going to be some blowback, but you don’t need Whiplash. You and Bash could finance an album and a tour yourselves. You’re just lazy. You don’t want to do all the work it would take to start a band from the ground up, so now you’re mad that your girlfriend is essentially forcing you to do it.”
“I’m not mad about that!” I protested. “This is about Stu and Lexi and—”
“Have you talked to them?”
“Yeah, of course.” I paused. “Well, kind of. I talked to Stu last night and he was shit-faced so we hung up. I haven’t talked to Lexi yet, since it’s late there, but I was going to call her tonight.”
“Uh-huh. So you sacrificed a woman you care about—one who’s been counting on you, and trusted you with something really important to her—without even knowing how your friends felt about what’s going on?”
“I didn’t sacrifice her,” I yelled in frustration. “I just wanted us to take a step back to assess, so we go into this with clear heads and get a handle on her situation. She doesn’t even have a psychiatrist anymore because she doesn’t like the ones her father chooses, so there’s a lot she needs to handle. I thought this would be…” I trailed off, suddenly unsure of myself. What had I thought this would be? I had no idea what I was talking about and now I felt stupid.
“What did you think it would be?” she asked, her voice softening. “Easy? You think Erik took the easy way out when he faked his death to protect me and our unborn baby all those years ago? You think it was easy for me to forgive him when he came back? Very few things in life worth having are easy.”
I swallowed. Casey and Erik had been apart for ten years while Erik had been in exile. She’d thought he was dead, and their love was something I envied because it had endured a lot. I’d secretly hoped to someday love someone the way Erik and Casey loved each other. And now that I’d found it, I was making a big fucking mess. Because I did love Ariel, even though I didn’t want to admit it.
“So you think I fucked up.” It was more a statement than a question.
“I think you’re a great guy who’s spoiled as fuck. Born with looks and talent, you usually get everything you want. You’ve been so fucking lucky professionally, but now it’s time to buckle up because this thing with Nobody’s Fool could be a bumpy ride. And if you want Ariel, it’s going to be even bumpier.”
“Do you know where she’s going?”
“She didn’t confide her plans to me.”
“But you knew she was leaving?”
“No, I had no idea. Erik called me once they were in the air and said Ariel was on board. He didn’t pry, and she didn’t offer up any info.”
“Crap.”
“What are you going to do, Tyler?”
“The truth?” I asked miserably. “I have no fucking idea.”
I didn’t sleep at all that night. I’d tried to call Ariel around dinner time, but her phone had been turned off because it went straight to voicemail. I didn’t know if she was on a flight back to the U.S. or in London somewhere, avoiding me. I didn’t blame her, but I didn’t know what to do about it. I wanted to call the band but wasn’t sure what to say to them. I felt like the world’s biggest loser, and Casey had been right that I’d been lucky enough in life to take the easy way out of most things.
When it came time to make a decision about the military, instead of discussing it with my twin, I’d just gone on tour without looking back. Pretty Harts had taken off so fast, with so much success, I hadn’t had to worry about much of anything. I had all the women and money I’d ever need and hadn’t bothered to worry about my family, my twin, or any of the dozens of women whose hearts I’d probably broken over the years. Because it was easy.
Fuck. Had I always been a selfish bastard?
I stared at my phone for a long time before finally dialing a familiar but mostly unused number. It was the middle of the afternoon in New York, and I waited impatiently for the person on the other end to answer.
“Tyler?” My dad’s voice instantly calmed me, even though we weren’t that close anymore, but he’d always had that effect on me