“So I’ll pay her to give me the footage. Might be fun for us to watch.”
He winks at me and my cheeks flame. I stretch up and give him a peck on the lips. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until after I give you five more orgasms.”
“Five?”
“At least. We have a record to break.”
In my room he looks like he’s ready to go again. “Wait here,” I say and go to the bathroom, where I brush my teeth, remove my clothes, and put on a robe. Then I riffle through my jewelry pouch until I find what I’m searching for. I place the necklace around my neck and open the door.
The light is on. He’s lying on the bed naked. I climb on the bed, straddle him, and let my robe fall open.
When he sees the necklace, his breath catches. “You kept it? I didn’t even know you got it.”
“I saw the box in the trash the night you left. Of course I kept it.”
He opens the locket. Inside is a picture of us on the right. On the left, three words are inscribed. Always and Forever.
“I bought it in Australia after you broke it off with me. I needed you to know I was serious about us. Then I got this.” He holds out his arm—the one with the tattoos—and points. It’s a small tattoo, almost hidden among the others: a musical scale with only two notes on it. I gaze at him, tears in my eyes. “A and F.” My heart soars.
He pulls my head to his and kisses me. Then he makes love to me long and slow. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than in his arms, always and forever.
~ ~ ~
Neither of us has slept. We made love, ate, and made love again. We drank champagne, then took a shower, exploring every inch of each other until the water ran tepid. It’s like we can’t get enough of one another. Or maybe we’re making the most of it because we’re afraid of what will happen after I leave. Are we—what was it he said?—drunk from the Kool-Aid? Or will we need something more? Like a whiskey chaser.
He lies next to me, stroking my bare skin, but stops when he hits the scar on my abdomen. “Did you have surgery? An accident?”
I tense. “Yeah.”
“Which one?”
“A little of both.”
“There’s still so much we don’t know about each other.”
I touch his tattoo. “We have a lot of time to find out.”
“How long did you stay with him?”
It’s the first time he’s asked me such a personal question about Rob. I’m not sure I’m ready for it. “You’d know the answer to that if you’d read my letters.”
He squeezes my hand. “How long, Reece?”
“Six months maybe.”
“How come?”
“We both knew it was a mistake. We only had one thing in common and when that was gone, we knew it wasn’t going to work.”
“What was the thing?”
I roll next to him and put my head on his chest. “It was you, Garrett. We both loved you, and then we hurt you. And then we both lost you.”
He runs a hand through my hair. “It was my fault, wasn’t it? I pushed you together.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It just happened.”
“I’d take it all back if I could. I never should have gotten on that plane.”
I look into his eyes. “You can’t say that. Everything we’ve done in our lives has led us here. If you hadn’t gone to Australia, maybe you wouldn’t have become a member of Reckless Alibi. You wouldn’t have used my song, and none of this would be happening. We might still be back in Stamford, living off our hopes and dreams.”
“But maybe we would have been happy.”
“Aren’t you happy now?”
“I am. I’m really happy.”
“Then maybe it was all worth it.”
“Nothing about my brother marrying my girl was worth it.”
Tears coat my lashes. “I’m sorry. If I could take it back, I would. I was a terrible girlfriend, but I’ve learned from my mistake. It’s not going to happen again.”
He rubs my locket between his fingers. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
The alarm on my phone goes off. I snuggle into him. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Then don’t.”
“But I have to.”
“I know.” He sits up and pulls me between his legs, wrapping me in his arms. “History is not going to repeat itself.”
“We won’t let it.”
“Then let’s get you on that plane. A career is waiting for you.”
At the airport, I wait for one of us to say the words, but neither of us does.
Maybe we’re both scared of what will happen if we do.
Chapter Thirty-three
Garrett
Six years ago …
“Two down, four to go,” I say as soon as she answers.
“Two?” she asks, confused.
Disappointment courses through me. I thought she’d be counting down our time apart. “Months. Reece, what’s wrong?”
She sniffs and looks unhappy. “Oh, right.”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You just seem off, and you haven’t texted much this week.”
After the first few weeks of being apart, we quickly learned that trying to connect every day with the fourteen-hour time difference was not only hard to coordinate, but it was exhausting. We decided to email and text except for on Sundays, when we reserve two hours to FaceTime at ten p.m. my time which is eight in the morning in Connecticut.
She rubs her eyes. “I’ve been taking extra shifts at the diner.”
“Are you bored now that you aren’t helping Rob study for the bar exam?”
“A little.”
“When does he get the results?”
“He took it three weeks ago, so probably another six weeks.”
“He’ll pass,” I say confidently. “There isn’t a single thing Rob has tried and failed.”
“That must be annoying for you.”
“Not really. I’ve never wanted to do anything he’s done.”
“He’s jealous of you, you know.”
