Page 72 of Carte

He was coming back to me.

Last night when he called me to tell me he wouldn’t be able to come just yet, I broke down and admitted that without him I felt completely alone.

I was getting tired of being shuffled from place to place like I was an object.

The strain of a full day and then playing almost every night was getting to me.

And at the end of the day I was getting back to an empty and cold room.

After hearing my soft admission, Carter promised he would do anything humanly possible to get back to me as soon as he could.

There wasn’t even a trace of doubt in me that he would do as he said, but I didn’t think he would get back this soon.

Giddy to reveal the present he sent to me, I put the card on the table next to the box.

I flipped the lid off, expecting flowers.

Peering inside, I frowned.

At first I couldn’t understand what I was looking at.

But soon, I was able to focus.

“Oh, my God,” I gasped and took three steps away from the table and that box, my hand raised as if I could somehow ward it off. I felt like it would strike at any given moment.

It was full to the brim with pictures.

Pictures of me sleeping, changing clothes, walking through the backstage. There were even pictures of me with Carter.

Intimate ones. Of him kissing me.

Bile surged up my throat, and I started shaking.

I looked around the room, but couldn’t decide where to go.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket and spurred me into action.

I ran across the room to my bedroom.

There I picked up the first thing I could get my hands on that I could use as a weapon, and I darted into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me.

My heart hammered in my chest, my hands started to sweat, and I couldn’t take a full breath.

I crouched in the corner furthest from the door.

Checking the phone, I swiped away the notification alert for the radio interview.

Pressing my thumb against the screen I tried to unlock it.

Fingerprint doesn’t match. The phone buzzed.

“No, work damnit,” I snapped at the phone trying again.

It took four tries, but mercifully I got it to unlock.

I went into contacts and pressed the only name that swirled in my head. Bringing the phone up to my ear, I listened to the ring sound the whole time whispering over and over my plea, “Please… please come.”

Chapter Nineteen