Page 113 of Hard to Hold

God, I’m glad Rush is going back to the UK and not involved in the MLS in any way. And I’ll be warning him against doing anything with the MLS in the future while Cannon Garner is there. The bastard.

Just thinks of me as a fucking whore that he can—

And then I realize something.

Unknowingly, I just proved them all wrong.

I slept with Rush but didn’t achieve anything professionally. I burst out laughing.

And then I realize something else. I’m perfectly okay with being the one to have the last laugh about it.

Asshat Garner just paid me a shitload of money for nothing.

Oh my God, my sisters are going to love this.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

LENNOX

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO TODAY?” I ask as I lie with my head tucked between Rush’s arm and chest staring at where both of our hands are pressed against each other’s.

“I don’t care,” he murmurs as the early morning light filters through the breaks in the blinds. “This. Let’s do this all day.”

“What?” I ask, my smile spreading, because this is exactly what I want to do all day—be with him. “There are plenty of things we could do. Like get lost in an art museum.”

“Fuck no.” He rolls over so he’s partially on top of me. “I’d rather get lost in you.” He grins and then kisses me tenderly on the lips as if we have all the time in the world.

But we don’t.

We’re down to days. Ten to be exact. And when I reach out and brush his hair off his forehead, his expression softens, and he rests his forehead against mine.

“Are we ever going to talk about this, Nox?” His lips brush against mine as he speaks, but he does lean back to meet my eyes. “Every time I try to talk to you, you turn it into a joke or kiss me till I’m quiet.”

“What’s there to talk about?” I whisper. “You have an incredible life to get back to, a crowd to perform for, and I have mine to get back to as well. We knew what we were getting into when we started this, and it’s too late to change gears now.” I say the words with as much resolve as I can. My heart fractures a bit more in my chest.

“We could meet up on breaks. Take holidays. I don’t know, but—”

“And soon it would turn into phone calls where we make them simply so we don’t hurt the other’s feelings, and trips would be talked about but never planned.” I frame his face and push it off my forehead so he can meet my eyes. “I have no regrets, Rush. Maybe this was what we needed, when we needed it, to help us for the next stage in our lives. Maybe this was what we needed to heal and move forward.”

“But what if—”

I pull him into me and use my lips to smother his words. To quiet the empty promises and create a temporary salve to the ache in my chest.

His hand runs up the side of my body, pushing my tank top with it.

And then, both of our phones start ringing. And as soon as one stops, the other starts again.

At first we laugh, but then with each sound, we realize something must be going on.

Rush is the first one to reach for his phone.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

RUSH

THE NAME ON THE SCREEN of my phone stops my heart.

“Rory! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” And just as I’m yelling, I see Lennox pick up her phone and move to the other side of the room with her finger to her ear.