Page 2 of Swan

I believed our distance wasn’t just from his days being consumed by other people, concerts, writing, recording, and tours. There was something else that made him cut off all contact with me—or else I worried that our friendship didn’t mean as much to him as it did to me.

Not that I had the courage to ever confront and ask him.

I wasn’t even sure if I should go to the rescheduled concert.

Not now.

When he’d first organised a tour five years ago, I’d been a mixed bag of excited and nervous. Then any tours for him had been cancelled due to his father becoming ill and passing, and he’d only just started up travelling again.

With now years between us, it was probably for the best if we didn’t see each other.

He obviously didn’t want anything to do with me.

Then again, if I did attend his new concert next weekend, it wasn’t like he’d spot me out of thousands. I hadn’t bought the tickets to begin with, since I wasn’t going to go, but Maya had surprised me with some, and I didn’t want her money to go to waste. However, she could take her husband or even her sister, who was only two years younger than me.

But knowing Maya, she wouldn’t let me back out of it because she also believed in fantastical dreams. Only hers had come true when her husband, Texas, finally opened his eyes and pulled his thumb out of his butt to woo her five years ago.

Maya had always thought Lockland wanted to be more than friends with me—not that she’d shared her thoughts with me when Lockland was still here. She’d waited until we’d been away on our trip to Queensland when I’d turned eighteen. I’d also told her I hadn’t even worked out that my feelings for Lockland had run deeper than friendship until after he was gone.

I was in love with my best friend, and it only took me a week of missing him to realise this.

Yet, my feelings were something I’d kept to myself even when we’d still been communicating. No way had I wanted to come between him and his stardom.

Not that I thought I would in the end.

He would never see me as something more.

None of it mattered now anyway.

Sighing again, I rolled my eyes at myself.

My thoughts had been too consumed by him lately. I’d put it down to the approaching concert, although it could have to do with seemingly everyone around me settling down into a loving relationship.

Something I was sure I’d never have.

But hadn’t I told myself just the other day that I wanted to give up on dating? Hadn’t I accepted my fate of being with no one since it would be easier?

“There’s my pretty little birdy,” Drake said as he leaned his shoulder into the wall beside me.

Drake Marcus was the son to the president, twin to Ruby, younger brother to Coyote and Maya, and the biggest flirt I’d ever met.

“Hi, Drake,” I replied, gaze roaming around the room as my cheeks heated from his words.

I hated how easily I blushed at everything.

“When are you gonna marry me, beautiful?”

Smiling, I shook my head and looked to the floor. I’d lost count of how many times he’d asked me this in the last year. For some insane reason, he loved to try his flirting techniques on me, and it made me flustered. Heck, any attention from the opposite sex spiked my nerves. Even when the women talked about anything sexual, I flushed like a virgin. Didn’t matter I was one.

“You’ll grow bored of me.” It was my usual response.

He clutched his heart. “I could never, my lovebug.” When I glanced at him, the humour faded. “You okay?” he asked.

At the sudden seriousness from him, I swallowed thickly as my emotions rose.

Lock it down, Swan.

Lock it the hell down. You will not cry at the compound.

---