Two months later
It feels good to be back in LA again. This was our longest tour, and I know we’re all ready to be home. Mainly I’m just ready to finally be back in the same city as Becka. She can’t ignore me anymore if I sit in front of her door until she opens it the fuck up.
I’ve had eight months to think about what I would say to her if she answered my texts, how I wouldn’t waste my chance with her.
I’ve already made that mistake. I won’t make it again.
But the key to my plan is to talk to her. I have to talk to her. I could’ve called her while we were on the road, but the thought that she might answer and I couldn’t just go over to her house after we worked through things made me feel antsy. I want to be near her when we work things out, so I can finally kiss her again like I’ve been dying to.
But first, we have our final show of the tour, and more importantly, Will is going to be here with his new girlfriend, Gina. I’m happy for him. He’s been alone for a long time since his fiancée died, and no one deserves happiness more than he does.
But it’s going to be damn hard to see him when I’m in love with his sister. I wonder if he knows about our falling-out? Has she talked to him about me? Or has she remained silent?
I don’t know which scenario worries me more. But either way, it’ll be good to see Will.
I walk down the hall toward my dressing room when I hear my name shouted behind me. I turn around at the familiar voice and feel my cheeks lift high in a wide smile. “Will! Damn, man, it’s good to see you!” And it is, even if it breaks my heart a little bit when I realize he doesn’t look at me any differently. He doesn’t know about me and Becka then. I paste my smile on my face, already embracing my rock star persona and hoping he can’t see the cracks.
I head toward him, and we give each other a one-armed hug.
“It’s good to see you too, man. This is my girlfriend, Gina.”
I glance at the beautiful woman next to him with golden skin and honey-brown eyes. Her dark hair flows in waves past her shoulders, and she wears a pair of dark skinny jeans and a deep red top. She’s staring at Will, a questioning look on her face, and they have a silent conversation like couples tend to do before her lips tilt up into a radiant smile.
I’d find her absolutely stunning if I wasn’t completely enamored with Becka. No one measures up to her.
“H…Hi.” She giggles, and it’s the familiar starstruck giggle I’m used to getting from fans.
I pull her into a hug. “Any girl of Will’s is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you. It’s been a long time since Will’s had a girlfriend, so you must be someone special.”
She giggles again nervously, and Will snorts at her reaction. I fight back my own smile. She’ll have to learn to get used to me if I work things out with Becka because then I’ll be hanging out with Will a lot more when I’m in town.
Will watches the hustle and bustle that is the norm backstage and gives me a look filled with admiration and pride. “You really did it.”
I can’t help feeling proud, even if this last tour was harder on me than any ever have been before. “Yeah. Some days I can’t believe this is my life. But I bet you know how it is.”
“Yeah, I can definitely relate.”
“I’d love to catch a game next time we’re in town.” I haven’t watched Will play football since high school. It would be great to see him play again.
“I’ll hook you up. Just text me.”
“Will do. You two gonna be around after? I gotta finish up my preshow ritual, but I’d love to catch up more.”
I don’t have a preshow ritual. I’m just feeling my cracks get a little wider, and I know I won’t be able to stand here much longer without asking about Becka.
Both of us look to Gina who’s staring at me, eyes wide, jaw open, in shock. Will chuckles and then says, “Yeah, we’ll be here.”
I glance at him, then Gina, then back at him before leaning forward and whispering to him conspiratorially, “I get that a lot. Don’t worry, I won’t steal your girl.”
Just your sister.
He pulls Gina closer against him, and jealousy spikes through me like a lance because I want that—I want to be able to hold Becka close to me and be that possessive of her. “I’d fight for her, so you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
I smile at him, understanding better than he even realizes. I have my own girl I’m about to fight like hell for.
I get it.
Without another word, I pat him on the back and then head to my dressing room. I’m more determined than ever to make things right with Becka, and I think I just found my opening.
The after-party is already in full swing by the time we show up. Instead of joining everyone else, I sneak away upstairs and call the one person I’ve been dying to talk to for the past eight months.
The phone rings so many times, I’m convinced she’s not going to answer. My whole body is strung tight like one of my guitar strings, but I refuse to hang up until she sends me to voice mail.
Come on, Becka. Answer the phone.
Then it stops and there’s silence. I check the phone and see the time of the call going up. She answered.
“Becka?”
When she still doesn’t say anything, I say, “I saw your brother.”
She’s silent on the other end of the phone, but I can hear her quietly breathing.
“How’ve you been?” I wait, the minutes stretching out before me like all the miles that have been between us the past eight months while I was on tour. Still, she says nothing, but she also doesn’t hang up.
My eyes close, and on a soft breath I admit, “I miss you, Becka.”
A shuddering breath travels through the line. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this, Trent,” she whispers, her voice hoarse and thick like she’s fighting back tears.
My chest tightens, and a sense of urgency overwhelms me, like if she hangs up, then that’ll be it. I’ll have lost her for good.
“Becka—” Before I’ve even finished the word, the line goes dead, and with it my hopes for salvaging my relationship with her.
I drop my hand from my face, the phone still clutched in my palm weighing it down. The sounds of the party filter into the room, and I turn just in time to see Tristan pop his head in.
“Hey, what are you doing in here? Are you actually hiding during a party in our honor?”
His smile falls as he looks me over, his eyes locking on the phone in my hand at my side. His gaze shoots back up to mine, and he steps fully into the room, closing the door behind him and silencing the rambunctious noise from the party. “Did you call her?”
I nod, still struggling to find my voice when all my energy seems to be focused on stopping the internal bleeding. That’s what happens when your heart’s ripped out, right? Even if it’s your own damn fault.
“What’d she say?”
I shake my head, fighting back my own emotions. I can’t lose her. She was struggling. That has to mean she’s not over me, right?
I stand up, a burst of energy shooting through me and that sense of urgency spreading like wildfire. “I have to go see her.”
Tristan blocks my path. “Okay, hold on a sec. What happened? What’d she say?”
I shake my head and run my hand over my head, my eyes looking everywhere around the room, unable to settle on any one spot while I try to come up with a plan.
“Trent.”
“She hardly said anything. She said she couldn’t do this, but she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.” I look at him, and he must see my desperation because he nods and says, “Okay, let’s go over to her place. I’m coming with you.”
I nod my head. “I don’t care if the whole band comes as long as I get over there tonight. I have to see her.”
We head back through the party and straight out to Tristan’s car. He turns on the car, but before we even have a chance to pull away, my aunt’s name flashes on his display as a call comes through the Bluetooth.
“Why would Aunt Jenny be calling this late? It’s gotta be nearly three a.m. in Texas,” Tristan asks aloud and then accepts the call.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Tris, do you know where Trent is?”
Tristan and I both look at each other, our brows furrowed in concern. “I’m right here. What’s going on?”
“It’s Ted. He’s had a heart attack.” Her voice breaks, and she takes a minute to compose herself. I lean my elbow on the window and put my hand against my head as reality comes crashing down around me.
Once again, I’m getting pulled away from Becka before I have a chance to fix things. But my aunt and uncle are the only family Tristan and I have left. So as much as it guts me, I start looking up flight information and texting Miles, Kasen, and Robbie. I find us a flight out in a few hours, which gives us just enough time to head straight to LAX.
As the plane pulls away from the ground, I look out the window watching LA fading away and knowing my heart is down there somewhere with someone who doesn’t even know it belongs to her.