Page 32

She was fun and flirty and otherwise totally fine.

But the openness was gone.

She wasn’t being fake, but she’d thrown up a wall no amount of gym time could help me scale. And Ihadgone to the gym—every day that she was gone.

I’d even done a workout with my uncle before we ate the Christmas ham—not that I could walk or lift my arms after that one, but still.

I managed to take a selfie of me collapsed on the floor and sent it to her. She’d sent one back of her blowing a kiss.

It wasn’t enough.

She made me needy and I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like it at all.

KINSLEY

I sneakaway to my childhood bedroom the night after Christmas. I’ll be leaving in the morning to go back to Nashville, but I needed this time away.

I could feel Royce’s frustration with me, but I’m just so damn tired.

He’d broken a little piece of me.

So many men want a piece of my fame—the spotlight I exist in—but Royce sees it as a negative. He’d made me feel fake and shallow, and despite believing he’s sorry, I can’t seem to let it go.

It pisses me off that I miss him—that Royce Oakden will be the man that I’ll never be able to shake.

That I’ll see him in a year’s time with a pretty wife who loves that he plays video games and likes spending quiet evenings at home.

And remember the happiness I felt was fleeting.

A memory.

And never meant to last.

A message pops up and I click on it, rolling my eyes immediately when I read the text.

ZANDER: You should have taken me with you to Blackstone Falls

KINSLEY: Merry Christmas to you too

ZANDER: I can’t keep you safe if you run off all the time

ZANDER: You’re being reckless

KINSLEY: I am not—I was completely safe. Nessa’s boyfriend is the SHERIFF

ZANDER: And you had two more videos go viral in the last week

I wantto be annoyed but he’s right—I should haveat leasttold him where I was going.

KINSLEY: I’m sorry—I’ll make sure I let you know next time.

ZANDER: Merry Christmas, Miss Dane

I don’t respond,instead letting my phone drop to the mattress and my eyelids flutter closed, my mood tanking with each passing second.

Because things had beenfine.