“WHAT?”I yell abovethe beat of the music, a mere couple inches from her face.
“I SAID, WHAT'S WRONG?”
I point to my ears and shake my head.Callie breathes a sigh of irritation before locking her hand around my wrist and dragging me through the bar.This place is packed.Wall-to-wall people.Not that outside is much better.I naively thought December wouldn’t be so busy, but I stand corrected.Between the bachelor and bachelorette parties, it’s basically Vegas with an accent.
Callie pulls me to a small corner by the railing overlooking the strip.The cool breeze brushes against my damp skin in the best way.
“What’s wrong?”Callie’s voice pulls me from the moment.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
She shakes her head.“You’re literally the only person I know who, one, walks into an audition for backups and ends up with her own record deal, and secondly—”
“Come on, Callie, you know they want to just ride the wave of American Icon...”
“So what?!You think they just pass those things out?Like testers at Costco?No!You earned that and you’re going to kill it.”
“And two?”I ask, pulling her into a hug.
“There is no two,” she says into my shoulder.“I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”I push her out at arm’s length just to pull her back in.
“Hey, Tate...”
“Hmm.”
“Levi’s here.”
There is an audible crack in the Earth’s surface, or at least in me.I release my sister, stretching to my full length, before turning.Right.Into.Him.
“Whoa, Levi.Hi there.Funny, me being here and you also being here.I bet you’re wondering why I’m here.Well, funny story—” But before I can finish saying everything I’m not saying, he swoops me up and over his shoulders, my hair dangling like a veil in front of me.“Put me down!You can’t just go around picking people up!”I punch his backside a couple times as he pushes through a door and sets me down.I look around and we’re in...a fire escape?The cement dampens the noise of the music and people to a normal volume.He stands tall, arms crossed against his broad chest, mood unreadable as always.
“Levi, as much as I want to do this, my sister is alone in a bar.”
“She’s not alone.Tim’s with her.”
“Who’s Tim?”
“My business partner.”
I take a seat on the steps by the door.“You have five minutes.”
I watch as he blows out a gust of air and runs his finger through his hair.His facial hair is about the only thing that’s changed since I last saw him.
“Where’d you go?Why’d you leave?”
It’s not that I didn’t anticipate those questions, but it’s the look in his eyes that’s doing me in.The sadness.The hurt.
“I just...I just didn’t belong there.I couldn’t play Jan’s game, and I know winning is important to you, so I thought slipping out in the middle of the night was the easiest for both of us.”
“Easier for both of us?You mean easiest for you.Not saying anything?Changing your number and blocking me on socials?No, Tate, you ran because you’re scared.”
“What am I scared of?”The question seems to self-generate.
He shakes his head.“Probably the same thing I’m scared of.Us.”
“Us?It was a fling; you should know that.You invented the word.”
