She gives me a look that tells me she knows me too well and that she absolutely did have to. “It was no trouble. My dad made a call.” I nod along, panic continuing to rise. She’s getting me favors from her dad now? “It’s in two days.”
“Huh? What is?”
“The hearing.”
“What the fuck?” How could I not know that?
“Relax, the lawyer will be there. You probably won’t even need to talk.”
“Ok.”
She smiles and starts to turn away.
“Thank you,” I tell her sincerely.
“It’s part of my job.” My brow furrows in confusion. “Now that Calvin’s gone.”
Right. Ok. Cool. So she’s not telling her dad about me?
“Need anything else?” she asks.
“I’m good.”
Another smile, this one less convincing, then she disappears. I frown watching her go, even though I told her I needed space. Even though the thought of all this happening so fast is making me sweat bullets.
But when she’s near, a sense of ease washes over me. Before, I wouldn’t let myself get close enough to test the theory that she might be perfect for me. Probably because deep down I knew the answer was yes. And that’s scary as fuck.
I inhale a deep breath, my heart settling back to its normal speed. Despite the fear racing through my bones, it feels right. I think that’s why it’s terrifying. Knowing you have it all means you canloseit all.
Somehow, I don’t think I’d recover from losing Ellie. Especially a second time. I might not have had her fully before, but she was right there in my fingertips, and I let her slip through my grasp.
Cinnamon is lying by my feet, so I snatch her up and force her to snuggle me. She accepts it easily, purring and rubbing her nose on my face. I close my eyes, summoning sleep.
It’safter 6 p.m. when I finally crawl out of my hole. We’ve stopped halfway to our next stop in Jersey to get food. Now that the toxic mole, Calvin, has been fired and kicked off the bus, it puts a lot more on Tanner and Ellie’s plates to pick up the slack until we can hire a new manager, which won’t happen until after the tour. Tanner’s been dealing with all the contracts and venues, and Ellie’s been doing everything else. I’ve tried to help, but they refuse to let me.
“What’s everyone want, and I’ll order it?” Tanner asks, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stares at his phone.
“Why don’t we sit somewhere and eat? Like, not on this bus?” Everyone turns to look at me, their eyes wide. “What?” I snap. I’m tired of being on this bus all the time.
“As in a restaurant?” Tanner’s face couldn’t be more surprised.
“No, a dumpster. Yes, a restaurant!” I shake my head, already annoyed that I mentioned it.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Penn says.
“Forget it, it was stupid. Just order a pizza.”
“No, I want to,” Penn argues, shooting me a glare. I give him one right back.
“Me too,” Liam tosses in.
I cross my arms over my chest and huff. “Whatever. I don’t care.” I do care, but the tiniest shit is pissing me off right now. They’re trying to be understanding, but that only bothers me more.
After a debate, we settled on a casual bar and grill because it was the closest. Ellie’s here, too. I really want to drink a beer to take the edge off, but I ordered water instead.Yay me.
They gave us a booth in the back. We’ve gotten several glances, and a few girls came up to us for autographs when wefirst walked in. Now everyone’s letting us eat in peace, thank fuck. It wouldn’t look good if I snapped and threw someone over a table.
“How’s your voice?” Tanner asks.
