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I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I was wrecked after the conversation with Mom.
It’s impossible to accept what she said. What she kept from me. The truth of what I did. After she told me what I had done I pushed out of the kitchen, refusing to look at her anymore.
My eyes squeeze shut, I can’t go back there, to the things she revealed. It’s too painful, too confusing.
“Hey, Lark, you okay?” Brecken asks as I come out of the massage room. He’s waiting for me with my duffel bag at his feet. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I just have a lot on my mind.”
He nods, and I remember what the guys said last night about not having any family, how they were orphans, and I feel a connection to all of them.
Turns out I am an orphan too.
“The massage was nice though, wasn’t it?” he asks as we leave the spa.
“Yeah, it feels weird not paying though, I think I just received seven hundred dollars’ worth of treatment.”
“It was worth it. You’re glowing, Lark.” I feel my face redden. “Shush.”
“I mean, you’re beautiful anyway, but right now it’s like you’re walking on air.”
“Really?” I turn to face him as we walk through the casino, his words a balm to my aching heart. “I feel like I’m weighed down by a rock.”
He reaches for my hand, and I let him take it. Right now, I have the distinct desire to be held. “Hey,” he says, dipping his chin, looking into my eyes. “When things get hard, just pretend you’re light as a feather. Free as a bird.”
I narrow my eyes, remembering my mother’s words last night.
Nothing feels light anymore.
“Is that what you do? Act free as a bird?” He swallows. “Something like that.”
I raise my eyebrows, my lips turning up into a smile. “Lucky.”
Just then a couple emerges from the elevator and I step back, giving them space to pass as my heart skips a few beats. It’s Ace and Emmy, the owners of the casino.
“Ace, this is Lark,” Emmy says with a smile, tugging on her husband’s jacket. “The star of SOAR.”
“Oh,” I say, biting my bottom lip. “I didn’t think you knew who I was.”
“Everyone is going to, soon enough,” she says with a smile. “Your face is going to be on every billboard in this town!”
Ace turns to me, smiling. He’s all kinds of intimidating. Fancy as all get out, and loaded. Emmy drips in diamonds and he wears a suit cut for kings.
He offers me his hand. “So good to meet you. I hear your show is going to do great things for our casino.”
I smile, trying not to gawk. “Thank you, and, uh, fingers crossed.” Then, reaching for Brecken’s elbow I pull him closer, and add, “And this is Brecken. He’s one the male leads.”
“Fantastic,” Emmy says. “I’m Emmy, by the way. I know your mom.”
“I know,” I say. “It’s great to meet you both, formally.” “Likewise,” Emmy says. “We can’t wait for opening night.
Everyone in town is already talking about SOAR.”
They walk away, and I look at Brecken with wide eyes. “I can’t believe we just talked to them.”
“Why?” he asks.
“They’re like... Vegas-Famous.”
“According to them, you are too, Lark,” he tells me, dragging me further into the casino.
“Where are we going?”
“To get food. I wasn’t hungry before, but now I’m starved.” “Then we can’t eat here,” I say indignantly.
“Why not?”
“Let me take you somewhere only the locals know about.”
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, we’re sitting on the curb, tacos in hand, and a Mexican coke between us.
“The real deal, right?” I say before taking a bite of my el pastor soft shell with a pineapple salsa.
“It’s amazing.” Brecken grins, and I do too, relishing the way I feel so comfortable with him.
I groan in pleasure, needing this light-hearted break so badly. Last night ruined me, but Brecken is giving me a chance to forget. “It’s my comfort food. What’s yours?”
He thinks for a second, takes a sip of coke. “Mac and cheese.” “Classic.”
“Classic. That’s me in a nutshell,” he says with a smirk.
“Does North hate you?” I ask. The question was running through my mind all day at rehearsal. They seemed to share an underlying annoyance with one another.
“Eh, North likes control, and I haven’t always played nice.” “No? You seem so... friendly. Outgoing.”
“North would call that me being a womanizer.”
I grin, understanding. “Oh, I see. So, you take his women out from under him?”
“In the past, maybe. But not now.” He adds hot sauce to his taco. “I don’t want to be the guy I used to be, but my promises aren’t enough for North. He wants me to suffer for my past mistakes.”
“Do you have a lot of them?” I ask. I get the feeling Brecken wouldn’t lie to me, and I take the chance in trying to understand him better.
