AllFreeNovel
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CHAPTER NINE
I’m not that girl.
I’m.
Not.
That.
Girl.
Hey. You got a minute?.
I glare at the message and hit send, my stomach twisting with mortification as I wait impatiently for the double blue tick to appear beside it. If there’s one thing I can always rely on, it’s that messages sent from me to my dad get read—immediately.
I chew on the corner of my thumbnail and glare at my reflection in the mirror of the bungalow’s bathroom. My distraction has been missing in action for days. And I, like the pathetic woman that this damn island and it’s stupid luck has turned me into, have been positively pining. I’ve moped. Moped damnit!
My cell pings.
For you, I have hours, baby. What’s up?
I met a guy. He’s just like me. My nose wrinkles. Delete.
I glare at the letters as the disappear from the screen, tapping my freshly painted black nails on the back of my cell. I should probably just call. Just set it all out there for him so he can pull my head out my ass and set me right. He’ll know how to fix me. He always knows how to fix me.
He answers on the second ring. “What’s shaking, Baby Girl?”
“Hey, Dad.” The tension in my shoulders eases instantly at his smoke-toned voice. I’ve met a guy, and he’s under my skin. I don’t want him to be. Fix me... “Nothing important.” I roll my eyes. What am I think “What’s shaking with you?”
“I’ve been meaning to call you, Stanz. Looks like there’s gonna be a whole lot of shaking up around here. I met someone.”
“You what?” He what? I pull the cell from my ear and frown at the screen. Definitely dad. My laugh’s oddly high-pitched as I return it to my ear. “Excuse me? You don’t meet people, Dad. We’re not built that way. You said so after...” This has to be some sort of joke.
His laugh is just as awkward as mine. “I know. Shocked the shit outta me too.”
Only half of my brain takes in the rest of what he’s saying, or maybe not even half. All I’m hearing is a whole load of words. None of which make any damn sense coming from him.
Time to settle down? What the fucking fuck? It was him that warned me of the perils of staying with someone long enough to lose yourself after I found myself dumped and bandless.
Completely in love? I don’t even ... I can’t.
“...So, me and the guys have decided to stop touring.”
“Wait. What?” I plop down onto the bed.
“Stanza, were not getting any younger, and you know what they say...”
“No, dad. I’ve no idea what they say...” I know what he always used to say though ... The day I stop moving you should probably call the undertaker.
I live by those words. I’ve said those words. More. I believe those words.
“No man is an island...”
I jerk the cell away from my ear again and glare at the photo of this ... this stranger that used to be just like me.
Yes, we goddamn are!!!!
We’re islands. We are mother fucking islands.
