“I-I can’t. I don’t know. Everything has changed. You’ll see, Kitt. I can’t do this.”
“What does that mean? Why can’t you? Fuck me. You’re the one who started this. You don’t just get to end it!” My chest is working overtime. I clench the phone so tight that the muscles in my hand burn. Why did I start this conversation?
“Stop! Just please finish the shows, and enjoy it. We can talk when you get back.”
I laugh. “Are you joking? You expect me to leave it there?”
“You don’t have a choice. Things are…crazy for me at the moment. I need to work stuff out. I can’t do this right now.”
The phone goes dead, and my heart follows. I drop it on the floor and launch the bottle of whiskey at the wall. “Fuck!”
What the hell is going on with her?
Something is wrong here.
Someone knocks on my door. Milo probably since his room is the one I just threw glass at. I stalk over and wrench the door open, breathing heavily. It’s him.
“Shit,” Milo says. “What happened?”
I turn on my heel and walk back. Calm down. Get ahold of yourself.
“We’re over. She ended it,” I mutter, staring off into space.
“What? She said that?”
“Just now on the phone. Apparently, she can’t. And I pushed her to it.”
“Mate, I knew you were finding it hard to stay in touch, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”
I can see it in his eyes that he’s finally sure he and Lexi did the right thing in going separate ways before the band took off.
“I’m sorry.” He sits down. “What do you need?”
“I need her. Tex is it for me.” I lean down and put my head in my hands. “I don’t know what to do. I’m thousands of miles away, and I can’t do a fucking thing for three days.”
I don’t want to be split up for a second.
“Do you want me to talk to her?” he offers.
“It won’t do any good. But thanks. I doubt she’ll answer the phone to anyone now. She’s everything. I love her. And now, I’ve got to figure out how to make it up to her. Tex might have ended our relationship, but I was the one who let it take a backseat to my career.”
“You didn’t have a choice, man. She had to leave. It was getting dangerous. Tell her she’s not second. Make her believe you.”
I tilt my head his way and lift my eyebrow. “I will, but…tips on how?”
“Er, no, but…”
“Yeah. Exactly. I’ll never make this mistake again. Making her see she’s first might prove difficult since difficult is practically her middle name, but I’ll do it.”
Sometimes, she makes getting into MI5 look like a picnic.
You’ll be fine. It’s not over. You both know that.
“Think she’ll talk to you again if you try calling?” He smirks because he knows what she’s like, and he knows how much of a hard time I’m going to have.
I’ve never been scared off by a bit of hard work before though. And nothing is more worth it than her.
“She has to. I’m not willing to give up on us. We have to work it out.” Being apart isn’t an option. “I want everything with her.
When we get back, she’s moving in with me.” She said she was, and I’m not prepared to deviate from the plan.
“That’s going to be hard.”
“It’s not hard work when you’re with someone you love.”
Milo laughs, like I’m a clueless fool. When it comes to Tex, that’s how I feel most of the time.
“Can I be there when you tell her to pack her bags?” Milo asks, smirking.
“Fuck off.” I laugh.
THURSDAY, JULY 30
HOUSTON, TEXAS
I scroll through Facebook to have something to do. Texas has not answered or replied to my messages, and it’s driving me insane. I can’t concentrate on anything but figuring out what’s going through her head, which is impossible since she doesn’t seem to know half the time.
Don’t obsessively look at Tex’s profile. It will drive you crazy.
But I don’t have to stalk her because she’s everywhere.
My jaw hits the floor, and my heart sinks. A photo of her from the side, looking over her shoulder, kicks me in the gut. She’s topless. You can’t see much because of the angle, but she has no top on.
I read the headline.
TEXAS KNIGHT’S SEXY NEW PHOTO SHOOT
What the fuck?
I click the link and only realise I’m not breathing as my lungs burn, and black dots dance in front of my face.
“What did you do?” I mumble.
There’s an interview with Tex and Jennifer. I almost don’t want to read it. I flick down and look at the photos first. She looks different and not just because they would’ve applied all sorts of shit to her face that she doesn’t need.
Texas is older here. She’s in charge, matured, stronger.
Shit, she’s a fucking natural in front of the camera.
Her posture in each one is self-assured and flirty. It’s like looking at Jennifer, only Texas’s beauty is on another scale entirely.
But she has no top on.