Page 22

“Then what should I get?” I’m so clueless at this.

Whenever my family visits my Nonna and Nonno in Arizona, my parents bring food and other things for my grandparents’ home.

“That I don’t know,” she says.

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll figure out what to get. I have to go.”

“Call me later. I want to know how this turns out,” she giggles.

“I will.” With a final goodbye, I hang up. But my mind is spinning with thoughts of what to get his grandmother.

“I can help,” Ji calls from over his shoulder. “I know what a Korean grandmother would want. I have one.”

I glance at Ji, who obviously heard everything, and then at Fig, who’s eyeing him strangely.

“Alright. First thing in the morning, we find out where Lyric’s grandmother lives and then we go shopping.”

With a plan in place, the tension in my chest eases, but there’s still doubt floating in my head.

Then I question myself. Is Lyric worth the effort? Is this really all for just a booty call? Sure, I can find anybody for a fuck. But Lyric challenges me like no one ever has. He didn’t have sex with me for the money. Or the fame Warrior Black carries in the rock world.

No. Lyric isn’t that kind of person. And I realize—hopefully not too late—that I want more than just his ass. I want to explore what could be between us—if Lyric lets me.

But first, I need to persuade his grandmother that Lyric needs to give me a second chance. I need her on my side.

Chapter Eight

Lyric

Iwake the following morning with a headache. Tortured with thoughts of Rafe, of why he came to Korea, and of his talented mouth on mine, I simply couldn’t sleep. But I need to shake it off since it’s the last day in the city with my friends.

This Sunday seems to be dragging on though. I love hanging with Jay, Eun and Lina—even Min Jun, but the need to head back to my grandmother’s has me even more on edge.

I tell them I’m going to head home, and Eun insists on driving me back. He won’t take no for an answer, so I relent, especially since I dread the idea of taking a train and then a bus to my grandmother’s.

As he drives, Eun casually talks about his life, but my mind is still on last night, so I let him rattle on, paying only slight attention to him.

As the scenery goes from city to country, the weather also changes—from sunny and warm to a stormy gray and then back to sunny again. My thoughts are just as shifting, but they are mostly of Rafe and all the times we hooked up. The realization I’m left with, though, is that last night was different. And I don’t know why it bothers me. Maybe it’s because of what Rafe said to me. Or the fact that I lost it and shoved him when he asked for a hook up so coldly.

Granted, anyone would get pissed if they got propositioned like they were a whore.

If I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that was partially on me. I’m the one who set the stage on that. It was me who told Rafe when we first started hooking up that we were only doing this out of physical need and it was nothing more. Never would be. Then when he asked me for one last fuck, I threw it back in his face, which wasn’t fair to him.

“Are you still thinking about that bastard?” Eun’s sharp tone has me shifting in my seat.

“He’s not a bastard.”

“But you called him that last night,” Eun throws back at me.

I glare at him, but he’s so focused on the road that my cutting stare isn’t doing much. “Stay out of this, Eun.”

“I don’t understand you. You did this same thing when you and Min Jun tried to get together. And that didn’t work out.”

“Because someone videotaped us, Eun. Or did you conveniently forget about that part?” I rail out.

“No, I didn’t forget. But…” he doesn’t finish, letting the silence fall heavy between us, making my chest ache from his unspoken words.

“Just say what you have to say,” I finally declare, shifting my attention to the road ahead.