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)
“So, Alyssa is someone you want then?” I press. “Jesus Christ, Van. You can’t even hide it for more than five fucking seconds, but I bet you still haven’t told her, have you?”
“Seriously,” Cameron quietly adds to the conversation. “I’m pretty sure if you two keep screaming at each other, we’re going to get kicked out of this hotel—”
“Is that what you want?” Van shouts. “You want me to tell her? Are you sure you’re really ready for that, asshole?”
“Ready for what?” I let out a dark chuckle. “What do you think is even going to happen, Van?”
“Let’s fucking find out!” Van shouts again, before he walks away from the table, heading back over to where Alyssa is still sitting. He then bends down toward her and without saying a word, presses his mouth against hers, gently leaning into her for a kiss.
And the room around us erupts in applause, almost like Van just proposed to Alyssa on bended knee instead of working up enough courage to kiss her for what I had to assume was the very first time.
And to my utter dismay, Alyssa doesn’t move away from him. Instead, she returns the kiss, letting it linger between them until Van eventually takes a seat beside her. The pair then go back to working on their respective lyrics sheet, as the rest of the room seems to return right back to normal too, as if nothing had changed in the air.
“…I’m sorry, Rhys,” Cameron offers his apology, patting me on the shoulder at the same time. “Even if it is your fault. You ready to head home now? Maybe work on that instrumental for the next song on the album?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“But Alyssa just kissed Van—”
“I can come back from this,” I mutter, starting to move away from the table. “I can still come back from this, Cameron.”
“Or you can just leave well enough alone—”
“You might not get it right now, Cameron, but you will someday,” I say, cutting him off with a grin. “And when you need someone to tag along as you potentially embarrass yourself over a girl, you’ll know exactly where to find me.”
“Honestly, you’ll probably still be checked into this hotel because you don’t know when to let go.” Cameron lets out a tired sigh. “Anyway, I’ll see you around, Rhys. I guess.”
“See you around, Cameron.” I nod down to him, hastily making my way out of the songwriting session, my mind running through a million ideas all at once, excitement and terror coursing through my veins in equal measure.
Chapter 10
Alyssa
“What was that about?” I ask Van, as we’re settling back into our hotel room. I lean against the wall and cross my legs, my hands on either side of my waist. We’d just finished with the afternoon’s songwriting session, and while the overwhelming majority of the event had gone off without a hitch, it wasn’t like I could pretend he hadn’t randomly kissed me out of nowhere in the middle of it.
“What was what about?” He’s staring down at his luggage, his voice distracted.
“Van, you know what I mean.” I frown. “Why’d you kiss me like that? Out of nowhere?”
“It wasn’t out of nowhere,” he replies, his words coming out slow. “It was…I was just…”
“It was just what, Van?” I press. “What was the point? Outside of getting a moment of applause from the crowd, which is a whole different conversation, but we should eventually circle back around to people assuming affection like that is always coming from a good place—”
“I kissed you because I wanted to, Alyssa,” Van finally answers. “I kissed you because…because I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time now, and I just…I don’t know. I guess I was just holding myself back.”
“…Why were you holding yourself back?”
“Because I didn’t want to be the next Rhys.” He lets out a pained laugh.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I just didn’t want to be the screwup of the band, Alyssa,” he continues. “Trying to cross that line with another member of the band? There’s no way it can ever end well.”
“So, what? You’d just rather not try?”
“It’s not just that, Alyssa—”
“Then what else is it, Van?” I ask, feeling desperate for an answer. “Because you’ve been sending me mixed signals from the first day we’ve met. And now you kiss me in a crowded room full of people, but you’re already saying how things between us are doomed before they’ve even had a chance to breathe—”
“I’ve been down this road before, okay?” Rhys admits. “Not with anyone in the band, but…with someone I used to write songs with.”
“…What?” I whisper, genuinely taken aback by his admission. “What happened?”
“Her name was Beth,” he starts, then looks away from me. “She was a really good songwriter on her own, but she used to have me shape up some of her stuff. I was never credited for any of it, and back then, I didn’t give a damn about that part, either. Because Beth was going to be a big star, and I…was going to be there right beside her.”