Page 46 of Such A Dirty Girl

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So I closed the distance.

Grief tainted our kiss. All the heat and longing had been replaced with a shared loss.

Beer and saliva.

For one breathless second, I pretended like everything was okay. Like my secret hadn’t blown up our world.

Pretending that the two of us could be enough.

Without Jake.

Drew pulled back, his hands resting on my shoulders as his brows drew together.

‘It feels wrong without him,’ I whispered as my throat tightened.

‘ I know,’ he said, wrapping me in his powerful arms like he wasn’t falling apart too.

We stood there and breathed each other in. Two broken people that didn’t quite fit without our third puzzle piece.

Drew’s phone buzzed on the counter, the screen flooding the dim room with light.

Again.

And again.

And again.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked, my voice muffled against his hoodie.

He pulled away and swiped the screen. At first his face was unreadable. But then it fell.

‘The scout,’ he whispered. ‘He got Jake signed.’

‘We should be happy for him.’ Yet, it felt like someone reached into my stomach and yanked out my guts.

‘He’s moving to Australia. Halfway across the fucking world.’ Dew launches his phone against the wall, making me jump.

My heart slammed against my ribs with just as much force.

‘He’s running from us,’ I said.

Jake is leaving.

‘No,’ I whispered.

I shook my head hard, unwilling to accept it.

‘No, Drew. We can’t let him go. Not like this.’

Drew nodded, his hands gathering mine up and squeezing them tight.

‘He’s ours,’ Drew growled.

‘Then let’s get him back.’

And I knew. Whatever this was between us, whatever mess we’d made, it wasn’t over.

TWENTY-SEVEN

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