Page 115 of Sing Your Secrets

Petey scoffs. “Hell no. I think I earned your friendship back, and that’s a different kind of love, but still love. I’m grateful.”

And there he is. The old Petey, maybe the real Petey, has made a comeback.

“Where’d you go?” I release a noise somewhere between a laugh and a cry. “Why couldn’t you have been this guy? Why couldn’t you have treated me this well when we were together? Why wasn’t I enough for you back then?”

Petey shifts, his knee knocking against mine as he turns to face me head-on. “Enough for me?” His brows cinch in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“You were the perfect boyfriend until you got a taste of fame. I wondered for so long why I wasn’t enough to keep your attention. I was loyal and patient, and I kept things drama-free. I spent years thinking that I wasn’t pretty enough, or smart enough, or wild enough to keep the spark going for us. But somehow you stopped seeing me, you stopped caring, and I’m always going to wonder what fell short in your eyes.” I sniffle openly. “And I’m scared whatever fell short for you, is going to fall short for Miles too.”

He groans loudly as he throws his head back. “I think you took my behavior way too personally.”

“Excuse me?” What an odd thing for him to say.

“A man doesn’t treat a woman poorly because she did something wrong. I wasn’t punishing you. I was a fool and a child. I fucked us. You were everything I should’ve wanted, and you have to stop blaming yourself because I was in self-destruct mode. I’m sorry that you had to stand by and wait as I grew up.” He squeezes my shoulder. “I’m so sorry I didn’t grow up fast enough.”

“Petey…I—”

I can’t find the words. I imagine the approving nods of my best friends. I’m almost certain even they’d approve of Petey’s apology. Maybe the truth is we were always doomed to end because of timing. Maybe no matter how good it started, what we sacrificed, how we looked, how we acted…we were always meant to be a moment in each other’s life, not forever. And perhaps that doesn’t mean we failed.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “I needed to hear that.”

“You’re welcome.” He rubs his hands together. “I’m always going to have you in my heart, Reese. I’d do anything for you”—he raises one brow at me—“including talk Miles out of this deal if you want me to. I can tell him about the ugly side of it.”

I shake my head furiously, my thick ponytail whipping me in the face. “No. Don’t do that. I want Miles to make the right decision for him. I don’t want to pull the puppet strings. I’m just…I don’t know…emotional. I got into a huge fight with my mom. She basically told me my only personality trait is chasing men, and I’m a doormat who keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. I mean…is she right? Am I?”

“Your mom…” Again, Petey mumbles something under his breath. “Do you know that about six months after you left me and moved back to Denver, she called me? We’d just broken up for the hundredth time and she told me if I ever came within a mile of her daughter again, she’d personally cut off my dick with a rusty knife and a big smile on her face. She told me the prison time would be well worth it.”

My face twists in surprise. Hot damn. “I didn’t know that. What’d you say?”

Petey snorts in laughter. “Well obviously I didn’t listen, but no lie, I was intimidated.” His eyes go wide. “I still kind of am. Your mom is something when she wants to be.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is a bitch.”

“I think the word I’m looking for is scared.”

“What?”

“Yeah—your mom is vicious…when she’s scared. For you. For your dad. She only knows how to protect her family in one way. I’m not saying it’s the right way. But she’s a fucking pistol because she loves you so much, Reese. And when your heart breaks, so does hers. I know her delivery sucks, but at least you have a mom that fights for you.”

My heart twists in my chest at Petey’s profound statement. “I brought you here so we could have a bash fest as I vent about what a jerk she is,” I grumble. “You weren’t supposed to make me feel bad.”

“Sorry,” he shrugs and picks up the slushy, and takes another hesitant sip before he pretends to gag. “My bad. She’s a stone-cold bitch.”

Scoffing, I roll my eyes as I snatch my drink back. “If you don’t like it, quit drinking it.”

“I never liked these. I’m sensitive to brain freeze.”

“Then why’d you go get slushies with me for years?”

“Because you loved them.”

Fucking Petey.My dark knight in shining armor, too many years, too late.

“Is she right? Is Miles going to see me as old news once he’s a superstar and Elite starts making billboards out of him?”

Groaning, he leans back on his hands, burying his palms into the rough concrete of the sidewalk. “It’s not as glamorous as all that. Elite makes you an employee. Parker fought tooth and nail to fix my contract after they made a fool out of me. Somehow, between two records I made millions, yet my royalties weren’t enough for a down payment on a used car. I know you think I hit the limelight and ditched you, but I was bought and paid for and was at their complete mercy. I barely had a say in where I was going and what music I was making. You’re in so much debt to the label that the only way out is to continue pumping out hits. But the more you make…the more they want you to make. Miles is in for a rude awakening, I’ll tell you that much.”

I slurp until I hit the bottom of the cup. Right on cue, I feel the pressure build in my bladder. “I don’t think that’s what he wants.”

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