until I decide if it’s going to be a good fit or not.”
“Smart thinking,” Dad said with approval. “But if that doesn’t work out, we’ll find something else. I heard there is another apartment up for sale in Jagger’s building. It’s a few floors up from his place, but Emmie said it is just as big and comes fully furnished.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, his smugness only growing.
Mom was watching him with a frown, making me think she was suspicious about something. “Which friend is it? Smith?”
“Nope.” He turned his gaze back to his phone. “Jagger.”
I choked on the piece of popcorn I’d been about to swallow. Coughing, I tried to dislodge it, and Mom started pounding me on the back to help. When it was finally free and I could breathe again, I glared at my brother through watery eyes. “Liar,” I wheezed.
Jagger wouldn’t let Cannon move in with him. He’d told me repeatedly that his friendship with my brother was over. That he wouldn’t pick him over me again. He…
He’d already kept Dana from me, though. Maybe he and Cannon had made up and they were going to be roommates after all.
“Ask him,” he said, getting to his feet. “Well, I have some packing to do. I’m moving in tomorrow.”
I sat there, feeling like the bottom had just fallen out from under me as I watched him climb the stairs.
“I think it’s a good thing the boys made up,” Dad commented as he munched on a handful of popcorn. “Maybe they can finish those two albums and figure something out for their careers instead of going solo.”
“Shut up, babe,” Mom told him, her eyes glued to my face. “This is not a good thing.”
Dad’s eyes lifted from the TV and landed on me, and his jaw clenched. “I take it you didn’t know?” I shook my head, unable to speak for the lump filling my throat. “Your brother is such an asshole.”
“You won’t hear me arguing about that,” I muttered in a hoarse voice. Dusting off my hands, I stood. “I’ll see you two later. Don’t expect me for dinner.”
“Shaw…” I paused when Mom said my name, but I didn’t turn around. “Give him a chance to explain. Okay?”
I gave a small nod and kept walking. I was going to give Jagger one chance to do just that. But if he didn’t tell me—about Dana and my brother—then I really would know whatever we had wasn’t meant to be.
Chapter 26
Violet
I heard the hitch in Shaw’s voice as soon as I picked up my phone. I hadn’t been home all that long before it rang, and I got a bad feeling seeing her name flash across my screen, which was why I’d answered so quickly.
After how chill she’d been earlier with Kayla telling her about Dana being a girl from Jagger’s past, I’d wondered if the shit was going to hit the fan before long. But I’d hoped it would take a little more time. Like maybe another week or so. Long enough for Jagger to get his head out of his ass if he was going to keep my bestie where she belonged. Beside him for life.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded.
“Cannon…” She paused, and I heard her swallow audibly. “Cannon says he’s moving in with Jagger.”
I laughed. “Good one.” No way was that true. Jagger had made his choice, and it wasn’t that fucking douchebag who had once been his best friend. He’d smartened up after the party that had ruined my entire life. He got his head on straight, kicked Cannon’s ass, and then started working on proving to Shaw that she was the only one who mattered to him.
He wouldn’t go and fuck that up by having Cannon move in with him.
But the silence on the other end of the phone told me it was true.
The thought of Shaw, the girl who had been my rock through the worst months of my life, hurting made me see red. No. I wasn’t going to let Cannon ruin someone else’s life. Not when he’d already obliterated the future I’d had planned out for so long.
“Shaw, don’t listen to him. He’s not moving in with Jagger.”
“I don’t know what to believe,” she muttered. “He’s such an asshole, Vi. But he was so smug. I know he wasn’t lying about this.”
“I mean it,” I gritted out, already sliding my feet into a pair of sandals. I was only in a pair of running shorts and a tank top, but