His eyes hold mine, steady. “You’d be shocked to know how incredibly enough you are, just the way you are.”
I freeze.
All the air leaves my lungs.
A whoosh. A gasp. A hurricane.
He sends me a faint smile before turning away. “Good night.”
I watch him stalk back to the house and disappear inside, my chest stretched thin. A flimsy rubber band, ready to snap.
“You coming?”
The driver’s voice startles me, just as a tear slips loose. “Yes,” I breathe out, pulling the door open and collapsing inside.
The man makes chitchat while we roll away, but I’m not listening.
I feel paralyzed.
Fishing my phone out of my purse, I unlock the screen and scroll through my contacts, landing on Chase’s name.
My eyes burn, hot and wet. Through the blur, I copy a chunk of text from my Notes app and paste it into the message box.
I press send.
Then I delete his number from my phone.
[Verse 2]
We used to dance in time with thunder
Never feared the lightning strike
But now the storm’s gone silent
Lost its will to fight
And so we dance on broken glass
To notes we left unsung
A song that never started
Ashes on my tongue
Chapter 23Annalise
“Annalise! Thank you so much for doing this.” The bride hobbles over to me in her strappy heels, dodging pockets of lumpy grass. “Declan told me Tag put a whole band together just for our special night. It means the world to me. To both of us.”
Stepping off the makeshift stage in the center of their lush backyard, I greet Declan’s new wife with a warm hug.
I’ve only met Lillian a handful of times. House parties, barbecues, a triple date two years ago when Tag was seeing a law student named Marissa. But Lillian is the kind of person you don’t forget, with a permanent sun-kissed smile and shiny blond hair to match.
She wraps her arms around me, smelling like she walked out of a Bath and Body Works ad. When she inches back, she smooths her hands down a layered boho wedding dress, the delicate lace drenched in pink-and-gold hues from the setting sun.
I twist a spiral of freshly curled hair around my finger, smiling wide. “We’re so honored to be here. Thank you for trusting us with this.”
“Are you kidding? Your brother is an amazing performer. If you can sing even half as well as he can…” She splays her palms near her head with a sharp flick, signalingmind blown.
