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My eyes fluttered closed. But instead of receiving the kiss I yearned for, I found myself tumbling to the floor as the storage room door unexpectedly crashed open.
“Iknew it,” Andy spat out, his eyes bleary and red. “Told you there was more to her story than she let on.”
“Not the way it looks,” Barry said, jumping to his feet and standing protectively in front of me.
I hurriedly kicked my way free of the sleeping bag and rose.
“She was in. Your. Arms.” Collin bit out each word. “You were kissing her.”
“Addy.” My sister stepped closer, her eyes meeting mine.
I tried to move around Barry, but he held his massive arm to the side, trapping me behind him. He was still protecting me, even from his own bandmates.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her brows drawn together in concern.
“Nothing.” I thought quickly as Collin’s anger, my sister’s shock, and Andy’s displeasure rained down on me. As passion drained away, I realized kissing Barry would have been a mistake, one that could potentially get him kicked out of the band. “I was just sad, and he was comforting me.”
Andy’s denim-blue eyes narrowed. “With his mouth?”
“He was aiming for my forehead. It wasn’t the way it looked.”
“Bullshit!” Collin spat out. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
His expression dark, he stomped toward Barry. Both puffed out their chests. A collision inevitable, I slipped beneath my best friend’s arm and moved in front of him to take the brunt of it.
“It was me.” I lifted my chin, holding Collin’s gaze, even though the flames of accusation in his eyes incinerated me. “I was confused.”
“You’re never confused,” Collin said through clenched teeth, his hands curled into fists. “You always think things through. You knew exactly what you were doing. Coming here. Taking the job with Skellin. Breaking up with me. But why him?” His gruff voice cracked as he glanced at Barry, then me. “Was it always him?”
“No.” Tears stung my eyes as his truth sliced me to ribbons. “It’s always been you.”
“Why then?” Collin demanded, and standing so close to him, I smelled the alcohol on his breath. “Why let him hold you like that? Why not me?”
“Because we’re over,” I said. “Because he’s my best friend.”
“You didn’t kiss me like it was over earlier.”
Because it was hard to do the right thing. Because it hurt giving Collin up. Because I was weak, lost, adrift, but I didn’t feel that way in Barry’s arms.
Barry was my rock, but that couldn’t be.
I wasn’t good for him. I wasn’t good for anyone, so I put an end to it. Toallof it. And it broke my heart into a million little pieces to force out the words I had to say.
“You and I have a history,” I said to Collin. “A history that I ended today. Barry mistook my need for comfort, and I mistook his comfort as desire.”
A sudden blast of heat hit me from behind. Not the heat of passion but anger.
Everyone was mad at me now, but it was better this way. Better for them. Easier for me to do what I had to with everyone I cared about at a distance.
“You heard her.” Rachel gave me a sad, disappointed look. “Everyone out.”
“Wait.” I touched Collin’s arm before he could leave. “Please don’t tell your parents or anyone else where Rachel and I are.”
“You want me to lie for you.” He jerked away from me as if I were toxic, and I suppose I was.
Tears brimmed in my eyes. “Don’t do it for me then. Do it for Rachel and the band,” I said, my voice quivering.
Collin looked like he hated me. Looking at him, I just hurt. I hurt all over.
