He turns to look me in the eye. “Chase, I know better than anyone what kind of fucked-up shit you went through with your dad and the management. But that doesn’t mean everyone in that world is an asshole. It’s all who you’re working with. There are good people too. Like this one, maybe.” He hooks a thumb toward the house, and I grin.
“Yeah, maybe.” I lean back against the wall, scanning the perimeter again.
“Don’t do what I did.” He takes a long swig. “Don’t walk away from a good thing, man.”
I nod slowly. “How is Mallory, anyway? Have you seen her recently?”
Mallory’s his music producer now. They were good together, once upon a time, but he thought they were too young. He broke things off to pursue his career, but when she ended up marrying someone else, he was heartbroken.
He shrugs. “She’s good, I think? Don’t see her too often. Only if I stop by when the bands are recording.”
She works with his bands in the studio, and I’m pretty sure she’s the reason he bought the label in the first place. To be closer to her again. Her husband passed away several years ago, but Garrett’s too chickenshit to let her know how he feels. I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive himself for walking out on her.
“She still single?”
He nods. “I think so, yeah.”
I tip my head. “No time like the present, man.”
He laughs. “Nah, there’s too much history there. That ship sailed a long time ago.”
I’m not so sure. She loved Garrett like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I don’t know if a love like that ever fades away.
“Still, it’s nice,” he goes on. “Getting to talk to her once in a while. Hear her voice. See what she’s doing with the music.” A familiar sadness clouds his eyes. The one that’s always there when he talks about her. “She’s so talented.”
I nod. “You should tell her you miss her.”
“No. I don’t deserve her anymore.” He sips his beer. “But this thing? You and Harper?” He shakes his head. “I’ve never seen you like this with anybody else.”
Maybe it’s true. But that doesn’t change the circumstances. It doesn’t mean things suddenly make sense between us. I know they don’t.
An owl hoots in the distance, and I look out into the darkness.
“She made me dance with her tonight,” I offer.
He gets a good laugh out of that one. “Did you blow her fucking socks off?”
I chuckle. “I think so.”
“I bet you did!” He takes a long swig of his beer. “How’d that feel?”
I take a slow, deep breath. “It felt good.”
He looks over at me for a moment, then he nods. “Yeah. I like this girl for you.”
But I shake my head.
I wish it were that easy.
Garrett heads back to his parents’place, and I reset the alarm, then double-check the locks before tiptoeing into Harper’s room to check on her.
She’s already out, wrapped up in a mountain of blankets with her sleep mask and headphones on, and the sight makesme smile. She looks safe and content. Not agitated like she was when she got here. Even with the sudden change in plans tonight, she took it in stride. It’s like her whole system’s been dialed down a few notches.
She stirs under the blankets, tipping her chin up, and I’m staring at her beautiful lips.
She goes back tomorrow.
What if I never get to kiss her?
