Page 105 of Not Another Love Song

“I said no. I said I had the Pops.”

The tension dripped off Nathan’s face. Gwen wondered how he could even worry about that option.

“How are you?” Ava squeezed her hand. Gwen wiped away her tears, and before she could respond—

“Aha!”

Gwen and Ava looked to Nathan. He stood from the computer with a victorious smile.

“There’s no U2 show on February twelfth. That was the other free day at Carnegie.”

Gwen stared at him in confusion. She didn’t understand what he meant until Ava cleared her throat.

“Gwen and Alex broke up, dear.”

“Right,” Nathan said, waving his hand and turning his eyes on Gwen with an apologetic look in his eye. “I’m sorry, Gwen. The two of you were great together, and I’m sure this is a difficult time for you. I’m just thinking…” He moved out from behind his desk, starting to pace. “Well, think of it this way. If we kept the show on the twelfth, Alex flies in from Texas that morning…We really only need a sound check with you two. You are both accomplished enough to play without much rehearsal.”

There was ice lodging in her throat, sliding down into her stomach, sending chills throughout her body. She felt Ava’s hand stiffen in hers. Nathan continued.

“All the publicity can be done separately,” he said softly, as if that were the crushing blow. “You two wouldn’t have to even see each other until the day of—”

“You want us to still play a Valentine’s Day concert?” Gwen asked flatly. “And still advertise us as a couple?”

“People do it all the time, Gwen,” Nathan said.

Ava withdrew her hand from Gwen’s and pressed her knuckles to her lips. Gwen stared at her, asking for help, but as Ava’s fingers pressed over her mouth, Gwen could see the words fighting to escape—yet being pressed back.

“Let me contact Lorenz today. Obviously, Gordon will sub in for first cello for the rest of the season—we’ll need to rethink ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’—but I can see what Lorenz thinks about flying him in—”

“Nathan,” Gwen whispered. “I need to think about this.” He stopped his pacing and spun to her. “This is a lot to think about when we’ve just broken up.”

“Oh, Gwen, of course.” Nathan swiftly sat next to her on the couch, wedging her between Ava and himself. “Please consider it. But I think we can make this as painless as possible, and still be able to fund the rest of the season with this concert.”

Her skin felt tight. Her lungs were stiff against her ribs. She’d made such a mistake by putting her faith in him before, assuming it was all in her best interests. She felt like her rose-tinted glasses had been removed.

“I see.”

Nathan smiled and squeezed her shoulder.

When Gwen left, Ava was still running her fingers over her lips, like she could physically catch her voice before it poured out of her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Gwen had always hated December in New York. It was cold, but didn’t snow, which made her agitated—like you knew something was supposed to be happening, but the universe wouldn’t give it to you.

She received a box in the mail about a week after Boston. Sonya had boxed up all of Gwen’s personal items from Alex’s apartment and had sent a note stating that if anything else was missing to please contact her at the following number. She was furious for an hour, then cried for the next four.

So, he was just done?

She learned from Dom of all people that Lorenz had taken the band out of town for rehearsals for the tour. So she didn’t expect him knocking down her door to talk things out anytime soon anyway.

She texted him once, asking how rehearsal was going. The text didn’t go through. Gwen stared down at the phone, realizing that this was the first time in her life that anyone had blocked her. She sent a message to his Instagram account and his email and heard nothing.

The apartment felt crowded with Jacob and Declan trying to comfort her. They were always on top of her, no matter what corner she tried to hide in. Declan wanted to know more about the contracts Lorenz had with Alex, but Gwen had never known the specifics of them.

“Just a lawyer’s curiosity,” he said, making notes in his phone.

She finally told Jacob that it was all right for him to go sleep at his boyfriend’s place. She needed space.

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