Page 71 of Composed
“Yes you do,” he presses, the weight of his words heavy in the air.
My eyes burn.
“I just…” I slam them shut as I feel Saint approaching me. “He wasthere. He was right there in front of me, asking me.” My board crashes to the floor as I hug my arms around my waist. “And I just couldn’t say no to him.”
“Did you try to say no?”
A choked sob spills from my lips. “I didn’t even think to.”
I hear him suck in a drag and blow it out, not once, but twice.
“Okay, then."
“Okay, then?” I spin, zeroing in on Saint. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”
“That’s all I’m gonna say.” He lifts a shoulder, shoves a hand in his pocket, and spins on feet.
He saunters away, hips swaggering, frame light.
A part of me wants to chase after him, to tell him that whatever he’s thinking is wrong. Another part of me wants nothing more than to turn around and do exactly what he said I do when everything gets hard.
I stay rooted to the spot, doing neither.
Then he halts.
Twisting slowly, he drags his eyes down my face.
“You know what,” he shouts across to me. “I have one more thing to say to you.”
I scoff.Because I can handle one more hard truth from the guy I once called a brother.“Throw it at me.”
He does—literally.
Keys arc through the air.
I snatch them before they can hit me square in the face.
Cold metal bites into my palm. I glance down at the silver microphone dangling from the keyring.
I flick my gaze to Saint and my gut churns in confusion.
The corner of his mouth is curved softly, blue irises swirling like the ocean. “Don’t fucking blow it this time by letting go.”
Chapter twenty-three
Hendrix • Then
The Anthem – Good Charlotte
Seventeen Years Old
Whatthehelldoesa girl wear to her boyfriend’s first official gig?
The guys have been a proper band for a while now—rehearsing, finding their sound, playing the songs Cole and I have written for them—but they’ve never done a test run outside the garage.
I flick through the wardrobe and pull out a pair of half-tartan, half-black skinny jeans, then snag a Fall Out Boy top from the top shelf.
A studded belt comes next. My favourite high-top Converse, thick black winged liner, and poker-straight hair finish the look.
