Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
It’s not like I was actually invited to the songwriter’s symposium, so if either of them sees that I’m here, they’ll probably have a million questions for me. And unfortunately, I’m not going to have a lot of answers, since it feels like my last-minute trip to San Francisco was driven by a lethal combination of jealousy, spite, and unresolved FOMO.
Cameron is here with me too, after I forced him along for the trip. He’d initially resisted, but I’d reminded him of his favorite story, the one where I ran off with Matilda. He relented and decided to come along with me, even if he’s mostly performing as a pseudo-bodyguard, and according to him, “protecting me from myself.”
“What the hell? Why is Van following behind Alyssa like they’re going to the same room—” I start again.
“Maybe because they are?” Cameron murmurs from his place right next to me. “Or did you think that paying off that front desk lady to cancel the reservation was going to be enough to make them turn around for the weekend?”
“I wasn’t expecting them to turn around for the weekend,” I remind him. “I was expecting for Alyssa to start calling around, trying to figure out somewhere to stay, so I could casually let it slip that I have a room in the hotel—”
“You don’t feel weird? Doing all this?” Cameron asks. “Are you sure you can’t just talk to her about how you feel instead?”
“That is part of the plan too, Cam,” I remind him, slightly annoyed at his forgetting it. “Have you even been listening to me this whole time? Or did you just hop on a plane to San Francisco for the views out the window?”
“Honestly, I mostly just wanted to make sure that you weren’t planning on doing anything too stupid,” he answers. “But…it’s starting to look like we’ve already crossed that bridge.”
“They haven’t slept together, Cam,” I reply. “I can tell. And as long as they haven’t started shagging, there’s this sweet spot of time where I can still try to get her back—”
“Since when does Van have a magical dick?” Cameron chuckles. “And since when are you even threatened by him? And most importantly, what the hell makes you think he’s even interested in her? She’s not exactly Van’s type.”
“That’s what makes it so much worse,” I grumble. “If she’s not even his type and he’s going after her, that must mean he really wants her for who she is. Which makes everything all sorts of fucked up.”
“Fucked up for you, maybe.” Cam grins.
“Hey, are you with me on this or not?” I press, turning to look over at him. “If you’re so concerned about keeping the band together, doesn’t that mean that no one should be hooking up with each other?”
“But don’t you still want to hook up with Alyssa—”
“Do you want us to go full Fleetwood Mac, Cameron?”
“You mean, end up being one of the best-selling bands of all-time?” Cameron says. “I don’t know. Now I’m kind of thinking it’s way better if Van and Alyssa spend the night together—”
“Don’t! Don’t even put that out into the cosmos!” I warn. “Fuck, man. All of this is so messed up.”
“I agree. Showing up unannounced and uninvited to a weekend trip is pretty uh, fucked. Especially for you! Super stud Rhys Marshall goes on wild goose chase.”
“What else was I supposed to do, Cameron?” I groan. “You know how she’ll barely talk to me now. She’ll barely even look at me. Me!”
“We can still turn around and go home, Rhys,” Cameron offers in a singsong voice more suited to calming a mental patient. “Van and Alyssa never even have to know that we were here—”
“Not an option.”
“Well, can we at least get better disguises?” Cameron asks. “Because these sunglasses and top hats are making us stick out like sore thumbs in the crowd. I look like a moron and you look like a Slash wannabe.”
“Just commit to the bit,” I reply, before nodding toward a set of elevators a few feet away from us. “And get back a little. Walk ten paces behind me or something.”
“I could’ve been binge-watching something on Netflix this weekend,” Cameron mumbles, his words lined with near-palpable regret. “I could’ve been reading about how to invest in stocks, but no, this is how I’m really spending my life—”
“Commit to the bit!” I hiss, cutting him off as I head toward the elevators, irritation running through my veins. I don’t know how I’m going to get Alyssa back, but I know that it’s going to happen, because the thought of her ending up with Van makes me feel like I’m going to break out in hives.
Soon enough, I’m hastily making my way down one of the hotel’s hallways, searching for my room number at a frantic pace. I’m so focused on finding the room number that I don’t pay much attention to a woman’s figure that passes right by me while I’m trying to get into the room before Alyssa knows that I’m here—