“No he’s not.”
“I’m serious. He wishes he could be as rebellious and adventurous as you.”
“You’re learning an awful lot about my brother.”
It kills me that she’s spending more time with him than she is with me, but I can’t say anything. This was my choice.
She snorts playfully. “There’s only so much studying one can do for the bar exam before going completely bonkers.”
“I’m glad you’re getting along. Have you been back to the house yet?”
She shakes her head. She told me last month she wouldn’t go because it made her miss me even more.
I smile. “I miss you, too.”
Her blue eyes look sunken and tired as she pastes on a smile I know is fake. She lies down on her bed and perches the phone on the pillow next to her head.
“You need to cut back on your hours. Working extra shifts might not be good for you.”
“What do you suggest I do, sit in my apartment and do nothing while I wait for you?”
“Of course not. Go out. Have fun.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
“You know it’s not. I’m working my ass off here. What brought this on, babe?”
“Nothing. Sorry. I’m tired.”
“It’s eight in the morning there. How can you be tired?”
“I haven’t been sleeping well.”
I feel like a dick for leaving her, but I would have been a fool to pass up this opportunity. There are eight of us left. Henry was sent home after week three. Apparently there was one of us who lied to get into the program. Two weeks ago Derek quit because he couldn’t stand being apart from his girlfriend. I didn’t tell Reece about him. If she knew another student went back to his girlfriend when I didn’t, it would make her think I don’t love her. But she’d be
wrong. I love her more now than when I left. There’s truth to the saying absence makes the heart grow fonder. But why do I get the feeling she doesn’t necessarily feel the same way?
She sits up suddenly and disappears. I hear an awful sound. “Reece?” She comes back into view, looking green. I try not to laugh. “Are you hung over? Did you vomit?”
She looks sheepish. “May have had one too many drinks with Missy last night.”
“You didn’t drive, did you?”
“No.”
“Good girl. Why didn’t you tell me you had a girls’ night?”
“I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”
“I want to know everything, Reece.”
She puts down the phone again. Man, she must’ve really tied one on.
“I’m sorry, Garrett. I really don’t feel well. I need to lie down and close my eyes.”
We’re only ten minutes into our two-hour call, but it would be selfish of me to ask her to stay on when she feels bad. “Drink some ginger ale. Might help settle your stomach. Do you want me to call Rob and have him bring you some?”
“Please, no. I just want to sleep.”
“Okay, but text me later. I don’t care what time it is here. I want to know you’re all right.”
“I will.”
“I love you.”
“You too,” she says and ends the call.
She didn’t say the three words she always says when we end our calls. Always and forever. She must really feel like shit.
I fetch a beer from the kitchen.
Sahara is sitting on the couch. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Huh?”
“It’s not even ten thirty. Everyone knows you are inaccessible between ten and midnight.”
“Reece got drunk last night. Bad hangover.”
“You really miss her, don’t you?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“How long have you been together?”
“Three months before I came here, but somehow it feels like more.”
“She’s the real deal, huh? The one you want to end up with?”
I nod. “We want all the same things out of life.”
“Except she wants you home and not here.”
“Yeah, except that.”
She scrolls through the pictures on her phone, stops on one, and touches it. “Laura and I have been together two years.”
“Is she happy you’re here?”
She smiles with pride. “She’s the one who forced me to apply.”
“So she’s okay with you being gone?”
“We miss the hell out of each other, but it’s for the greater good. Besides, she’s coming for a visit the week after next. I know it’s ridiculous, as we don’t have much free time, but just knowing she’s close will be nice. She’ll be here for two whole Sundays. Hey, why not fly Reece down the same week? They can hang when we’re busy.”
“She won’t fly.”
“Not even for this?”
“Her parents died in a plane crash.”
“Oh, shit.”
Rowan and Sam enter the room. We eye them in silence as they pass.
“Do you think one of them will be the third?” she asks.
“Huh?”
“Gunther said there would be three of us who make it, and we’re two of them. Who’s going to be the third?”
I smile. I’m glad to know at least one person here regards me as highly as I regard myself. Sahara works at least as hard as anyone else here. Maybe she thinks she has to prove something because she’s a woman.
“My money would have been on Derek.”
“Derek’s a wimp,” Karl says, standing at the bar. I wasn’t aware we had an audience. “Couldn’t even go six weeks without the old lady. I’m the third.”
Sahara laughs. “You are not, Karl.”
“The fuck I’m not.”
“You never practice after hours,” she says. “You smoke weed daily. I have two words for you—brain cells. You’re going to need all of them if you plan on being famous one day.”
“I’m already famous where I come from.”
“Good for you. No need to take up space here then.” She turns to me. “Let’s have one more before we call it a night.”
“Maybe it’s Jonah,” I say as we walk away. “He’s good.”
