Page 48 of Love is a Lyric
The phone rang in his hand, and he answered it with a sigh. “Hey, Mel.”
“About time you answer my call. Ben, what is going on? Piper has kept me in the loop, but why haven’t you returned to L.A.? What are you doing in Ohio?”
“I wasn’t due to return to L.A. for a few months, Mel.”
“That was before you abandoned your bandmates on vacation.”
“Abandoned, Mel—”
“I know what happened, Ben. But… Quinn is back in L.A..”
Shock jolted through him. “What?” He sat up straighter. “What is she doing there?”
“What do you think? It’s Quinn.”
He cursed. There was only one reason she’d go to L.A. before she had to. To be seen. “She’s preparing to tilt the story her way.”
“I’m meeting with her tomorrow, and I’ll convince her to keep her mouth shut, but we both know how she is. She says she has a number of songs for the label, but they don’t have music yet.”
He closed his eyes, his fingers itching to get ahold of those songs, to write the notes that would make them soar. “Our first two songs are due to them next week.”
“What do you want to do?”
He wanted to never see Quinn again. He wanted to turn back the clock. But this was no longer about him.Fatehad a contract, one he wouldn’t break. Because the music mattered. Not their feelings. Not their wishes.
Only the music.
“Send me the lyrics. I’ll see what I can do.”
He could practically hear Melanie smile. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Suck up to someone who doesn’t know you.”
She laughed. “You sound better than I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know, Ben. You and Quinn have been together for so long I can’t imagine you apart. But there was always a guarded way about you when she was around. I don’t hear it now.”
She was right. He’d soon have Quinn’s songs without the relationship, and he felt lighter than he had in a long time. “I think I’ll be okay.”
One conversation. That was all it had taken to go from the utter despair crushing him to a path to healing.
One promise.
The songs.
“I think so too.” Melanie paused. “I’ll get the songs from Quinn and send them to you.”
“Thanks, Mel.”
“Anytime. And stop ignoring Rockstars Anonymous. Whether you wanted it or not, they care about you. Answer their calls. Talk later.”
Ben sighed as he opened his messages. Melanie was right. He couldn’t ignore the people who cared.
He scrolled through texts from Drew and Noah before stopping on a name he didn’t know he’d see. Conner. He stared at his best friend’s name for a long moment before tapping the message.
It started with apology after apology. Unlike Quinn—who hadn’t messaged—Conner seemed filled with guilt. That was something, at least.
