I nod, even though I’m not entirely sure she’s excited considering any time the topic of school or moving to Boston has come up in the past several days, she’s quickly changed the subject or thrown herself at me. I’m not complaining about the latter, but I also don’t love that she’s avoiding the topic.
“Oh, there she is!” Katie points out, waving her arm in the air at Taevin to get her attention.
She looks sad. I can’t quite put my finger on it, and she obviously won’t tell me what’s really going on, but she looks almost devastated to be here right now.
“What’s up with our girl?” Katie turns to ask me.
“I’m not sure, she’s been acting strange since an appointment she had earlier this week,” I murmur as Tae approaches us.
“Well, what was the appointment about?” she asks.
“No clue,” I whisper-hiss before rushing to close the distance between me and Taevin.
When I finally wrap my arms around her and lift her in the air, all is right in the world. “Congratulations on passing your driver’s test, baby!”
“Thanks,” she murmurs against my neck in a subdued tone.
Setting her down, I hold onto her shoulders and bend so I can look right into her eyes. “What’s the matter? You looked sad when you came in and now you sound it too, but you should be ecstatic.”
She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear and avoids my skeptical gaze, keeping hers focused on the stairwell. “Do you think we could go upstairs to talk?”
My stomach sinks as my brain processes what she’s just asked. This may be my first relationship, but I’ve watched enough movies and shows to know when a girl says she wants “to talk” that no good comes from that.
“Yeah of course,” I tell her, taking her hand in mind and leading her up to my room.
Once I shut the door behind us, Tae pulls her hand from mine and cracks her knuckles before shaking them out almost as if she’s talking herself into having this conversation.
I take a seat on the edge of my bed and pat the mattress beside me but she just shakes her head and remains standing.
Wrinkling my brows, I ask, “What’s the matter? You didn’t answer me downstairs—” Pausing to consider, my eyes widen. “Wait, did you not pass your driver’s test?”
She shakes her head. “No, I passed. That’s not it.”
“Then what’s going on? I’ve gotta be honest, you’re scaring me a bit, baby.”
When Tae’s watery eyes lift and connect with mine, I realize that my fears are valid.
“I’ve just been thinking a lot about my future.”
“Okay . . .” I trail off because that’s not what I was anticipating she’d say, though I’m not exactly sure what to expect right now with how hot and cold she’s been all week.
“And there’s something I didn’t tell you. I—uh—well, I actually signed with an agent last week.”
“An agent?” I echo in question.
“Yeah, a talent manager. He reached out to me and I’m going to sign with a record label for a three-record deal, which is absolutely insane,” she explains.
I draw my head back in confusion. “Wait, when did this happen?”
She looks down at the ground and murmurs, “Last week when I had my appointment, I met with Kyle.”
“Kyle?”
“My new agent.”
“And you’ve already signed a contract with him?” I ask.
She nods, refusing to make eye contact with me as she wrings her hands together.
