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She throws her hands up in the air. “But that doesn’t seem to be enough for you. Not that I should be surprised. It wasn’t enough for you the last time.”
A lump in my throat threatens to choke me. “You know there was more to it than that.”
“Back then, maybe. Not now. Right now, this is about you choosing a career over me again. I understand that you’ve got to do what you need to do, but you can’t expect me to be okay with it.”
My heart plummets to my feet. “Cassie, we can figure out a way to make it work.”
Tears roll down her cheeks as she shakes her head. “How can we possibly make this work, Tyler? You’re going to be the person the label wants you to be. I can’t get hurt by that person. Not again.”
I don’t know what to do or say to make her stay. This time, I thought we were going to make it work. I didn’t think that I would have to say goodbye to her.
I can’t lose Cassie.
Except I don’t know how to keep her. Not right now. I don’t know if she’ll give me a third chance either.
I wouldn’t give me a third chance.
“Cassie, please. I don’t want to lose you. Don’t do this. We can work this out. Just please. Give us some time to figure things out.”
She wipes the tears and starts backing away. “There’s no figuring this out, Tyler. We should have known that the first time.”
As she spins on her heel and takes off into the night, my world shatters into a thousand pieces. My heart is ripped from my chest and torn to shreds. Cassie looked as broken as I feel, but she’s the one running away this time. Not me.
I knew being in the band with her was a bad idea.
Although, I have nobody to blame but myself right now. Maybe I was right all those years ago when I thought that it would be best to keep my distance from Cassie.
No. I was wrong back then. I should have held onto her. I should have made sure that she knew I was in love with her. There’s no way that I ever should have given up on her.
I’m not going to give up on her now either.
She’s also made it pretty clear that she wants nothing to do with me right now.
As much as I want to go after her and convince her that staying with me is the right choice, she doesn’t want to be near me. She wants this to end. How can I chase after her when she wants to be done with us? With me?
I run my hands through my hair and pull a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. After lighting one, I take a long drag and leanagainst the arena wall. Graffiti stretches to either side of me and people stumble to their cars.
The edges of my vision blurs as Cassie gets into a car and takes off.
Everything I’ve ever wanted is slipping through my fingers, no matter how tightly I try to hold on.
CHAPTER 19
CASSIE
“All right,” Paige says, clapping her hands together as she walks into the living room. She stops in front of the couch with her hands on her hips. “You’ve spent the last three weeks wallowing on the couch. And I’ve allowed it to go on because I could see how much you love him, but it’s time to get your shit together.”
I sigh and sit up, keeping the fuzzy blanket wrapped tightly around me. “I appreciate the energy, but I don’t have it in me right now.”
Paige pushes my legs out of the way and sits down beside me. “He’s a jerk. We all know he’s a jerk. He did what he was always going to do. I wish that this time could have been different for you.”
I run my hands down my face. “I don’t know. Maybe I should have tried to see if this time would have been different. But when the label said that he had to act like he was single, something in me snapped. I know how he acted when he was single. It used to be splashed all over the media. I couldn’t have sat at home and watched that.”
“And you shouldn’t have had to. He should have fought harder for you.”
I shake my head, guilt tearing me apart on the inside. “He should have fought for me but I didn’t really give him the chance either. I ran out and told him that I couldn’t do this.”
Paige hums and kicks her feet up on the coffee table. “Well, there’s not much I can say to that. He’s been on tour for a couple weeks and hasn’t been seen out partying, though. Does that count for something?”
