Dante clenched and unclenched his fists, unable to manage more at the moment.“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Patience is a virtue, Baker.Even in our industry.”Logan cocked a half-smile.“It wasn’t the right time before.It seems like it is now.”
“Why?”
For the first time since Dante had met him, Logan slipped his phone into his pocket and gave him his undivided attention.It was simultaneously comforting and sinister.“Because I don’t think you can do this.You’re a good musician, Baker.A damn good one.But you’re not ready.”Logan nodded toward the house.“I don’t give a shit about photos, Baker.But I give a shit about my band and my investment.Do you really think you’re the best thing for them right now?For her?Do you know how to dig them out of this hole?Can you be that person, to lead them out of the darkness and back to the light?Can you make them famous while she’s singing about loss and grief and feeling abandoned?Can you watch her change into who she needs to become to do that?What is that going to do to you?”
Heat built behind his eyes, choking him.Was Logan right?After all this time, Logan fucking Groff was right?Was Dante not enough?
All of his long-buried self-doubt roiled through him.Not enough.Not enough of a musician.Not enough for Ellery.He had worked so hard to maintain his own identity…
Logan punched him lightly on his deltoid, but it left him numb rather than aching.“Think about it.I’ll be here either way.”With that, he strode to the SUV that had just pulled up to the curb, ready to whisk him off to wreak havoc somewhere else.
Ellery
Ellery huddledunderneath her covers in the mattress divot shaped like her fetal body.The meeting had been a lot, too much, for her current condition.Abe and Logan had left, but she could hear the lowered tones of Selene and Lorraine in the room beside hers.
She wanted to check her phone but knew if she did, she would only spend the time scrolling through the photos of her family.Which would lead to doom-scrolling of photos from the wreckage of Hermosa Key.
No, she was in no position to do that at the moment.
Dante’s footsteps hesitated outside her door for an instant before padding barefoot across her rug.She didn’t emerge, but his weight sank into the mattress beside her.
She waited under the covers, numb and brittle and wanting so many things she couldn’t have.
“El?”Dante said at last.“Can I talk to you?”
A sob caught in her throat.This was it.This was the moment he was going to tell her he was leaving.She didn’t blame him.Really, she didn’t.“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
His breath caught, then he exhaled a world-weary sigh.“Is that what you want?”
“What I want—” But she couldn’t name it.The words caught in her chest, making it hard to breathe.She wanted Dante, she did.But she also wanted things to go back to the way they were.Laughing and joking and writing songs when they were both blissed out in her bed.She wanted to have never met Logan Groff, for her family to have never moved to fucking Florida.She wanted too much and hurt too deeply.
Dante shifted on the bed, and the duvet over her head peeled slowly down, revealing the familiar, worn angles of his face.He had a line of stubble along his jaw, and his eyes were tinged with red.“Talk to me.Tell me what you want.”
“I don’t know.”Sobs racked her body, curling her, but he was there to hold her.“I don’t know.”
He pressed a kiss against her temple.“Yes, you do.”
She had spent so long hiding from the world, and here was this amazing person, this kind, brilliant, talented person who gave up so much for her.It wasn’t fair to him.He deserved to get credit for being his own wonderful self, not someone standing in her shadow.
He cupped her chin with his hands, the ones that had played over her body, the ones that strummed those beautiful notes from his instruments.He rested his forehead against hers.“I love you, Ellery.I always have.If you’re not ready for this, I get it.But if you ask me to stay, I’ll do whatever it is you need.I’ll be whatever you need.”
Dante loved her.For some reason, this shattered her battered heart even further.Did she love him?Yes.Did she know what he was saying, what he was agreeing to?Yes.He would give up his own precious identity and wants for her.He deserved his own spotlight.
Which meant she needed to let him go.
She pulled away from him, needing the distance, needing the space.“Dante.This is too much.I can’t—I can’t do this.What’s been between us, it’s always been overwhelming, a tidal wave.”She paused for a sob to break her speech.“I can’t handle that, not now.I’ve lost so much.If we do this, I’ll lose you too.Eventually.You’ll resent me.”
His jaw hardened and his gaze flicked away from her.“Never.I could never resent you.”
“You would.I would, if our positions were reversed.”
He stood, and a thrill of want coursed through her, even as the truth of what she was saying steeled her resolve.“I want you,” she said softly.“I do.But it’s too selfish.”
He faced the window, crossing his arms over his chest.“Ask me to stay.”
She knelt on the mattress, evening the playing field.Under typical circumstances, he stood less than half a foot taller than her.Somehow, this felt important when she was about to break their hearts.
