A thrill of excitement zips down my spine. “Night.”
She says goodbye to Wyatt then climbs out. We wait, watching her enter her building, and when she texts to say she’s in her apartment, I give Wyatt a nod.
Love :
I’m home. Thank you for today.
Me:
Sleep tight. And thank you for inviting me. It means everything.
Today has been magical. Listening to our baby’s heartbeat and watching her on the screen tore me apart and stitched me back together all at once. It made me stronger and even more determined to win Riley back.
Riley Evans will be mine.
“Wyatt?”
He eyes me in the mirror, one brow cocked. “Sir?”
“Take me to the studio, please. I have a song to finish.”
The melodythat came to me the day I first heard my baby’s heartbeat returns as I put my fingers on the piano keys. It takes a minute to get it right, the sound almost foreign after spending weeks focused on Sabotage. This song isn’t for the band. This one is different. Personal. It’s Riley’s song.
I’ll let her decide what to do with it.
I sing, double-checking the lyrics I wrote every now and then, tweaking them and adding the last chorus.
This song is about my darkness and her light, about two people tangled so tightly in each other’s lives, their love felt almost forbidden. Almost wrong. It’s about the shadows that helped them see how right it really was.
It’s about the way love can drag a person under and save them all at once. Hades and Persephone, only this time, Hades is begging her to stay, never chaining her.
The words come easier than they have since before Owen’s death. I smile as I play despite how raw the lyrics are, how much truth they hold. It’s liberating, putting my love into song.
I still have a few arrangements to make, but by the end of the week, Riley will know how I feel about her.
With a bouquetof irises and forget-me-nots in my hand—a perfect shade of blue that reminds me of her eyes—I lean against my car, waiting for Riley. She knows I’m coming, but she has no idea about the detour I’ve planned. Fingers crossed she’ll agree to go with me.
The doors of the studio open, and booming laughter floats through the air. Nastya walks out first, then Riley. Fuck, she’s a vision. She’s wearing a white dress with a little cut-out on her waist and white sneakers, her hair cascading over her shoulders in long waves.
My girl literally takes my breath away.
“Hey.” She plants a kiss on my cheek and rears back, eyes on the bouquet. “Another one? It’s only been three days since the last time you brought flowers.”
“If I wasn’t being forced to do so much promo, I’d hand-deliver flowers every day,” I tell her as she takes the bouquet. Then, I turn to Nastya. “Hi. It’s nice to see you.”
There’s a subtle narrowness in her eyes as she studies me. Riley isn’t joking when she says her friend’s face has subtitles. I respect the way she’s assessing me, really. She does it because she cares for Riley, and I can’t fault her for that.
“Hi,” Nastya finally says. “Likewise. It’s good to see you finally pulled your head out of your ass.”
“Nastya!” Riley slaps her friend’s shoulder. “You promised to be nice.”
“I am! That was a compliment.” Her lips quirk into a smile. “Right, Hayden?”
I snort, nodding. “Right.”
She kisses Riley’s cheek and whispers something in her ear. Then, she sashays to a car a few spots down.
I open the passenger door and step aside. “Ready to go?”
