Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“Like went back to New York?” Carson asked with wide eyes.
I shrugged with a stressed sigh.
“Maybe. She’s nowhere in town, so there’s nowhere else she would go but there,” I pointed out. Once again, I’d messed things up, even if this was by accident. If she had given me a second to explain, I would’ve made sure she had known that Kerrie and I were far from dating any longer.
“Damn it,” Jesse muttered beneath his breath, shaking his head.
My mind started reeling. Somehow, I needed to fix this situation. I refused to stick around and let Delilah think that I lied to her, so I needed to do something huge. We all needed to make a gesture so big and demanding that she couldn’t ignore it.
And I had a plan in mind.
“We can’t lose Delilah,” I said. “I know I said not to push things, but she needs to know how much we all care about her. How this town loves her.”
“This place isn’t the same without her. And I grew up here,” Amos added. “Have any of you ever felt like this about another woman before?”
Everyone shook their heads. The answer to that question was obvious. We all bonded with Delilah in different ways, which made our connection to her all that more special. I couldn’t imagine losing it and moving on like it didn’t matter.
I just hoped that she hadn’t already done that.
Carson looked between all of us as he crossed his arms.
“We need to get on a plane. If we have to grovel at her feet, we will. I’m not forcing her to do anything, but I want her to know that this place can be home for her. We can give her more than what New York can,” he said.
“But does she want us? All of us?” Jesse asked.
“That’s why we need to talk to her. We can’t guess what she wants, and we can’t expect her to know what we’re thinking,” Amos pointed out. “Whatever she chooses or doesn’t choose… I just want her to be happy.”
I nodded my agreement. I was the one who had broken her heart before. If she didn’t want to take a chance on me again, I couldn’t blame her for looking out for herself. As long as she made the right choice for herself, I would accept that and move forward.
“What about her career? Whether she chooses all of us or some of us, that still impacts her,” Wyatt asked. “We can’t ask her to abandon that. She’s worked so hard to get to where she’s at.”
“Maybe she can work something out with her label. She can record at our studio, and she can still tour and travel wherever she needs to go,” Jesse pointed out. “We just have to show her that we’ll support her no matter what.”
It seemed like the decision had already been made. There were no words of protests. No doubt. There was only hope, and I needed that to be enough. When everyone turned to look at me, I nodded.
“Everyone, pack your bags. We’re going to New York, and we’re getting our girl back.”
Chapter 24
Delilah
Mine and Amos’s voices filled my apartment as the final mastered version of our song played through my speakers. I stood in the middle of my living room with my eyes closed, tears threatening to burn them. The song was so beautiful, so raw.
It was about desire. Wanting something or someone so badly that it ached. The feeling of achieving it. The feeling of losing it.
I breathed in deeply through my nose, trying to steady myself as a wave of emotions crashed down on me. The band and I had created something amazing and truthful, and all I wanted to do was see them and spill everything to them. To yell out my feelings. To cry my eyes out.
We worked so well together, and I could only imagine how great a collaboration album would sound. It would be the most incredible piece of art, but things weren’t the same. Not after Ryder betrayed me and lied to me.
I couldn’t step foot in a studio with them and act like everything was okay. That chapter of my life had to be over with. It was too painful turning back the pages. In fact, I needed to rip them out and start fresh.
Accepting Ethan’s offer could be my new start, my way of working through the pain. I didn’t only lose Ryder, but I also lost the rest of the band. They were a package deal to me because I fell for all of them.
Our song that we made together would be the only piece of us to exist now.
When the song ended, I shut off my laptop and blinked my tears away, telling myself to stop crying so much. My eyes ached from it, and I needed to move on. I managed to keep moving forward after my first heartbreak. I could do it again.