Page 61 of Full Tilt
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
The Summerlin house was trashed. I stood in the center of my room, staring at the mess. The cigarette burns in the carpet, the makeup residue in the sink, unidentifiable stains on the carpet.
“I packed for you,” Lola said from the door.
I jumped, my heart pounding. “You scared me.” My nerves were shot. I sat on the unmade bed and smoothed out the comforter, as if it helped. “This place is a disaster.”
Lola shrugged. “That’s what security deposits are for.” She crossed her arms. “So… Are you with us?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“You’re with us but are youwithus. They don’t call it a band for nothing, you know. We need to play as a whole. Are you ready to do that now?”
I shrugged, not looking at her. “Sure.”
I heard Lola sigh and shift on her heels. “Is it the guy? The limo driver?”
“What about him?”
“Is he another Chett? Another guy who’s going to fuck you up for God knows how many years? Because honestly, Kacey—”
“He’s dying.”
Lola’s arms dropped to her side. “What do you mean he’s dying?”
I stared at her, shaking my head.
Her chin tilted. “You mean like,dyingdying?”
I nodded.
“Cancer?”
“Heart failure. Slow heart failure.”
Slow failure that’s going to take him so fucking fast…
“Shit.” Lola sat next to me on the bed. “Oh, honey I’m so sorry.” She put her arms around me though I hardly felt it. “Well. You met him on Friday night, right? Or Saturday morning? Whenever you regained consciousness on his couch?”
“Yeah,” I said. “So what?”
“So… It sucks he’s sick, but you’ve known him all of four days. If that.”
I blinked at her. “And?”
“I’m just saying, you found out before you got in too deep. The last thing you’d want is to get involved with someone who can’t give you a future.”
“No.” I shot off the bed, shaking my head vigorously now. “No, you are not going to do this.”
“Do what? Give you a reality check?”
“Talk about him. You don’t know—” I waved my hands. “Never mind. I’m not talking to you about him. Or these four days. They’re mine. So, let’s…fucking go already. We have a plane to catch.”
“Glad to hear it,” said a voice at the door. Jeannie leaned against the jamb, arms crossed over her black, mid-riff-bearing shirt. She tossed a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. “You’re ready to rejoin us?”
