and there he is.
The right side of his mouth quirks—it’s how he smiles. It’s the only movement he can manage in his face other than blinking.
I make sure not to show how much it kills me to see him like this.
He looks a hell of a lot older than he should. He’s unable to speak and can barely even move.
I take my seat by his side and reach for his hand.
He squeezes it four times quickly, followed by two more.
“Hi,” I reply back.
He squeezes my hand in another sequence.
M-I-S-S Y-O-U
My heart shatters.
Chapter Nine
Harley
Evah rolls her eyes as I drag her into my bedroom for the second night in a row and say goodnight to Brix, who just cleared my room. I think the funniest thing about that is it has become routine with him. He doesn’t even question it anymore. He just does it.
It kind of takes the fun out of it, but it’s still entertaining.
“This is getting ridiculous, Harley.” She sits on the end of my bed while we wait a safe amount of time for Brix to go to his room. “I’m pretty sure he knows.”
“Which is why we have to make it appear even more real.”
“I don’t think doubling down is the right way to go here.”
I step up onto my bed and start jumping up and down.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to jump on your bed?”
“Never. Come jump with me. Ooh, and let’s make sex noises while we’re at it.”
Evah stands. “And I’m out.”
“Evah,” I whine.
“You’re acting insane.”
I stop jumping and land on my ass. “What do you think Brix does on his day off?”
“Enjoys not having to put up with you.”
I hold my heart. “You wound me, dearest fiancée.”
Evah looks sheepish. “About that …”
Damn it. I know what’s coming.
Like Brix said, we’ve been engaged for eighteen months. The media is starting to speculate if we’re ever going to get married. The original plan was for a quick wedding, but the mere engagement toned down the unwanted rumors swirling around me.
I thought the label would make us do it after my “coming out” song was released, but the backlash was a lot less than anticipated.
In fact, the suspicion surrounding my sexuality is currently working in my favor by keeping my name fresh in the media. That’s another reason the label is reluctant to take it further. Right now, the mystery causes hype. Hype gets me interview requests. Interviews sell albums.
Evah and I both know this fake engagement will never make it down the aisle. My career doesn’t need it. And now that 4Evah has taken off, and she’s made a name and brand for herself, she doesn’t need it either.
I realized that the other night when we were at her launch.
“We need to work out a way to break up without it coming back on either of us,” I say.
She lets out a breath as if she was about to drop a bombshell on me that I wasn’t prepared for. “We both know I’m going to take the hit on that one, but my agent says I’m in a place where it shouldn’t do too much damage. Not if both our teams agree to spin it the right way.”
“People will want to kill you for breaking my poor heart.”
“Your poor, poor heart,” she says dryly.
“Hey, maybe it’ll trigger some writing inspiration. I could release hate songs like Taylor Swift.”
She frowns. “You still haven’t written anything?”
“Nothing I can use.”
“That sucks.”
“Yep.” I stand and give my soon-to-be ex-fiancée a hug. “We’ll work out the breaking up thing.”
“Thank you. Okay, I’m going to make a break for my room.”
“No, wait. You didn’t answer me. Where do you think Brix goes on his day off?”
“Why do you care?”
“I want to know.”
Evah puts her hands on her hips. “No.”
“No?” I ask her incredulously.
“You won’t even tell him that we’re not actually together, so you don’t get to pry into his life.”
“But …” I want to. “Why do you have to be all fair and shit? You should be on my side.”
“We’re about to break up, remember? That means I don’t have to take your side.”
“No wonder we’re breaking up.” I hug her again. She has always given the best hugs. “It’s no secret I didn’t want this”—I pull back and do air quotes—“‘relationship’ in the beginning, but it’s been kind of nice having you around.”
“Nice? Nice? That’s what you’d say about your grandmother visiting, not the awesomeness that has been my friendship.”
I’ll miss her making me smile. “If it