She was fun and flirty and otherwise totally fine.
But the openness was gone.
She wasn’t being fake, but she’d thrown up a wall no amount of gym time could help me scale. And Ihadgone to the gym—every day that she was gone.
I’d even done a workout with my uncle before we ate the Christmas ham—not that I could walk or lift my arms after that one, but still.
I managed to take a selfie of me collapsed on the floor and sent it to her. She’d sent one back of her blowing a kiss.
It wasn’t enough.
She made me needy and I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like it at all.
KINSLEY
I sneakaway to my childhood bedroom the night after Christmas. I’ll be leaving in the morning to go back to Nashville, but I needed this time away.
I could feel Royce’s frustration with me, but I’m just so damn tired.
He’d broken a little piece of me.
So many men want a piece of my fame—the spotlight I exist in—but Royce sees it as a negative. He’d made me feel fake and shallow, and despite believing he’s sorry, I can’t seem to let it go.
It pisses me off that I miss him—that Royce Oakden will be the man that I’ll never be able to shake.
That I’ll see him in a year’s time with a pretty wife who loves that he plays video games and likes spending quiet evenings at home.
And remember the happiness I felt was fleeting.
A memory.
And never meant to last.
A message pops up and I click on it, rolling my eyes immediately when I read the text.
ZANDER: You should have taken me with you to Blackstone Falls
KINSLEY: Merry Christmas to you too
ZANDER: I can’t keep you safe if you run off all the time
ZANDER: You’re being reckless
KINSLEY: I am not—I was completely safe. Nessa’s boyfriend is the SHERIFF
ZANDER: And you had two more videos go viral in the last week
I wantto be annoyed but he’s right—I should haveat leasttold him where I was going.
KINSLEY: I’m sorry—I’ll make sure I let you know next time.
ZANDER: Merry Christmas, Miss Dane
I don’t respond,instead letting my phone drop to the mattress and my eyelids flutter closed, my mood tanking with each passing second.
Because things had beenfine.
