Page 3

I can practically hear him shaking his head. “No. No, I don’t want you to do that. Shit, I know she would. But you promised her; I did as well. She said it’s a very important wedding, and I feel so fucking bad already for having to bail on her…”

I know that. Of course I know that, since I’ve been hearing about this wedding for months now. But, shit…

“Don’t you want to see me?”

“I do. Babe, you know I do. So, so, bad.”

“Then why don’t you want me to come over?” God, I sound like a whiny bitch.

“I do want you to come over, and I’m going to do my very best to see if we can fix something in the next couple of weeks okay?

But you have to help your parents. I can’t stand that I have to cancel on her.

But she’s your mom, and I already feel bad that I can’t follow through on my promise to help.

I don’t want to pull you away from the wedding, either. ”

Christ. I rub my face in annoyance. Yes, he’s had some weird worship for my mother ever since he met her and doesn’t want to disappoint her. And yes, she needs the extra hands. So, I get it. Doesn’t mean I like it. Fuck this shit.

“The tour is still ten more weeks,” I mumble. “With training starting up again before college starts, I won’t have the time to meet.” I won’t see him until mid-October, and I haven’t seen him since early freaking June .

“I know. I know . Shit, I’m so, so sorry,” he repeats. “But I’m going to put our manager on this, make something happen in our schedule, okay? I fucking promise I’ll see you before those ten weeks are up.”

I rub my face as I sigh. “Yeah okay. We’ll make something happen. It’s not your fault, Jacie. But shit, I just miss you.”

“I miss you, too. More than anything , please believe me. I’m home for four months after this tour ends. That’s something, right? Four entire months? I have to go to LA every couple of days to record and for other shit… But it’s an easy commute.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” I let myself fall backward on my stupid bed, staring at the stupid ceiling of my stupid room, not letting myself even think about the possibility that he can fix a meetup for the near future. “What are you doing?” I ask when the background music on his end of the line fades.

“I’m walking back to the bus. Fuck the afterparty and the video.”

“Why?”

“Because I will not party it up and pretend to be fucking happy in front of a camera when you’re sad.”

“At least one of us is,” I grumble in a low voice.

“What’s that?”

“I’ll blow out my birthday candles alone instead of blowing you.” It’s a low blow, yes pun intended, and I know it’s not fair to him. It’s not like he is in control of his highly demanding schedule. But still… It’s been too long.

“Tyler, baby, please …”

I let out a sigh and rub my aching heart, feeling drained. “Yeah… I’m sorry… It just sucks sometimes, okay?”

“I know, Ty. I know … Please don’t apologize. It sucks all the time, actually.” It’s quiet for a bit, both of us drowning in our own heartbreak, that knot inside of me tightening again. “Tell me something new,” he eventually says in a soft voice, almost pleadingly.

“Something new?”

“Yeah… Tell me something I don’t know about you, or something new that happened today. Tell me something. Anything.”

He’s trying to divert the topic, and it’s working. The corner of my mouth pulls up in a soft smile, having the perfect anecdote from today.

“Lamar got stuck beneath a halter on the bench press today. I’ve never heard so many swear words that include goats.”

Jace snorts. “Goats?”

“Yes, he hates them.”

“Like he hates fish?”

“Yeah, afraid they can chew his dick off while swimming, remember?”

Jace laughs again. “Please tell me you captured it on video. How did he manage that? Didn’t you spot him?”

“Oh, I wanted to, but he called me a pussy and said he could easily bench three-fifty, didn’t need the help from—and I quote—Captain Crop-Top.”

“Captain Crop-Top?”

“Yeah, it has come to my attention that tumble drying polyester gym shirts is not a good idea.”

A snicker again on the other end of the line, and I cannot contain my smile at hearing the sound. I love his laugh. I miss his laugh. I miss him.

“Jace?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me something sweet,” I almost mumble, repeating his choice of words from earlier.

He doesn’t hesitate. “I love you more than I love French fries.”

I let out a soft chuckle. “Wow, that’s big. We all know your dedication to fries.”

He snorts again. “I know, but my dedication to you is bigger. I can live without fries. But I cannot live without you.”

Closing my eyes, I store those words away, keeping them safe. Keeping me sane.

“I love you, too. You know that, right? I didn’t mean to get… that agitated, I guess.”

“That’s okay. I’m agitated too; I get it. Your feelings are valid, babe.” He then lets out a defeated sigh and mutters something unintelligible under his breath. “Missy followed me. She looks pissed that I bailed.”

My mouth pulls up at the corner when I hear a very familiar feminine voice giving my boyfriend some sort of lecture. I can’t make out the words, but her stubbornness is legendary and I’m positive she’s going to drag him back if he doesn’t start walking soon.

“Just go back, Jacie. It’s okay. Make that video,” I butt in when there’s a lull in their conversation. I might not like it; shit, if it were up to me I’d talk to him the entire night, but I know he has obligations.

Another heavy sigh. “But I don’t want to.”

“I know you don’t want to. But you have a contract, so you kind of have to make that video. Call me after?” I hate to be the practical one right now, but he does have a career to think about. One he’d do about anything for.

Including leaving me.

Yeah, not going there, buddy.

“I’ll see if I can find some other time in the schedule, okay?” He sounds almost desperate. “There must be some consecutive days off somewhere. ”

“I’m sure there are.” There are none. Not where I don’t have a game or mandatory training and he doesn’t have a show or other commitments. We already checked this multiple times.

“Fuck. She’s giving me the death glare. You sure you don’t want me to stay on?”

“ Go. It’s fine. Make a killer video for me, okay? Say hi to everyone.”

He grumbles something that sounds like an agreement, and we say our goodbyes.

When the call disconnects, I swear something incomprehensible, and in a fit of unexpected rage, flick my phone away. The satisfactory crack when it slams against the wall is nothing compared to the crack in my heart that breaks further.

This summer officially sucks even more.