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“Neither do I.” Lauren crossed her arms in front of her, suddenly cold.
“I have to go.” Danny took a few steps back.
“I know.”
“I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry I came here tonight. I’m not sorry I kissed you or that I said what I said.”
Lauren nodded and kept her eyes averted, listening to the squeak of the doorknob.
“I’ll call you,” Danny said.
The door closed with a dull thud, and Lauren pressed her palms against it before she sank down on the floor. Leaning against the door with her face with her hands, she started to cry.
In the hall, Danny stood paralyzed. Coming to see Lauren wasn’t the bright idea he’d thought it was. He thought they’d talk about old times, maybe he’d get a little resolution—realize his emotions were just faded old memories. But that wasn’t what happened. Seeing Lauren at the Sandoval show had cracked the wall he’d built to hold back all those old memories and feelings.
Coming here tonight hadn’t plugged the leak. It had blown a hole right through that dam. Now, everything was flooding back, raw and real, painful and wonderful.
Danny hadn’t gotten over anything.
He was still very much in love with Lauren Stone.
ChapterTwenty-One
The next morning, Lauren was late to the studio. Her mind brimmed with thoughts about Danny and their encounter the night before—and she’d been awake half the night thinking about him. Catching her lower lip in her teeth, she wrangled with the knowledge that the man she’d kissed, the man she quite honestly wanted to sleep with, was married to another woman.
She wasn’t proud of that. She’d been raised to believe that marriage was sacrosanct, but she also knew many marriages didn’t last. DJ was divorced. Ox had seen three marriages break up. Lauren didn’t have an issue with divorce—sometimes it was the best option for a couple. But while people were married? You didn’t mess with that.
But Danny was her rock. The only man who had ever loved her for who she really was, not for her fame or what she could do for him.It isn’t like I’ve blown up their fairy tale,Lauren thought, attempting to mollify her discomfort. Danny said that he wasn’t happy in his marriage, that his relationship was foundering.
Because she was late, she brought a box full of pastries to buy the band’s forgiveness. Her gambit worked, and while she indulged in a dark-chocolate-cherry piece of heaven, she stole a few minutes to herself and pulled out her phone. After a hesitation, she found Danny’s info in her contacts, tapped the “message” icon and wrote:She hit send before her better judgment could make her delete the text.
And while the sugar-laden treats did give her a hall pass for being late, no amount of frosted cinnamon buns or cranberry-orange scones could hide the fact that the band didn’t have their shit together. Lauren was secretly glad because it meant her own distracted mind didn’t stand out as much as it might have—although once or twice Augie caught her eye, his expression asking if she was okay. She averted her face and gave a non-committal wave. They kept at it until early afternoon but had little to show for their efforts.
“Don’t worry about it,” DJ said to them as he picked up his jacket. “It’s a slow start, but it’s all good. We’ll kick the rust off in no time.”
Stevie fist-bumped him. “Just gotta find our groove. Back at it in the morning.”
Lauren’s phone pinged. It was from Danny:She tried not to smile but couldn’t help herself.
“Who’s the text from?” Augie asked. “You kept checking your phone today, and this is the first time you’ve smiled.”
“Danny.” Her answer was simple and matter of fact, like she was telling him it was raining out.
Augie’s eyebrows went up.
“He stopped over last night. We had a couple beers, caught up on a lot of stuff. I even played him a few songs. Did you know he hasn’t really listened to our music?” Lauren worried her voice sounded too forced and light.
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I was surprised, too.” Lauren wasn’t sure if Augie meant the songs, or that Danny had come over.
“What else did you guys talk about?”
“That’s about it. Just a lot of reminiscing.” Lauren kept herself busy tucking a few things into her messenger bag. She slung it over her shoulder.
“Did he apologize?”
“Did he what?”
