I barely have my things unpacked when there’s a knock on the door. Part of me hopes it’s him. That he somehow couldn’t bear going home without me. On the way to the door, I see a picture of Corey and me on the bookshelf. It was my favorite. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out, not even after what he did to me.
I flip it facedown.
When I open the door, Krista and Jenn fly inside. “Tell us everything!”
“It’s not like I didn’t give you weekly updates from the road,” I say.
“But we haven’t heard anything about the last seven days. We need details.”
Details.
The three of us are as close as sisters. But I still haven’t shared any information about Liam’s past. Not that I’d know what to say. I don’t know for sure what happened to him. Only what I’ve surmised and pieced together from the few things he’s told me.
I tell them about Crew’s romantic proposal. They’d already seen it; apparently it’s all over social media.
“We want the 411 on Liam,” Krista says. “We know you kissed him. There has to be more.”
I almost regret telling them about that. It was the day I booked my early flight back to New York. I called them because I was so confused. They’re the ones who talked me into staying. They thought he was being the way he was because he was either a narcissistic musician or he’d been hurt by another woman. I didn’t enlighten them.
“We’re good friends, that’s all.”
Jenn says, “Oh, come on. You spent six weeks with the guy. You’re his muse. He stayed in your hotel room, El.”
“In separate beds.”
“I’m not buying it,” Krista says. “He’s hot. You’re hot. No way did you keep your hands off each other.”
“I’m telling you we’re not a couple.”
“Not being a couple doesn’t mean you didn’t have sex.”
I look her in the eye. “We didn’t have sex.”
“You’re saying you never touched the man’s cock?”
I make the sign of the cross. “I never touched it, Krista.”
Technically, it’s true. What I don’t say is how much I wanted to feel him with my own hands. Taste him with my mouth. Have him inside me. But I can’t talk to them about this. It would be a violation of Liam’s trust. I get the feeling the only other person who knows about his past is Crew.
They go through every picture on my phone, no doubt looking for evidence proving we’re a couple. Jenn stops on the one Bria took of us at the beach. “Girl, if you think this man isn’t into you, you haven’t seen this picture.”
I take the phone from her and look at the photo.
“Oh my God,” Krista says. “You’re in love with him.”
“I am not.”
“Ella, you’re a big fat liar. We know you too well. You’re clearly in love with Liam Campbell.”
I close my eyes and sigh. “Okay, so I’m in love with him.”
They scream and dance around.
“Stop it. That doesn’t mean he’s in love with me. Or even that we’re a couple. He has … issues.”
Jenn sits down. “Fear of commitment?”
I shrug, because I suppose it would be the best excuse.
“He’s a rock star,” Krista says. “He probably wants to eat his cake and have it too.”
“Don’t you let him,” Jenn says. “I don’t care if he’s a rock star or the fucking president, you can’t let him do what the dickhead did to you.”
I give her a sharp look. “I didn’t let Corey do anything. There’s nothing I could have done differently. He cheated on me despite us having a great relationship.”
Krista laughs. “Great relationship? Right. Like him dragging you to cooking classes and boring lectures was a great relationship.”
“I meant we were happy together, or at least I thought we were.”
Jenn smacks her lips. “He came to see me, you know. A few weeks ago he came to my work. Accused me of knowing where you were, and he wanted to go after you. Said he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.”
I look over at the bookshelf where I turned down the picture. “You can say that again.”
“Are you still in love with him?” Krista asks.
Jenn scoffs. “She just said she loves Liam.”
“Doesn’t mean she can’t love them both.”
“I don’t think I love Corey anymore. But I’ll always care about him.”
“We’re calling him Corey again?” Jenn asks. “You’ve done it twice now.”
“I can’t hold a grudge forever.”
“Especially now that she’s with a rock star,” Krista says. “In