Page 8 of Between Never and Forever

“I just… I don’t love what the record label is doing either, but I signed.” Tears welled in her eyes. Then she whispered again, “I signed. I had to.”

“Right.” I took a step away from her. “You need to stand up for yourself with them for once, Kee. You practically run around this town, free as a bird, causing havoc wherever you go, and you won’t take shit from anyone. Why keep taking it from them?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she put up a barrier between us physically and emotionally. “What if I want to take their shit, Dex? What if it’s what allows me to get my music out into the world?”

My jaw flexed involuntarily. It was her dream. My dream for her too. Everyone deserved to hear this girl sing, even if I wanted to bottle up her voice and keep it all to myself. “You should be doing it on your terms.” They’d already had her for a year and hadn’t let her sing a damn thing she wanted.

“These are my terms. This is what I want, Dex. They gave me options.” She took a deep breath and looked away. “This was the best one.”

“Leaving all of us is your best option?” I blurted out because I wanted her to repeat it. “Say it out loud, nice and slow, and tell me if it sounds right.”

“I’m leaving,” she whispered. “I’m leaving you all to follow my dream, and I hope you’ll support that.”

I shook my head back and forth. “You leave this town, I’ll never forgive you. You get that?”

“Dex, this isn’t how I want it to end. We could be friends and—”

“I’llneverbe your friend.” The words came out fast with fury. “I’ve told you I love you; I’ve promised myself to you. I want tomarryyou…not be your friend.” She gasped at my confession, yet I continued on. “You’ve always been my girl, my girlfriend, my future wife. Nothing less. Don’t you get that? I promised you forever, Kee.”

“But forever can never be, Dex.” She choked back a sob, but this time I didn’t pull her to my chest like I had so many times before. She tried to cover her mouth with the back of her hand to hide her turmoil.

“Yeah. You pack that bag and leave, you can bet it’ll never be.”

She narrowed her eyes then, glared through her tears, and said, “Maybe one day you’ll overlook this, and we’ll be friends.”

“Never happening, Keelani. Never in a million years.”

My girl was stubborn.

She still packed up that night and left me.

ChapterThree

KEELANI

THREE YEARS LATER

The waymy name rumbled out of his chest caused shivers to erupt everywhere over my body, even after the years I’d avoided seeing him.

“Keelani?” I heard a sigh. “I know you’re up there.”

I tried to slow my heartbeat as I pursed my lips together. The sun was setting over my backyard, and Dimitri and I had been up on the roof all day, catching up, sharing nonsense and memories.

“I didn’t know he was going to be here. I swear,” Dimitri said, but his smile gave him away.

“You’re an ass,” I whisper-yelled. “You tell him all about my family drama too?”

Dimitri and his family knew about my mom’s early onset Alzheimer’s, but Dimitri had told me no one discussed my family situation with Dex.

“Babe, none of my family would tell Dex that. We know things between you two are hard enough. You should talk to him though.”

I scoffed. He didn’t understand that I’d tried over and over. Too many times to count.

“Keelani!” Dex bellowed from below.

I growled at his voice, at him using my whole name like I was a child he had to chastise. I glared at Dimitri one more time before I stood up. I wasn’t going to cower. “Can I help you?”

“What the hell are you doing up there? Get your ass off the roof right now.” His tone was harsh, lacking any kindness toward me.