Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 67644 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67644 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Maybe my late-night phone calls with Griffith are just catching up to me.” My voice cracked on his name, and any hope I had of her accepting my excuse flew out the window.
“Sit down before you pass out,” she ordered, practically shoving me into a chair before she stomped over to the door. After flipping over the “Open” sign, she turned the lock and hurried back to my side. Crouching down in front of me, she took my hands in hers and squeezed.
My sister’s simple gesture of comfort blasted through my already weak defenses, and suddenly I was bawling uncontrollably. Aurora wrapped her arms around me and held on until I got it all out of my system. Then she shoved some tissues into my hand and asked, “Do I need to drive to LA and kick some rock star ass? Because I totally will.”
“Maybe?” I sniffled after I blew my nose. “But we both know that you’re not really going to hop in your car and head to LA just because Griffith might be getting ready to break up with me.”
“I don’t know any such thing. It’s not like I didn’t warn him what would happen if he hurt you.” She grabbed the extra chair from behind the counter, rolled it in front of me, and dropped down onto it. “But first I need more details. I have to make sure Griffith has earned the kind of crap I have in store for him if I’m forced to take a road trip out there.”
Aurora was one of the nicest people I’d ever known, but she was also fierce when it came to protecting the people she loved. There were a few mean girls who’d tried to bully Ariel when she was a sophomore in high school. It’d only gone on for two days before another freshman told me about it, and I went running to Aurora, who was a senior. She took care of the situation that night. I never found out exactly what she’d done to them, but two of the girls transferred to another school and the other went running in the opposite direction any time she saw one of us.
Judging by the intense gleam in her eyes, I had no doubt that she’d find a way to make Griffith pay if he broke my heart. But it wasn’t much comfort since I’d rather have my sexy rock god than revenge. “He hasn’t earned whatever it is you’re cooking up in your brain. Or at least, not yet.”
Aurora made a circular gesture with her hand, telling me to get on with it. After taking a deep breath to steady myself, the story spilled out. I shared all my fears about Griffith with her, but she looked less than impressed when I was done.
“That’s it?”
I nodded and let out a shuddering breath.
“Belle, you’re my sister. I love you, and I’ll always have your back.” She tapped my apron, right over my cell phone. “But call him. Now.”
“Nuh uh. No way.” I shook my head. “I can’t talk to him now. I’m a mess, and he’s probably asleep.”
“Quit making excuses.” She pulled my phone out of my apron and handed it to me. “I don’t know if it’s because this is the first time you’ve ever been in a relationship or what, but you’re not thinking clearly. Your emotions are all over the place, and you’re letting them build this up into something big when it could be any number of things that don’t have anything to do with breaking up with you.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?” I sounded doubtful, but I really hoped she came up with about a million different reasons that I could hold onto.
“Things could be going bad with the album Rising Phoenix is recording, and it’s pissing him off because it means he’ll have to wait longer to see you again. One of his bandmates could be going through a rough time, and Griffith is preoccupied thinking about how he can help them. It could be as simple as him missing you, and like most guys he sucks at sharing his emotions.” She’d been ticking her points off with her fingers and waved her hand in my face. “There you go, that’s three ideas right off the top of my head. I could keep going, or you could just call the man and ask him.”
“I don’t know,” I whispered, looking down at my phone. “It’ll hurt so much if he really does want to end things.”
“If falling in love makes it impossible for you to use your brain, I hope it’s a long time before it happens to me,” she muttered. “Putting off talking to him isn’t helping anything. You’re already hurting enough that it’s messing with your sleep and appetite.”
Falling in love.
It hit me when Aurora said it; I wasn’t just falling. I was already in love with Griffith. Maybe that was why my emotions were all over the place lately.