AllFreeNovel
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“You know I did.”
“Thank you, Jesus.” She takes a deep breath. “Okay, I have to go do a few things, but if you guys need me, just let me know.”
Ashleigh comes over to the screen. “Yeah, you’re going to enjoy that husband of yours. I get it. It’s no wonder your songs are so damn good when your muse looks like that.”
Everything starts to click into place while Laiken laughs and says bye to both Ashleigh and Greg. When the video call ends, she closes her computer, putting it to the side.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t pinpoint exactly how I’m feeling. There’s a whole range of emotions, and I think I’m getting a little bit of each of them.
“You work at a studio?” I ask, and she nods. “As a songwriter?”
“Yeah.” You can tell she’s trying not to smile, but the pride she feels about it shines through.
I’m not about to take that away from her. “That’s amazing, Lai. You made your dream come true.” She nods, looking anywhere but at me. “What’s wrong?”
One shoulder raises in a halfhearted shrug. “You were supposed to be there when I did. When I sold my first song, you were the first person I wanted to tell.”
I wish I was there. I really do. All I ever wanted was for her to achieve her dreams. Especially when she played such a big part in me achieving mine. But even though I wasn’t there to share it with her, it’s still incredible to see.
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell her honestly.
She turns to look at me and she smiles, her face only inches from mine. Neither of us make a move to turn away, and I glance down at her lips instinctively. Like I said—lack of all self-control.
There’s no way to tell who starts leaning in first, just that it happens. My forehead hits hers, and our breaths mix together. The tension between us crackles as the anticipation makes my heart pound against my chest. If we do this, I don’t think there’s any going back for me.
I’ll be fucking done for.
But I’m not sure anything can stop me now as my lips ghost across hers.
…Except maybe her brother walking through the front door.
We jolt apart, even though he can’t see us. And even if he could, it wouldn’t matter. He’d fuck with me for it, but it’s not at all the same as it was when we were sneaking around behind his back.
My eyes don’t leave Laiken as I think about what just almost happened. The part of me that wants to panic is there, pacing anxiously in the back of my mind. But while her eyes are on mine, I’m able to keep him at bay.
It’s when she’s gone that he wins.
“Uh, H? Laiken?” Cam asks. We both stand up from behind the bar, and he scrunches his nose. “Do I want to know what you two were doing back there?”
Laiken huffs. “Don’t be weird. That fucking stalker can see us.”
“I think he has access to the camera,” I explain.
Cam’s brows furrow as he looks up at the camera above him. As if it’s no big deal, he grabs a bar stool and climbs on top of it, yanking the camera right out of the wall. Wires dangle down, and he better hope they don’t touch because this place doesn’t have fire-retardant walls.
“That should do it,” he says, then proceeds to go around and do all the rest.
I’m not about to yell at him for it. Not when this psycho has a direct line to watch us whenever they please. But when this is all over, we’re going to need to replace those, and they were expensive.
Add it to the fucking list.
“All right,” he says to me. “Take Laiken back to your place and stay with her there until nightfall.”
Huh?“What are you going to do?”
“I’m staying here.”
A bark of laughter leaves my mouth and I shake my head. “Yeah, no. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
