Page 91 of Love is a Lyric
Even as he thought the words, he knew they weren’t true. That wasn’t Piper.
“Stop moving!” Quinn’s yell reverberated through the room.
Conner joined them, and they were three points of a triangle, none working without the other.
“Quinn.” Conner looked from Ben to Quinn. “It’s time, don’t you think?”
A sob escaped the normally unaffected Quinn, an icy woman who didn’t let emotions affect her. And then another. Tears tracked down her cheeks, and Ben couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her cry.
Ben couldn’t take it. He pulled her into a hug, marveling at how she no longer seemed to fit perfectly against him. He’d once let the music trick him into believing they were made for each other. Now, she felt foreign in his arms.
And still, he didn’t let go. No matter what happened between them, he’d always care about her.
He rested his chin on her head. “What do you need to tell me? Is this about Piper?”
She nodded against him and pulled back. “But first…” She worked the ring down her finger and held it out. “We should never have agreed to the label’s idea.”
He took the ring and stared down at it.
“What idea?” Conner’s eyes narrowed, and he didn’t wait for them to answer. “No, you guys… You let them bully you into an engagement?”
Ben sighed. “We didn’t see another way. They threatened to drop us if we didn’t fix our PR problem.”
“So?” Conner stared at them. “We let them. Though, that’s not going to happen as long as we have Piper’s songs. We hold the power here. You can’t let them—”
“Conner,” Quinn cut him off, her expression pained.
Ben couldn’t breathe. Piper’s songs.
Piper’s songs.
Conner didn’t stop. “Fatecan survive the golden couple’s break up. We’re about the music. I just don’t want you to have to—”
“Conner!” Quinn fixed her wide eyes on Ben. “Shut up for a moment.”
“No.” Ben lifted his gaze to hers. “Conner you need to tell me what you meant. Right now.”
“Well, you and Quinn—”
“Not about us,” he growled. “Piper.”
His face flushed. “Oh shizznit, I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Conner.”
“Yeah, yeah, fine, but I really think it’s something Quinn should explain. I only found out recently.”
The air charged around them, electricity sparking off Ben’s gaze, his words. And Quinn? She’d never looked so small.
A shuddering breath pushed past her lips. “I don’t want you to hate me.”
Those words deflated something inside him, and he reached for her hand. His free hand landed on Conner’s shoulder, connecting them all to each other. “Whatever is going on,Fatewill survive it. I’m sorry I disappeared after what happened, and I know you two are sorry for hurting me. That’s past. But it’s time for honesty. We never used to keep anything from each other. Whatever it is, this band will be okay.”
Quinn shook her head and stepped away from them, her lips quivering as she tried to speak. “You’re wrong, Benji. I’ve always kept something from you.”
She hadn’t called him Benji since they were kids, teenagers dreaming of the kind of lives they now lived, the kind that no longer seemed to matter. He didn’t speak, only waited.
Quinn stepped around him and walked back into the living room, sinking into a leather recliner that kept her apart from Ben and Conner.
