The Rock Star’s Fake Fiancee - Kenzie Reed Page 0,35

it. Past experience has taught me that his words and the look in his eyes mean nothing. He was acting. If I hung around him, I’d fall for him again, and he’d promise me the moon. And I know how that story ends.

Even worse, once he’d made a fool of me, I’d never be able to escape him. Everywhere I look these days, I see Heat Lightning. Turn on the TV, there they are. Go on social media, and it’s “Sebastian Monroe” this, and “Heat Lightning” that. It’d be hard to get over my heartbreak with Sebastian’s face in front of me all the time.

I give a deep sigh, and head towards the general store.

The street is crowded with tourists and townspeople. Chase and Daisy’s marketing campaign has been a mixed blessing. We absolutely needed the influx of visitors and cash, or we’d have been at risk of fading away to nothing, like so many small towns, but sometimes I miss the days when I recognized every face I saw and knew their whole life story—the good, the bad, and the mortifying.

As I make my way through the crowd, I see Fiona Duffy, the girl who rejected the opportunity to join the Sisters Together program, strolling in my direction, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Annoyance sparks inside me. She’s got a sullen look on her face, and she’s looking at the sidewalk, bumping into people as she walks.

Her aunt doesn’t seem to pay much attention to her, so she’s always walking around downtown by herself. I would have gladly chaperoned her around town, taken her to movies, talked about what she wanted to do with her life, been her big sister. I can’t believe she’d rather meander around Bitter End alone than even give me a chance.

Then I think of Sebastian and how hard it must be to basically raise yourself. My family may drive me insane and make me mildly homicidal—on a good day. But I know they love me fiercely, and they’d lie down and die for me. And I’d do the same for them.

I resolve to give it one more try.

I walk over to her, and when I reach her, I catch a faint chemical whiff which is very likely spray paint. Have I found the downtown vandal?

“Hey there!” I step in front of her, and she almost walks into me, then looks up at me with a glum expression.

“Oh…hello. Cassie?”

“Callie. How have you been?”

“Fine.” She looks self-conscious. “Sorry about the Sisters Together thing. It would just be a waste of your time. I’m not going to be here that long.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” She lifts her thin shoulders in a shrug, and I wonder if she gets enough to eat at home. There’s no way to ask without sounding patronizing. “I have another aunt in California. I’ve never met her, though.”

Ouch. Well, if that’s true, I want her at least to have some good memories of Bitter End. “No problem. You don’t have to do the Sisters Together thing, but if you want the world’s best ice cream sundae, there’s a new ice cream shop that just opened. It’s called Bittersweet.”

She tilts her head to the side with a speculative look. “Sundae, huh? Can I meet you there in like half an hour?”

She sneaks a casual glance down the alley, and her hand closes around her backpack strap. Yep. I thought so. She has spray paint and she wants to go on another vandalizing spree.

I slide between her and the alley. “The alleys around here may look safe, but that’s actually deceptive. Some hoodlum has been vandalizing them, so you’ll want to stay away. Sheriff Buckley has a bunch of surveillance cameras set up behind the shops now. You should really stay out of there.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The sly expression in her eyes tells me she knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Okay, sure, sure. Anyway, if you want that sundae, I just have to call and check in with your aunt. Can you give me her number?”

She snorts. “Have fun with that.” She recites the number in a bored voice.

The phone rings ten times before Mrs Duffy finally picks it up. She sounds busy and harassed.

“Hello, Mrs Duffy, it’s Callie Abernathy. I was calling about Fiona?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. I knew it was a mistake to take in that demon-spawn. What has she done now?”

“Nothing,” I say, taken aback. “I was just wondering if I could take her