Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
She’s depending on me.
As much as I want to get the hell out of here, I cannot let her down.
Then I realize…
If the band can’t fulfill their contract—if Emerald Phoenix considers them in breach—we will probably all be going home anyway.
I want to cry. I want to cry and cry and cry, let the tears flow freely until my whole body is racked with sobs.
But I also want to put my fist through a wall.
I want to punch right through the drywall and make my knuckles bleed.
Because…
If I hadn’t been so selfish… If I hadn’t left Dad—who’s only now recovered enough from his gunshot wound to work outside in the orchards we both love— and forced my way onto this trip…
Perhaps none of this would be happening now.
Callie rises. “We’re going to head up.”
Donny scribbles his signature on the check and stands as well. “Are you two okay?”
Maddie swallows and nods. “As okay as I guess we can be. Me at least.”
I’m not sure how to answer my brother’s question. I’m a lot of things right now, but none of them are okay.
I simply nod.
No one wants to hear me talk about how this is all my fault.
No one wants to hear me say what a selfish and horny bitch I was about this whole thing.
None of them know why I did it.
None of them know what’s happened between Jesse and me.
Because if they did?
They’d blame me, just as I’m blaming myself.
Only Maddie and I sit at the table, and neither of us has touched our breakfast.
My eggs are cold and clammy, and the streaky bacon is congealed with fat. My awful coffee remains untouched other than a few sips.
“I don’t know what to do,” Maddie says.
“I don’t either, Mads.”
She scratches the side of her head. “Do you think the two of us should…”
“Should what?”
She sighs and looks down at the table, at her own plate that has hardly been touched. “Maybe we should just go home, Bree. I can go back to school. There’s still time. The new semester hasn’t even started yet. Right now, I’m just another thing for Jesse and Rory to worry about.”
Well…she brought it up.
“Are you sure, Maddie?”
She frowns. “Not really. I’m not sure of anything right now. Maybe I should ask Rory and Jesse.”
And as if Maddie’s voice conjured him out of thin air, Jesse walks into the restaurant. His gaze locks with mine.
“There he is,” I say to Maddie.
“Jesse!” She waves at him.
He shakes his head, walks by us and out of the restaurant.
And most likely…out of my life.
Chapter Five
Jesse
I don’t like ignoring my sister the way I just did, but I can’t be distracted by her or Brianna Steel right now. Brock and Rory—along with Jett Draconis—are waiting for me in Jett’s suite. I had to walk through the breakfast area to get to the elevators.
Well, I didn’t have to. It was a shortcut. Had I known my sister and Brianna were still sitting in there, I would have taken the long way around.
But I’m in a hurry.
I can’t keep Jett waiting. We’ve already screwed up enough.
I take the elevator to the top floor of the hotel and walk to Jett’s suite.
I draw a breath and knock.
Jett himself opens the door.
“Hey, Jesse.”
I open my mouth, but then I don’t know what to say. Do I apologize profusely for screwing this whole thing up? I mean, it wasn’t me. It was Dragon, though most likely through no fault of his own.
Unless you count the fact that he went to bed with two women when he had no clue who they were. Then yes, it was his fault.
Jett’s wife, Heather, along with Brock and Rory, are sitting in the living area. Their suite makes Brock and Rory’s look like a slum, but that’s the last time I consider the immense size.
“Hey, Jess,” Rory says.
“Come on in,” Jett says. He gestures to the living area. “Have a seat.”
I take an unoccupied chair. Heather sits on a love seat, and Rory and Brock sit side by side on the sofa, holding hands.
“How’s Dragon?” Brock asks.
“He should recover. We don’t know yet what he ingested, but his toxicology was positive.”
“How do they know it was positive if they don’t know what he ingested?” Brock asks.
“I don’t know, man.” I rub my hand over my hair, rise, pace a few steps. “It’s the way they do it over here or something. Or the way they do it everywhere, for all I know.”
“Brock…” From Rory.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I wish I had more information. All I know is they pumped his stomach, and according to his doctor, he will recover. He was still asleep when I left. I haven’t been able to talk to him.”
“When will he be released?” Jett asks.
I sit back down. “They expect him to wake up later today. But he probably won’t be released until tomorrow.”