Page 86 of Worth the Fight

The dream I constantly doubt.

But you’re under my skin.

You’ve stolen my heart.

How am I ever going to be able to walk away from this?”

“Nope. Start over,” I interrupt Jett mid-bridge and hold up my hands. “That line still isn’t right.” Frustrated, I shake my head and look to Kai and then Jett.

Groans fill the room.

“It sounded good to me,” Jett says as he picks up his glass of whiskey and takes a sip.

“Good isn’t good enough. I want perfect,” I say, scribbling down a possible fix and tucking my pencil behind my ear. “I need to hear it one more time without the mix. I only want the acoustic track.”

“You sing it,” Jett says. “You always hear it better when you sing.” I look at him and know he’s right but hate the idea of having the audience.

“No.” I shake my head to reject the idea.

“We’ll sing it together then.” Jett lifts his eyebrows as if he’s asking if that will work.

“Fine. Sure. Let’s go.”

Kai sighs. “What the lady wants, the lady gets. For the thousandth time, let’s try it again, folks. Cue the track,” he says and directs the tech in the booth.

I press my hands to my eyes and try to concentrate, but I’m tired. Too little sleep after waking up from a bad dream to find I’d fallen asleep in Grady’s bed while I waited for him to come back in so I could talk to him. Make things right with him? I don’t know what with him.

Then finding the text I’d missed after the chaos of the bar when I’d gotten up to get a drink of water. The one that said there had been a cancellation at the studio and the label had taken the spot for Jett. That I was required to be there.

Add to that too much driving. Too much thinking about Grady.

And that’s why this song isn’t working. Because every time I sing the lyrics, I think of him.

Of the confusion I feel.

Of wanting more with a man when I’m in no place emotionally to want more.

Of wanting more with a man who will never be able to give it to me.

The chords play again, and I lift my eyes to meet Jett’s. They used to hold so much for me, but now I look at him and feel nothing.

So I close my eyes and think of Grady and feel everything.

“You are my shot in the dark.

The flame I can’t put out.

The dream I need to walk away from.

Because it’s myself I constantly doubt.

But you’re under my skin.

You’ve tattooed my soul.

The fate of my heart yours to control.”

The gravel of Jett’s voice fades, but I hum the ending again. Tears sting my eyes so I keep them closed past the last chord played and the room falls silent. It’s Grady I’m singing to, but when I open my eyes, it’s Jett’s eyes I meet. He’s staring so intensely that a lump forms in my throat, and I’m not sure why.