Page 129 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

If she hadn’t asked, Lyric probably could have lied and brushed it off, bottled it up like she usually did. But it was like those two simple words were the key to undoing her tight grasp on her emotions. Her eyes burned with tears and she glanced down at her phone, her knuckles whitened where she gripped the device.

Lyric had to face the truth. With just Emerson and Adra, maybe she could play this all off as having fun. Blowing off steam. But reality had been staring her in the face ever since the weekend they’d spent together, and after everything with Henry…

“Ugh,” she groaned and dropped her phone onto the mattress before burying her face in her hands.

The snick of the lock turning made her lift her head, and Desi dropped onto the bed beside her. A soft, comforting touch rubbed circles into her back, and Lyric leaned into her.

“Is it Andi?”

Guilt dumped on her like a bucket of cold water. Her best friend’s mother was dying. Lyric’s worries seemed trivial in comparison.

“Yes and no,” she admitted.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Desi pressed.

Lyric hesitated. Desi knew what was going on with all of them, she wasn’t blind. And maybe… maybe having an outside perspective would help.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Lyric admitted. She stared down at her hands, at the tattoo beneath the clear bandage.

“Do any of us?” Desi countered softly.

Lyric leaned away from her touch and dropped her head into her hands. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved with anyone.”

Shouldn’t have tried to tell herself it was just a fling, or temporary. Shouldn’t have even given herself the chance.

Desi hummed. “Do you really believe that?”

“What happens at the end of the tour?” When it was time for them to part ways? How could she make Adra go through that again?

“What do you want to happen?”

Lyric turned her head, stared up at Desi. Did it matter what she wanted?

“I’m not ready for a pack.”

Desi sucked her teeth and sent her a side glance. “You’ve already got a pack, Lyric. And I don’t think you mind as much as you thought you would.”

“That’s not what this was supposed to be,” Lyric whispered.

“The tour?”

She nodded. “It was supposed to be playing music every night, trying not to kill Emerson for being an ass, and then packing up and going home at the end of all this. Nothing more.”

“And now?” Desi questioned, though it seemed less like she cared about the answer, and more like leading Lyric to the truth.

And now… Lyric couldn’t really imagine home without all of them.

Another bout of laughter spilled into the bunk room from the main area, and her heart ached.

“I don’t know,” Lyric admitted. “I don’t know what this looks like when this is all over. And there’s still so much time left on tour.”

In hours and days? Two weeks probably didn’t seem like that much time.

But in kisses and comforting touches, midnight conversations and shared, knowing glances? It was more than enough time for…

For what?

For falling in love?