. You need to go to college for the spring semester, Trinity. You can’t delay school more than you already have. I’ll be damned if I take that away from you.”
Screw in-person school. There’s always online school. I’m eighteen. I’m a legal adult, and I can do whatever I please.
“I can do it online,” I voice out my thoughts, which he shakes his head at.
Does he not want me to come? Why?
He looks determined to make me stay here, and that kills.
I thought he wanted the same things as me?
He sees the hurt on my face and grasps my cheeks. “Trust me, I want you to come with me, but it would be selfish of me to pull you away from your life. When you’re done with school, then you can come. I don’t want to ruin your future,” he says in a calm, unhurried voice.
Is he not hearing me? No matter what I say, it feels as if it’s going in one ear and out the other.
“I’m scared,” I finally say into the silence.
“What scares you?”
He stares into my eyes deeply, swallowing tightly as I sigh.
“Of us not working out. Most long-distance relationships don’t. I don’t want to take that risk.”
“We’re not like most relationships.”
I understand the point he’s trying to make. Yet most girlfriends don’t have to worry about their famous boyfriend in another country.
Fiddling with a ring around his finger, I speak my thoughts. “We live such different lives, Leonidas. Doesn’t that worry you?”
He frowns. “Sure, we have different lives, but our lives don’t define who we are together. Yes, I’m a singer … but I’m a singer who’s in love with you and only you.”
I smile while blinking back tears. I believe him, but the constant self-doubt and overthinking overpower any sensible thought within me sometimes.
Nonetheless, Leonidas is right. This has to work. We’ll make it work. We’ll fight for this, like we do every day with the demons that control our lives.
“Remember,” Leonidas says with an unhappy smile, “we’re forever and ever.”
* * *
My head lies on his outstretched legs as he strums his guitar. I have exactly a week left with him … a week to make all the memories that will make me smile when I miss him. Usually, one hundred sixty-eight hours would seem like a lifetime to me … but now, it’s like seconds.
I think about how shitty Leonidas’s life really is. It’s cruel how the label treats them. It makes me want to go down there and beat them up. That would be a sight to see … I almost laugh at the thought.
My finger lightly traces his bruised eyelid. After Leonidas and I figured out all our problems, he confessed about his dad coming here. With a few details, he explained his fight. I asked what it was about, but he waved me off with a glum look on his face. Guess I’m not getting anything out of him today … but I will eventually. I listen intently to his breathy voice as he sings above me. His voice is as soft as butter. He whispers the lyrics, which makes them ten times hotter.
He opens his eyes, and they’re dark and moody. Meeting my gaze, he bites his lip. “This week, you’re all mine. Every second of the day, you’ll be with me.”
I stare up at him, shocked. I don’t know where this possessiveness came from, but I’m loving it.
He grips my jaw, which quickens my heartbeat. “First, I’m taking you to that dinner. I’ll buy you a three-course meal, but not a four-course meal. You know why?” He raises an eyebrow.
I shake my head and cough awkwardly.
He smirks slightly and places his lips against my ear. “Because you’re dessert,” he whispers huskily, making me see stars.
Actually, I see the entire fucking galaxy.
