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“Keep the song, Callahan! I’m not taking that from you! This isn’t what I want. I can’t do this without Ezra,” I plead with him to understand. “I just. . . I can’t, Cal.”
“Let her go, Cal. She said she doesn’t want to be with us anymore. Just leave it,” Kai says without a hint of remorse. Like it’s not his brother that’s missing and should be here signing this deal too.
I look at him, the man I’ve loved my whole life, and see a stranger looking back at me. He’s looking at me like I betrayed him, but I can’t help feeling like he’s the one betraying his brother.
“What about Ezra? You’re just going to do this without him?” I ask, wanting Kai to hurt as much as he’s hurting me. I watch as his spine stiffens, and his eyes grow impossibly colder.
“Ezra is gone. You heard the cops. He ran. Just like you’re doing.”
“What the fuck, Kai!” Willa yells, leaping to her feet from where she was sitting next to me. I never told anyone that Ezra was angry when he stormed off. I couldn’t answer why he was if I did. Ezra wanted to tell them about his sexuality and the man he fell for himself, and that wasn’t something I was going to take from him. But part of me wondersif Kai knows or suspects something. It’s the only thing I can think of to justify his behavior towards me.
Kai ignores her, keeping his eyes trained on me. He’s never looked at me with anger before and now that’s all I see.
“So much for always and forever,” he says through clenched teeth.
“No. Always and forever means exactly that. You know how to get in touch with me when you’re done being an asshole.”
I don’t know who he is anymore, and I’m not sure I know who I am on my own. But I’m about to find out.
I turn on my heel and head to my room to finish packing. They can go off and become famous rock stars if they want. I’m going to college like I planned, and I’ll keep looking for Ezra even if they’ve all given up.
one
BELLE
NOW
My hands gripthe steering wheel harder, trying to stop the shaking. I glance at the rearview mirror for the millionth time in the last four hours.
“He’s not following me. He doesn’t know I left,” I tell myself over and over again.
I glance at the clock on the dashboard of my car. It reads 4:45 PM. He may not know now, but he’s about to find out.
Brad was so mad this morning. I forgot to set my alarm, so I didn’t wake up in time to make him his breakfast.
My eyes fly open when I feel a sharp pain in my skull.
“Wake up, you lazy fucking cunt!” Brad screams as he pulls me from our bed by my hair. I cry out as he tosses me to the floor and leers over me.
“I’m sorry!” I don’t even know what I’m apologizing for, but I’ve learned it’s better to grovel. Questioning him makes him angrier.
“You’re a useless piece of shit! You think you can sleep all daywhile I work and pay for everything?” Spit flies in my face as he screams.
I stand with my hands out in front of me, trying to placate him. “I’m sorry. I must have forgotten to set my alarm. I’ll make your breakfast right now.”
I move towards the kitchen, but I’m stopped by Brad’s fist connecting with my cheek. He hit me so hard that my head ricochet off the bedroom wall, and I collapse back down to the cold floor.
Brad keeps yelling about my worthlessness as his foot connects with my ribs again and again until I black out.
I turn the radio up, hoping music can drown out the terror of the memories overtaking my heart.
“We are lucky enough to sit down with the members of Shattered Halo, Callahan Griffin, Willa Prince, Maverick Wolfe, and Malikai Irons to talk about their upcoming European Tour,” the radio DJ says.
“Of course, they’re the first thing I hear,” I grumble to myself.
Mav took Ezra’s place as the band’s bassist. From what Cal told me, he was reluctant about it, but eventually agreed when Kai spoke to him.
“Thank you for having us! We’re so excited to meet all our sexy fans across the pond!” Willa’s voice comes through. Her tone is playful and flirty. I miss her the most. We still talk, but I haven’t seen her in months. Brad didn’t like her. He always said she was a bad influence on me and forced us apart. Unfortunately, it took me too long to realize what he was doing.
