My mind hated to give me rest, so if things were going too well, my head liked to conjure up every scenario that could potentially ruin any bit of happiness I’d managed to find. It was like I didn’t know how to exist without secretly self-sabotaging and doubting. I just knew I was going to mess things up with him like I messed up most things.
But I didn’t want to this time.
I wanted Dante.
My phone buzzed with a text, quickly providing the distraction I needed from my spiraling thoughts. Though, themessage from Bradley wasn’t exactly the distraction I would’ve preferred.
Why aren’t you in your office?
I sighed. He and I had spoken many times since I’d agreed to stop ignoring him a month ago. He’d been nice and attentive since then—bringing an extra coffee to work for me, swinging by my office to say hi if he had to go there during the work week, inviting me out with him and his friends, despite knowing my answer. It was like he was trying to prove without outwardly saying so that he could be a good boyfriend if I gave him another chance.
His text told me otherwise.
He knew January 30th was the release day for my book. I’d only talked about it and my trilogy finally being completed a hundred times. He knew I was off work on release days. At least, he would’ve known all of those things if what was important to me had also been important to him.
It’s release day for my book.
I set the phone aside, refusing to let him send me into a dark space. I was already battling the disappointment about my dad not coming today. I refused to let anything take this day from me. Not my own expectations of the worst, not my dad, and not Bradley.
At least, I’d damn sure try not to.
There was a decent amount of people that swung by my table, though a lot just browsed. My smile remained, even as they turned their backs to walk away. When the loud voice of doubt would creep into my head, I’d look at Dante, who had been glued to my book since starting it.
Sometimes I caught him grinning behind the face mask and ballcap. Other times, he rubbed at his forehead as his headshook slightly. Occasionally, his eyes glowed with the kind of interest he’d been showering me in lately.
The unfiltered reactions tomywords, to the story woven together from my soul, made me hopeful. If he could give my books a chance and love them, others could, too.
“Serenity!” a sing-songy voice chirped.
My gaze snapped from Dante to the entrance where Addie, Iyla, and another girl walked in. Behind them was an equally familiar face, but one I’d only seen on a screen or from afar in a stadium—Perseus Mavros from Sinners Do It Better. I gasped with a bright smile and leapt to my feet as the group approached my table.
Addie had her blonde and pink hair in a bun with pink strands down to frame her face. Jeans and a pink sweater hugged her petite frame. Iyla was bundled in a peacoat with a toboggan pulled over her chocolate-colored hair while the stranger with hair as dark as night shuffled between them. Perseus was at her back, a hand lightly on her hip.
“Hi, guys!” I beamed.
Iyla’s brown eyes sparkled as they looked over my books. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you’re an author! I’m glad Dante texted and told us to come by.”
“He did?” I asked, my cheeks warming as they found Dante across the room.
Dante no longer stared at his book but peered at me over it. Even from behind the book and the rest of his disguise, his smile was unmistakable.
Laughing happily, I turned back to the girls and Perseus. “He didn’t know until today. I wanted to surprise him, so I kept it a secret.”
“I knew you were a badass,” Addie teased, leaning in closer. “The rest of the gang is busy with work or school, but the three of us were able to make it out.”
“Three?” Perseus asked her. “What am I? Invisible?” The guitarist met my gaze. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
My cheeks heated to alarming levels. “R-Really? All good things, I hope.”
“Meh,” Perseus shrugged.
The dark-haired stranger swatted at him. “Don’t listen to him. He’s such a liar. I’m Harper, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” I told her.
Harper smiled softly, though I noticed there was a sort of haunted exhaustion in her blue eyes. “You, too. These two girls have mentioned you a bit. Sorry we’re just meeting. I’ve been … sick for a while and am just getting back into the world.”
The teasing air left Perseus as he traced her waist softly in some sort of comforting gesture.
