AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I broke her heart. Not once, not twice, but over and over again for four years. If I'd thought I was a piece of trash before that night, it's nothing compared to now. Every time I close my eyes, I see her tears and hear the words she'd thrown at me after I finally delivered the final, crushing blow that broke the heart of the most beautiful, intelligent, and loyal woman I've ever known.
"I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you for four years, and I don't want to be anymore. I want to be free."
My hands clench reflexively on the armrests, and I stare unseeingly out at the city below, which is beginning to get closer as the plane descends. I don't even know where we're going, but it clearly isn't far enough.
By the time we land and I flip my phone off airplane mode, there are three missed calls from my brother. `
While the rest of the guys duck into cars, heading for the next airport, I step off to the side of the tarmac to call him back. Cash and I talk plenty, but he knows I'm constantly traveling. Three missed calls make a weight drop into the bottom of my stomach, dread curling through my veins.
It rings a single time. "Phillip." Cash exhales heavily. "Where have you been?"
"On a plane. What's wrong?" I eye the pilot standing beside the jet, wondering how long it would take him to get him back in the air toward Philly. If it's Daisy….
"It's Juliet." He tells me, but the knot of fear in my chest doesn't lessen in the slightest. Cash clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "It's not my place, but you need to talk to her."
Christ, this has my sister-in-law written all over it. Noa has made it infinitely clear that she likes Juliet far better than me. "You're right. It's not your place."
"Phillip-"
"No, Cash. I've fucked up enough with her. I won't drag her back into my life when she told me she wanted out. The least I can do is respect that." I watch as Peter checks his watch, glancing anxiously in my direction.
Through the phone, I hear my brother's low groan. "Christ, you're both so stubborn. No wonder it's taken you this long to get together."
"I'm not stubborn." I bite back petulantly while flipping off Peter for the fun of it. I'm aware I'm acting like a child, but I couldn't give less of a shit. I'll act my age when I get my shit together, which is apparently never.
Cash wisely chooses not to engage. "Listen to me." He hisses, his usual easygoing tone abandoned. "Pull your head out of your ass, step off this self-pitying spiral, and fix your shit, Phillip."
"Easy for you to say." I hiss, jealousy tightening in my chest. "You had a medical condition. You didn't fuck up every relationship you ever had simply by being a piece of garbage. And look at you now. Beautiful wife who loves the hell out of you, perfect baby. Must be really tough, Cash."
"Listen to yourself, Christ." He curses under his breath. "Julietneeds you. She fucking needs you, and if you can't set your pride and self-pity aside for one minute, you might lose out on what I have."
Something in his voice makes my heart beat faster, and a tiny seed of suspicion to take root in my mind. I swallow the lump in my throat. "What are you saying? Is she-"
"It'snot my place." Cash repeats, grinding out the words. "But while you're at it, maybe talk to Daisy. She's upset but not so upset she isn't willing to fix things. You're her only real parent, Phillip. She wants you in her life."
"She won't answer my calls."
My brother lets out a hard laugh. "You see, this is what I'm talking about. You have aprivate jet, Phillip. Get on the damn plane and go to Philly, then get back on it and go to LA. You're looking for reasons to be unhappy, dipshit. You're so damn determined to be the piece of shit you think you are that you won't take even the most basic steps to sort out your life," My throat tightens. I want him to stop. I want to throw the phone on the ground and walk away, but I'm frozen to the spot. "You have a woman in your life who loves you, who really fucking loves you, and you won't fight for her. Do you know how many people want what you're just letting go?"
I rake my hand through my hair, swallowing back the sour taste in my mouth. "She deserves better." It's my last argument, my last stand against Cash's irrefutable logic.
"Probably." Cash concedes, "But she wants you. So why don't you be better, Phillip? Seriously, get your head out of your ass, and become the man she deserves."
Penn bought the building where he lives now years before the neighborhood started becoming trendy. There was once an abandoned gas station across the street, but now a hipster florist has set up shop beside the artisan glutton-free bakery and ethically sourced coffee shop. I keep my baseball cap low as I get out of the cab and cross the street. Somebody has put potted flowers out on the industrial metal steps leading up to Penn's front door, and I pause to look at them, my heart aching.
Cash's phone call, fortunately, coincided with a two-day break from touring, and the guys let me take the jet immediately after the show. I've been up all night, but this can't wait anymore.
The last time I was here, I'd gotten word from the private security I hired to protect Daisy that she wasn't living at the piece-of-shit apartment I thought she was. No, instead my only child was living with my oldest friend, and the pictures they sent were all the justification I needed to get on the next flight and beat the shit out of him. I still don't like it, but I have to concede I understand the draw for both of them. They're well suited, even if it makes me want to hit him all over again whenever I think about it for too long.
Their relationship isn't why I'm here, though. Not really.
Not giving myself the chance to back down, I raise my fist and knock twice. Beside the porch, a window is open, and I hear a pair of heavy footsteps approaching. Penn opens the door, his expression falling when he sees it's me.
"Phillip." My old friend crosses his arms over his chest, staring down at me with his expression ridged. "What are you doing here."
"Have a minute?"
Penn snorts. "Are you going to hit me again?"
