Page 29 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Eric

Watching Katie up there at the mic with her shoulders hunched over during band practice, it kills something inside me. Because I’m the cause of that. I’m the one who hurt her. But I keep telling myself over and over that it’s for the best.

When Ethan and I were kids, we used to hear our mom crying over Dad every single night.

I don’t think she realized how loud her tears were.

We would look at each other and not say anything, both of us wishing we knew what to do to help her.

I think even at that young age I promised myself I would never hurt a girl like that.

But my dream is to be a successful musician. I don’t want to hurt anyone as I try to make my way to the top. I’d rather be alone.

I wish I never told her that I had feelings for her.

I know I would probably pine after her for a while—maybe even the rest of my life—but I hate myself for putting her through this pain.

The only thing that makes me feel just a little better is that ending this early will prevent me from hurting her in the future.

She hasn’t glanced my way once. My heart urges me to march over to her.

Tell her how much she means to me and that I want to spend all my days with her.

See her eyes light up, hear her beautiful voice, feel those soft, warm lips against mine.

But my brain reminds me to stay planted in my spot.

Because there’s no way I could achieve my dream and have a future with her.

I have to let go of one. She’s so important to me, but music was my first love, ever since I was a kid.

I have a hunger that won’t ever be satiated, just like my dad.

But I won’t make the same mistakes he made.

I won’t hurt the people who matter most to me.

Beauty and the Beast rehearsal was brutal.

Luckily, Katie and I didn’t have to rehearse any romantic scenes, but we were pretty awkward.

I tried as much as possible to avoid her because I couldn’t bear to see the pain on her face.

Miss Diaz had to stop us a million times, claiming our chemistry was way off.

She scolded me for not looking at my Belle, and she reprimanded Katie for not opening herself to her Beast. I have no idea how we’ll pull this off, but isn’t that what acting is about?

To let go of yourself and be someone else.

But I’m having a big problem separating my fake self from my real one.

“Why is everyone so quiet?” Ethan asks as he swings his bass over his shoulder.

“My roommates suck,” Cody says.

“Really? I thought they were cool guys.”

“Yeah, not so much.” He hits his drumsticks. “And a one, two, three!”

Katie grips the mic stand tightly, not moving around like she always does. Her shoulders are still hunched and her voice is a little mousy, but she sounds amazing. I catch Ethan’s brows dip as he watches our lead singer. Even Cody notices that something’s off.

And me? Well, I suck worse than ever. I keep playing the wrong chords. Of my own song.

Ethan holds up his hand, and we stop. “Why aren’t we in sync? Let’s take it from the top again.”

Katie sounds a little more confident, but I’m a total wreck. I wince every time I make a mistake.

Ethan holds up his hand and looks at me. “You good, bro?”

I glance at Katie, whose gaze is on me. But she quickly looks away like her eyes got burned. I swallow hard, trying to ignore the ache in my chest, and put on a fake smile. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“The concert is next Friday,” he reminds me, as if I don’t know. “We can’t afford to make mistakes.”

“Got it.”

I’m a little better this time, but nowhere where I’m supposed to be. I’m just too messed up about the whole thing. I hurt Katie, and I hate myself for it. Loathe myself. But it’s for the best. Still, I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.

“Eric!” Ethan shouts.

“Sorry. I got it.”

“I get you’re nervous for the concert,” he says. “I am, too. But we’ve got this. It’ll be just like performing at our gigs. Just to a wider audience.”

I nod like he understands what I’m going through. I wish the only thing on my mind was nerves for the concert. Not the weight of the pain I caused the most amazing person on the planet.

“It’ll be epic,” Ethan continues. “So let’s have fun and not stress.”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Katie mutters before walking away.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a breath. I’ve never felt as rotten as I do now.

I play the song, forcing my fingers to hit the right chords. Now that Katie isn’t in the room, I don’t make as many mistakes. But as soon as she’s back at the mic stand with her shoulders even saggier, I make even more mistakes than before.

Cody groans. “We’ll never be ready in time. We’ll make fools of ourselves.”

“We got this,” Ethan assures him. “We just need to practice and focus.” He glances at me with raised brows.

“I’ll be ready in time for the concert,” I promise, though I’m not really sure. I don’t think my heart will ever heal from this.

“Let’s call it a night and pick this up tomorrow. Eric, squeeze in as much practice as you can.”

Katie mumbles goodbye and sprints out of the basement faster than a bullet. Just as I swing my guitar over my head, my brother storms over to me. “What the heck is up with you?” he demands.

“What?”

“I know you, bro. You haven’t played this bad since…I don’t know. Since we were six?”

I shrug. “It’s just nerves like you said,” I lie. “I’ll be ready for the concert.”

Ethan examines me closely. “No, I know something’s up. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Can’t fool me. We shared a womb.”

I shrug like he has no idea what he’s talking about.

“This is about Katie, isn’t it?”

I give him a confused look. “What about her?”

“You think I’m blind? I noticed the tension between you guys. What’s going on with you two?”

I look at Cody, who is supposed to have left by now. But he’s playing with his phone.

Ethan looks at him and frowns. “Cody, can we have some privacy, please?”

“What? Oh. Sorry. See ya tomorrow.” He slips out the door.

Ethan looks at me with raised eyebrows.

I shrug again. “What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me what the heck is going on between you and Katie.”

I release a huff. “I ended things with her, okay?”

His jaw falls so low it sweeps the floor. “You what?”

I walk over to my guitar case and place my guitar inside.

“What do you mean you ended things with her?”

Keeping my back to him, I say, “It just didn’t work out.”

“But she’s Katie .”

“I know who she is.”

“She’s perfect for you.”

I twist my neck to look at him. “How do you know who’s perfect for me?”

“Like I said, we shared a womb.”

I turn back around. “You don’t know me as well as you think, Ethan. We’ve…we’ve grown apart.”

“No, we haven’t.”

I spin around. “We have. And that’s fine. Just don’t claim you know what I’m going through when you don’t.” I march to the stairs. “Sorry for messing up practice. I’ll do better tomorrow.”

“Eric!” he calls as I climb up the stairs. But I ignore him and slam the door.