The next act on stage is playing something down tempo. Now that she’s close, I smell her. She’s memories and dreams, gold and glory, and parts of me that were dead five minutes ago suddenlyache.
“You shouldn’t be so surprised to see me,” she goes on. “You saw me at auditions. Couldn’t believe I’d actually getin?”
It’s my turn to be back on my heels. “I thought I imaginedyou.”
Her brows pull together. “Why would you dothat?”
I don’t fucking know. Because I wanted youhere?
“Whatever,” she says, realizing I’m not going to answer. “Give my bagback.”
I open it and tuck the license back in. When I do, my fingers close on the round glass shape on a chain. I lift it high between us. When the glass flashes in the light, my guttwists.
Hard.
The pendant is flat, cut in the shape of a heart. At first, I think it’s purple glass, but when I look closer, I see it’s two pieces of clear glass edged with dull gold binding the edges together around the dark-purple thing insideit.
To preserveit.
I can’t place it, but familiarity and nostalgia wash over me in uninvitedwaves.
“What is this?” Idemand.
“A reminder that I’m not the person I was. That’s the last question of yours I’m going to answer because I don’t owe you anything. You walked away fromme.”
The pain and accusation in her voice has my chest tightening, but I remind myself she’s fine. She got over mefast.
“I know Beck’s my mentor and he’s your roommate,” she goes on, “but we can stay out of each other’sway.”
The way she looks when she says it, the hint of vulnerability in those dark-rimmed eyes, the waver in those gloss-slicked lips, tells me the earnest, honest girl I knew isn’t gone. Notentirely.
It makes her ten times harder toignore.
I steel myself, unwilling to show what I’m feeling as I drop the pendant into the bag and hold itout.
“He likes you,” I mutter grudgingly as our hands meet on thefabric.
“Beck?” Her brows lift. “I like him,too.”
But her gaze drops down my body before flicking back up. “Don’t worry about me. I’m sure your girlfriend is more than enough to keep youoccupied.”
“Mywhat?”
Doubt has her licking her lips. “The girl who was climbing you in that practiceroom.”
Knowing it bothered her has adrenaline surging through me. I should correct her assumption, tell her Meara wasn’t my girlfriend then and isn’tnow.
But for some fucked-up reason, I need to remind her what went down between us might be over but it happened. More than that, itmattered.
I step closer, inhale her scent as I brush her hair back behind her ear. To her credit, she doesn’t backaway.
She’s all grown up? Fine. I’ll treat her likeit.
“You want me to pretend I don’t know you?” I murmur against her ear. “That I never kissed that mouth? Never slept in yourbed?”
Never made you laugh. Never stared at you in utter awe for how beautiful you were, the way you saw theworld.
I force those thoughts away because they’re stirring up feelings I can’tstand.