Page 19 of Between Never and Forever

A week after Keelani and I had our last rendezvous in her family’s lilac garden, my phone pinged me her location. She was with Ethan Phillipe at a fucking event. She’d gone back to singing and hanging on Ethan’s arm with my little brother as her best friend.

I’d deleted her contact out of my phone, stopped practically stalking her whereabouts then and there. Before that, I’d basically built software to track her every move. So, I cut it all off. I left behind my heart, closed the door on my life with her, and focused on work. I excelled at that.

My closure consisted of avoiding everything about her—news articles, my brother seeing her, my family discussing any of the Hales. Nobody brought them up for good reason. I’d been fine until now, until my brothers bombarded me with my past.

ChapterEight

KEELANI

“Being engagedto Ethan for six months won’t be that hard, Keelani,” Mitchell’s irritated voice ground out over the phone.

I’d planned to disappear into my hotel room and curl up with a good book, but my manager called to lecture me. So I sat at the penny slot machine, instead, as I listened to him.

“So, you need to do it.”

He hadn’t called to ask how the performance went. He hadn’t congratulated me on getting through it either. He’d started the conversation with business, as always, and his business was mostly telling me what to do.

“I think me getting this deal with the casino is good enough for PR. Ethan and I don’t need any more publicity.”

“Yes, you do. And the label needs it too. We’ll get sponsorships and news articles. It will boost both of your sales. And I’ll remind you that you need to look your best right now. Your friend is helping you out by letting you sing in his resort.”

I closed my eyes tight for a second, trying my best to listen to his reasoning after how much that performance emotionally drained me. He was right. Dimitri had gotten me this deal, and even if I didn’t want it, it was the thing that would get me out from under the record label’s thumb once and for all. My manager didn’t know that, but he knew Dimitri was a friend—my best friend—and I didn’t want to let him down.

Only six months.

Still, bile rose in my throat. Neither Ethan nor I wanted this. It was the last thing we wanted. “He’ll say no. He’s got other plans.”

“He’s already said yes.”

Motherfucker.“What? Why?” I whispered out, thinking of the late nights I’d had with my friend over the past few months. We purposely hadn’t been seen together. People speculated we’d already broken up. We were going to let the relationship fade to black.

“Because no one says no to opportunities of a lifetime, Kee.”

I rolled my eyes and stared at the machine. No matches across any lines. Typical. I hit the button again. “I’m saying no.”

“Record label says yes, and you’ve got six months. Plus, your dad already agreed. I just sent you the screenshot of how happy he is about this. I included extra care for your family while you’re at the casino and then making appearances with Ethan.”

My phone pinged, and I saw my dad’s texts to Mitchell. I hated that he hadn’t asked me, hated even more that his paragraphs to Mitchell were so genuine and heartfelt that I felt slighted.

Still, it was my family.

My mother.

I sighed. “Send me the addendum then. We’ll need to get Black Diamond to sign off on this too.”

“Yes, yes. Do that for me tonight. Tell Dimitri this is needed and you want it. Ethan will be there within an hour.” He hung up.

Then my phone pinged with a contract listing out all the public events I would now have to make with a new fiancé.

I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the Hardy wedding, even if Dimitri said he’d stand near me the whole time. I sat at the penny machine for nearly an hour instead trying to win money. If I did, I’d at least think my luck was changing. And I needed a change.

But I didn’t win one single time.

* * *

Ethan showedup with his wavy blond hair and lanky frame and stupid perfect smile on his face. I’d hoped no one would pay attention, but he’d brought a literal cameraman with him. He pulled me in for a hug and said, “Mitchell called him. It’s go time, babe.” Then, he kissed me so theatrically, I was surprised the paps even took a photo.

All for show. All a facade. Still, I smiled and said quietly through clenched teeth, “I’ll cut your balls off if you do that again. I’m saying yes, but I’m freaking mad at you, Ethan.”