Page 18 of Got to be You

“No, and I don’t need you to do that. I just want you to give him this if you see him.”

I should walk away from Jax without giving him anything, but I need to leave him some parting words so he knows that I haven’t done this out of hate, but because it’s the right thing to do, to protect myself. It also contains the necklace so that he can do whatever he wants with it. Even take it back, if that is what he needs to do. I don’t know, I just know I can’t have it. This is my final farewell.

“Okay, are you sure? This is what you want to do?”

I nod, knowing that I’m fully decided on all of this. This is the only way that I want to end this saga of my life. Who knew when I walked into this place that it would have such an effect on me? I sure never did. But since it has, walking away with my head held as high as I can manage is the only way out of this.

I know I’ll fall apart afterward, but Katie will be there, and no one will know. I can save at least that much face.

“Then I’ll do it for you, Lilly. Whatever you need.”

13

JAX

“So, you will not be finishing your college education?” the administrator asks me with a slightly judgy tone. But it doesn’t do anything to quell my good mood. Nothing will now. “You won’t be returning?”

“I’m signed to a record label in LA, so no, I won’t be returning.” I laugh. “Thank you, though. I appreciate it. It’s been a great time here and everything, and I’ve learned a lot, but it isn’t for me.”

She runs through some information about the college tuition which has already been covered and how I won’t be able to get it back because I’ve taken a place from someone else, but all of that is just background noise as well. I’ll be able to pay my father back once the cash starts rolling in, anyway…

Not that he sees it the same way. Wow, I don’t know if he’ll ever speak to me again. He lost his shit when I told him, but I’m hoping that my mom will be able to calm him down at some point. It doesn’t make any difference to me, anyway. I’m doing this, I’m determined, I’m following my goal to the end.

“Yeah, that’s great.” I stand up in the middle of her talk because I don’t need to hear this. I know what I’m doing now. I know what I’m giving up. I don’t need reminding. “Thank you for handling it. I’m going to pack up my room. As I’m sure you can imagine, I have a lot to get sorted before I leave.”

She shoots me a glare like I’m being rude right now, but she lets me leave quietly. I’m kinda over all of this now. It’s hard being back here knowing where my life is going to take me. This place feels like the past, like something I don’t need to be dealing with anymore. I’m keen to get started, to get moving, to be an official part ofLionHeartand to start living out my real life already.Not long now…

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel the eyes of everyone upon me as I cross the college campus back to my dorm room. It’s probably because everyone has heard what’s happening to me already and they want a little piece of me before I go. I wouldn’t be surprised if people are snapping pictures of me already, which is hilarious and something that I’m going to have to get used to once I’m famous. When I was in the VIP section of that night club, it was crazy with people needing to get to the celebrities, and all that the guys and I could think about was how that would be us soon enough. We are going to be the famous ones.

Better get used to this,I think to myself smilingly.This will be my life. But not here, in Hollywood.

Fuck, it really is everything I’ve ever wanted. I feel like I’m soaring higher than air, like I’m dancing on the clouds and everyone is looking at me with admiration in their gazes. This is everything to me.

“Adam! How are you?” I call out gleefully as I step into the room, basically forgetting about his feelings when it comes to my future. Unfortunately, he’s gutted as well, but I can’t live my life just for him.

“Yeah, okay,” he replies flatly, barely looking up from his book. “Did you do it already? Did you tell them?”

“Yep, all sorted out. I get the impression that you will have the benefit of no more roommate all year long because all of my fees have been covered, so at least you have that as a plus.”

His eyes light up a little bit. “Does that mean if you come to visit, you can stay with me?”

“Er, sure.” Honestly, I don’t think I’ll have any time to visit, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. Adam is already gutted enough, even more so that he started the ball rolling, so I don’t need to make it worse. “It will be like nothing has changed. You and me, sharing a room again.”

“Exactly. That’s what I’ll be holding out for.” Adam chews down on his bottom lip for a moment thoughtfully, and I brace myself with the preparation that he might be about to come out with a dramatic emotional speech that might actually get to me through the bubble of happiness. “Hey, Jax, can I ask you something about your time in LA?” Oh, I guess not then. I nod. “Well, I haven’t wanted to mention it before in case it was a touchy subject, but you haven’t brought it up so I kinda have to.”

“Huh?” I cock my head to one side curiously. “What are you talking about?”

“Amber. The pop star chick.” He shifts awkwardly where he sits. “There are all these pictures of you guys kissing, and I don’t know if that means you’re dating her or not.”

“Kissing?” I gasp out in complete and utter shock. “What do you mean? I didn’t kiss her. She was a bit full on with me, but she was like that with everyone. I wouldn’t have kissed her because of Lilly.”

Lilly. Oh, my God. My blood runs ice cold. I haven’t been to see Lilly yet because I know she’s busy with classes all day and I wanted to get everything else sorted out first, but now I’m starting to see why she hasn’t been in touch with me. Because she thinks that I kissed Amber while in LA.

“Show me these pictures,” I demand. “I need to see them. I need to know what happened.”

Adam looks bashful as he hands me his phone, and I can instantly see why. It really does look like I’m kissing her, but to be honest, I definitely wasn’t. I think we were just talking in the corner of the room and I couldn’t hear her very well. It’s a split second taken from a whole night out and taken out of context. All of a sudden, the attention that I liked so much only moments before hurts.

“Shit, Adam,” I groan. “This isn’t what it looks like. Not at all. Lilly must hate me.”

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