Page 70 of Between Never and Forever
“Ready to roll.”
I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main road that will lead us out of town and to the highway. The film studio is a forty-minute drive up the coast, and the ride is an easy one. Minimal traffic and clear skies.
"You think she’ll be there?” Brynn pipes up from the back, and my shoulders stiffen.
“Probably not,” I say, more hopeful than certain. “They don’t start filming for a few more days.”
I glance in the rearview mirror to find Brynn frowning out the window, her little index finger tapping out beats of four on her thigh.
“I’ll get to meet her, though, right?”
I pause before I answer, thinking over the best way to say it.
“I don’t know, Brynn. She’ll be working.”
“But you can ask?”
I glance at her again. Her finger is tapping faster, her frown more pronounced.
“Yeah, Boss. I can ask.”
Her shoulders visibly relax, and when her frown eases away, I bring my eyes back to the road. All the tension she’d felt moments before has left her and entered me. I consciously unclench my hands from around the steering wheel, then turn on some music. It only takes ten minutes before a song by The Hometown Heartless comes on, and Brynn sings along loudly in the back seat. I try to focus on her voice and not the one on the radio.
I’m a wreck. I haven’t slept, and when I do, I dream of Savannah. Savannah then and Savannah now.
I do my best to ignore the click-bait surrounding The Hometown Heartless, but it is literally everywhere. Television. Radio. Hell, even my favorite podcast has discussed it.
Rumors have been soaring since the band announced their “hiatus.” Early headlines cited drug use and the tumultuous relationship between Sav Loveless and the band’s bassist, Torren King, as the reason behind the split. My teeth grit at every mention of Torren King. My last encounter with him wasn’t a good one. I can still picture him fucked up and scrambling in the sand after I ripped his brother off Savannah. I haven’t been able to stand him since.
Which makes the newest headlines even harder to digest.
The band released a joint statement debunking break-up rumors and saying relationships within the band are strong as ever.
We are taking a break to work on individual projects, but we still have the utmost love and respect for each other, the statement said.
Then, last week, Sav Loveless was spotted in L.A. wearing a giant emerald on her left ring finger. They haven’t confirmed or denied the engagement rumors swirling, but I feel it in my gut. My hypocrisy is so loud it’s nearly deafening, my own ring finger feeling itchy and uncomfortable for the first time in years. The silicone ring on my left hand can usually be ignored. I barely feel it, and it’s not a hazard on a construction site. But recently? It’s felt just as heavy as it did in the beginning, when it was brushed gold and strangling.
“Dad,” Brynn says, shaking me from my thoughts.
I can tell by the frustration in her tone that she’s called for me more than once. I reach up and turn down the radio.
“Yeah, Boss?” I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror.
“After we go to Penn and Paige, can we get smoothies?” I nod and she grins. “Thank you!”
I turn the radio back up and we listen to it the rest of the drive. Thankfully, another one of The Hometown Heartless songs doesn’t come on before we’re pulling up to the security gate at the studio. I roll my window down and grab my badge from the dashboard. It’s more of a formality than anything.
“Gonna be seein’ a lot of you for the next few months, I guess,” Tucker says as he signs me in on his clipboard.
“Long as they’re shooting, my team has to be here.”
Tucker grins then glances to the back seat, giving Brynn a wave before opening the barrier gate and letting us through.
“Have a great day, Levi.”
I nod and pull through without another word.
When I put the truck in park outside the sound stage, Brynn is already unbuckled and ready to run. She hops out and jogs up next to me, eyes scanning the parking lot for I don’t even know what.
