Page 76 of Beyond the Stix

Amanda begins to cry harder, while Connor returns his gaze to me. He lets out a whoosh of breath and says, “It’s over.” Though, there is sadness creasing the corners of his eyes.

“Go hug your mom, I’m okay.”

Connor softly snorts. “You’re not.” But he stands anyway, and goes to his mother.

Pen bends down and looks me over. “Stop being a diva and try not to move. The paramedics are on their way, along with the cops.”

I grunt in pain as I try to turn my head and glare at him. “Get away from me, or I’m going to kick your ass.”

Pen chuckles. “Good. Feeling better already.”

“Did you call Tobias and Dean?” I ask, while trying not to move, but the ground is cold and hard, and that’s making it difficult to stay still.

“Yeah,” Fig approaches. “They are on the way.”

“Great. The fucking calvary. Did you tell them not to bother?”

“You wanna call Danny and tell him that?” Fig smirks.

“Jesus. Fine.”

I peer over at Connor, who has his mother in a fierce hug. His watery eyes dart to me, and an understanding passes between us.

We’re going to talk once this is done. I promise.

I get it. We still have unresolved issues between us. But once we talk it out and I let him know how I feel about him, there will be no going back. He’s mine, and I won’t let him go.

EPILOGUE

TWO MONTHS LATER

Connor

“Try notto move so much, John.” I push him back against the headboard and tuck a pillow under his knee. Tobias and Danny grudgingly agreed to give up their room to John and me, since he sustained the injury in saving my life—something we hear on the daily.

“I can’t help it,” he grumbles.

“Fixing your meniscus will be for nothing, if you keep moving your leg that way and tear it again.”

“This is ridiculous. I should have stayed back in San Francisco while you’re on tour. Sitting here doing nothing is driving me nuts,” he grumps as he readjusts the small pillow propped behind him.

“I told you, but you didn’t want to listen.” I smirk at John. “Do you want to go home? I’ll be okay without you.”

“But I won’t be.” John leans up and kisses my lips, before settling back against the cushion. I love that he’s comfortable enough to express how he feels to me.

After the night he fell out of the tree house, we talked—about the reason why he looked through my phone, that guy who picked him up, and him keeping the details of Jessup’s escape from me. We also talked about our feelings for each other. Neither of us used the L word, but we didn’t deny it either.

Once John got out of the hospital, we did a hell of a lot of making up, too.

“Are you sure? Tobias can make arrangements to send you back—Wait. Where do you live?”

“Nowhere, now.”

“What do you mean nowhere?” I ask, suddenly perplexed as to why I had never asked him about his residence. Then again, he has been with the band ever since he was assigned to us and he never left. “I thought you had a place in L.A.”

“I did, but I sold it a month ago.” He doesn’t meet my eyes.

“Why?”