Page 53 of Just Wait

“I’m fine,” I croak, trying to figure out how to get past him without bodychecking him.

“Such a blatant lie.” His long, dark hair falls over his face as his head tilts. “You really love him.”

I nod.

Speaking would be dangerous.

If I open my mouth, I’m afraid I’ll ugly cry.

“All right, kid,” Parish says. “You need a hug and a pick-me-up. The best way to make it through a bad breakup is to get shitfaced. Once that wears off, you climb on the next well-shaped dick you find. Rinse and repeat. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

I snort as he pulls me in for a hug.

“Now who’s going a little too hard?” Tennyson asks, laughing. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I’m cutting up lines now.”

Sometimes I wonder if I’m a hypocrite for being angry with my dad for not even trying to face his addiction. In all honesty, I’m probably just as bad as him. When I was younger, I swore I’d never touch drugs or alcohol, but being around it so frequently made it easy to get lost in.

Life was depressing and everyone I knew was high all the time. It was natural to join in.

Parish pats my back awkwardly before releasing me and gesturing to the living room.

You really are a hypocrite, some dark part of my subconscious taunts. Maybe I am, but at least I can put off the pain for a while longer.

Chapter Fourteen

Riser

Lumen fits in just fine with the rest of us. She buries her misery like a champ, faking a lightness she doesn’t feel.

I once again curse my genetics for making me overly empathetic. There’s no way for me not to experience her pain right along with her.

We only have a few hours until we’re due inside the venue. It takes a while to do our hair, makeup, and get us into our wardrobe for the night.

I’m antsy enough that I do a line when Ten offers, but it doesn’t help. If anything, it amps up my instincts to an entirely different level. No matter how I try to spin the information in my head, I don’t have a way to fix it.

The shitty part is, I don’t think her ex is straight-up evil. I shamelessly listened to most of their conversation because I wanted to be around if she needed backup.

He’s an idiot, that’s for sure.

He fucked up.

I’m guessing he started to feel left out, watching his bandmates bagging groupies left and right. Only, he realized real quick that new and different doesn’t equal better.

Sadly, that was a lesson he had to learn for himself. No amount of hearing it from someone wiser than him would have helped.

At least, that’s the impression I got after talking to him once Lumen came onto the bus. He seemed really broken up about how everything went down, but I have no empathy for him.

He hurt her, and he knows as much.

He’s still in denial, thinking their relationship is salvageable if he puts in the work.

Hell, maybe it is.

It’s clear that she cares about him.

Only, she seemed resolute.

At this point, their trust is obliterated. Even if she took his dumb ass back, it would never be the same. He’s just too frantic to see that.