She laughs. “He’ll die of the clap before he’s thirty. Have you seen the people he picks up in town? Anyway, he’s not taking this seriously enough. He’s not one of the three.”
“Can you die of gonorrhea?”
“I don’t know. Probably not.”
“It’s not a competition, you know,” I say as I retrieve two more beers from the fridge. “Gunther was speaking in averages. Maybe four out of our class will be successful.”
She waggles her eyebrows. “Or maybe just us two.”
Later in bed I have trouble sleeping. I worry about Reece. With me so far away, she doesn’t have anyone she can rely on. She tries to be strong and independent, but I’ve always gotten the idea she needs someone—maybe because she grew up with no one.
Finally, at three in the morning, I text Rob.
Me: Keep an eye on her, brother. I don’t think she’s doing so well with this.
Rob: Isn’t it the middle of the night there?
Me: Can’t sleep.
Rob: She’s fine. She misses you, is all.
Me: I’d feel better if someone was watching out for her.
Rob: Sure thing. What the hell else do I have to do while I’m waiting for my results?
Me: I thought you were interning for Dad?
Rob: I am, but I’m barely working part-time. I’m a glorified legal assistant. If I’m being honest, I’m not even that. At least they get to sit in on client meetings. He won’t even let me wipe my ass with the briefings until I’m official.
Me: That prick.
Rob: How are things down under?
Me: Amazing. I thought I knew everything. How wrong I was. Being here, learning from a guy like Gunther—it’s going to change my life.
Rob: Just don’t become a narcissistic douche.
Me: You neither, once you have ESQ behind your name.
Rob: Not a chance.
Me: So you’ll watch out for her?
Rob: Yeah.
Me: Thanks. Maybe I can get some sleep now.
Four hours later, I wake up when light comes through the window. I immediately check my phone, expecting an email or text from Reece, but there’s nothing.
I can’t shake the bad feeling in my gut.
Chapter Thirty-four
Reece
New York City comes into view through the tiny airplane window, and I realize how far I am from Garrett. He’ll be home in two weeks, but a lot can happen in fourteen days.
After we land, I wait my turn to exit, wondering if someday I’ll be sitting in first class. It would be surreal. Four months ago, Garrett wasn’t even a blip on my radar. He was my past, someone I’d always love and never forget. I was still waiting tables and hoping one day I’d get my big break. Now I’m living it, and it’s both exciting and terrifying.
Standing at the luggage carousel, I weed through emails on my phone. One alerts me to a deposit from IRL. I check my bank account and think the world has flipped upside down. All this from my share of one song? It’s ten times the amount I got last month. It’ll pay my rent for the rest of the year and then some.
Arms come around me from behind. I go on high alert and try to break free until I hear Maddox say, “Hey, Reece!”
I quickly turn and lean into his hug, excited to see him after so long. “I’ve missed you. You didn’t have to come.”
“Are you kidding? I had to protect you from your adoring fans.”
I peruse our surroundings and laugh. “Nobody knows who I am, Maddox.”
“Well, they should. Someone posted a video on YouTube of your opening act. It had a few hundred thousand views the last time I checked.”
“It’ll be a million soon.”
I see my bags on the carousel. “Those are mine.” We grab them and are heading toward the door when a man comes over.
“Ms. Mancini?”
“Told you,” Maddox whispers in my ear.
“Yes,” I say to the man.
“Your car is right this way. Let me take your bags.”
“My car?”
“Veronica Collins sent me to fetch you. She’d like to see you at IRL right away.”
“But I just flew in.”
“I have my orders, ma’am.” He pulls my bags behind him and we have no choice but to follow.
When we reach the car, the driver asks Maddox, “Will you be accompanying Ms. Mancini?”
Maddox turns to me. “I have to be at work soon.”
I motion for him to get in back with me. “I’m sure we can drop you.”
Maddox slides in next to me and leans close. “See how you did that without even asking the driver? Already you’re acting like a star.”
I swallow, not liking what he said. I lean forward. “Sir? It’s okay if we drop him where he needs to go, isn’t it?”
“Address?”
Maddox gives him the address of Mitchell’s Restaurant.
“Can we hang out after?” I say. “We have so much to catch up on.”
“I work until ten. Why don’t you come by when you’re finished at IRL? Skylar will want to see you.”
“It will be great to see her.”
Maddox shows me the YouTube video on the way. “Shit, Reece. There are even more views now. It’s going up by the minute.”
I watch in utter amazement. That’s me.
“You look great up there,” he says. “My roommate, the next Taylor Swift.”
We pull up in front of the restaurant, and he kisses my cheek before he gets out. “See you soon.”
My phone pings with a text shortly after we drop him off.
Garrett: Did you land yet?
Reckless Reunion (The Reckless Rockstar Series) Page 21