Jess relaxed her stiff posture and sighed. “I love you.”
“You too,” he whispered, hating himself for not being able to say the words. It was true when they’d been together before he always said the same phrase. Now, however, his inability to say it was for an entirely different reason. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Jess. He did. She was one of the most important people in his life. It was how he loved her that had changed.
It was still dark when his alarm sounded. As quietly as possible, he gathered his things and crept into the kitchen. His leg bounced with indecision as he stared at the blank sheet of paper on the table. He knew it was shitty to leave a note, but he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing her cry when he walked out the door. It was selfish, but after all the pain he’d caused over the last several months, he wasn’t surprised.
When headlights shone through the window as a car turned onto the long driveway, he walked back into the bedroom and moved to Jess’s side. With a gentle hand, he pushed the hair off her forehead and pressed his lips to her cheek. He lingered there for a moment before slipping back out the door. In the kitchen once more, he grabbed his bag and looked at the blank page. Tightening his jaw, he grabbed the pen and wrote the words he couldn’t bring himself to say before he disappeared into the still dark morning.
I didn’t want to wake you. I’ll call you when I land. I love you.
Chloe grabbed her violin case and wiped the sweat from her brow as she slammed her rental car door shut. Once she was back in LA for good, she was going to have to buy a car. The thought caused annoyance to crease her forehead. She reminded herself of the things she would gain now that she was a resident of sunny California to help soothe the agitation of all the changes her life would undergo, many of which she was less than pleased about.
As she crossed the parking lot to the recording studio, she let the memory of waking up in her new home wash over her. The quiet of her surroundings. No screaming kids as they raced down the hallway of her floor to make it to school on time. No blaring car stereos or constant yelling neighbors as they fought over the husband’s latest screw-up. Chloe knew that LA wasn’t some relaxing suburbia, but the location of Josie’s house was far more ideal to that of her cramped Brooklyn apartment. The bathrooms alone were reason enough to smile.
Josie. It was going to be so nice having her good friends so close. Friends she didn’t have to explain herself to because they got her. Even her mother couldn’t hide her pleasure in Chloe moving so close to Josie and Holden. While it still wasn’t the path she would have chosen for Chloe, it was better than her living in Brooklyn and playing in bars to make ends meet. At least she felt Chloe had a real chance of success in LA.
Her stomach fluttered with nerves as she approached the front door of the studio. She wasn’t certain why the schedule had changed, but when Tom sent her a text to meet at the studio two days earlier than planned, she didn’t question it. A part of her didn’t care what the reason was. She’d done her best to bury her feelings for Reid while she spent time with her mother. She pushed the memory of their kiss and the last time they’d seen each other to the back of her mind while she unpacked her things and settled into her new life. But try as she might, her chest still ached every day she didn’t hear his voice or see his face.
With a final deep breath, she pulled open the door, the cool blast from the air conditioning doing nothing for her overheated skin. She gave a small nod to the girl behind the front desk, smiling when the girl waved her through, clearly remembering Chloe from previous rehearsals. It made her feel like a regular. Like she belonged. It relaxed her more than she’d expected.
Moving toward their designated room, her steps slowed when the sound of Reid’s voice floated into the hall. The slight edge to his voice caused her breathing to falter. It was rough and filled with authority. It made her knees weak. Seconds later she heard Tom speak. However, the sound of his voice, angry and concerned, evoked an entirely different emotion. Holding her breath, she crept closer and strained to hear their muffled words.
“Stop with the bullshit, Reid,” Tom said, his voice exasperated. “Tell me what’s really going on.”
“I told you it’s nothing. I’ve got it under control,” Reid spat, the sound of a chair scraping across the floor echoing down the hall.
“That’s what you keep saying, but your actions say something completely different. The last time we spoke, you sounded like you were going to crawl out of your skin if you didn’t get out of Memphis.”
“I was restless,” Reid interrupted, angry. “I needed to get out of there. I just didn’t feel right.”