Page 32 of Rescue

“It’s not a big deal.” Her words hit me like a punch to gut, but her tone is even worse. Completely nonchalant, unaffected.

“Of course it is,” James snaps. “We work for him, Haylee.”

“We work for the label.”

“And you think the label won’t kick us right back to the States if you do something to piss off the Ransomes?”

“We just had some fun, James, Jesus. Are you seriously going to be on my case?”

There’s a long moment of silence, and when James speaks again his voice is more controlled. “We have sound check. We need to get to the venue.”

“Fine. I’ll be right down.”

“Haylee—”

She sighs loud enough for me to hear her from here. “What?”

“You know this is a bad idea. And you know that has nothing to do with what’s good for the band. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I’ll deal with it,” she says, voice flat, then the door is shutting and she reappears in the room. She stops when she sees I’m awake, her entire body freezing. “Hey,” she finally says, her voice even. “Sorry he woke you up. I guess I’m late for sound check.”

“That’s okay.” I swallow, trying to dispel the fear that’s risen up in my chest. Why is James so concerned about her being with me? Why does he think that she’ll end up hurt?

Haylee gathers her clothes, dressing quickly. “Hey, come here,” I say, but she turns her back to me. “Haylee?”

“I really have to run.” Her voice is bright, and it sounds all wrong.

“Can we talk after sound check?”

“Sure.” I feel a rush of relief, but then she continues. “I mean, we see each other every day, right? I’m sure we’ll talk at some point.”

“I meant… talk about this. About us.” I feel stupid saying the words, but she finally turns to face me. She looks so sad my breath catches, her expression not matching her bright tone of voice at all.

“This was really fun, Lennon, but I think it’s better if we’re just friends.”

“What? Why? I mean—”

“We both have a lot on our plates right now.” She scoops up her hair into a ponytail, not meeting my eyes. “I really need to focus on the band, you know?”

“I would never ask you to lose focus on your work.”

“Good.” She comes over and kisses my cheek, her lips barely making contact at all. “Then we’re on the same page.”

“Haylee, wait.”

“I really have to go,” she says, already halfway to the door. “Stay as long as you want, okay? Feel free to use the shower. I’ll see you around.”

Before I can say another word, she’s gone.

“What the hell?” I mutter, lying back against the pillows. I can smell her perfume in the sheets, something sweet and vanilla that surprises me. She doesn’t really seem like the vanilla type.

I lie there for a long while, trying to figure out when in the hell I screwed this up. I couldn’t have imagined that connection, there’s no way. She was right there with me, I would bet everything on it. So what has her running so fast?

You know this is a bad idea… I don’t want you getting hurt.

What did James mean by that? Why did he think that being with me would hurt her? A cold fear slithers into my chest. Did he know something? Was it possible that he’d heard rumors about me, about what I did? Did he think…

Don’t be stupid, I tell myself, standing and searching for my clothes. No one knows about Horizons except for the family.

And the label.

I try to push the fear away as I get dressed. My brothers are going to be freaking out, seeing as how I’ve now been unaccounted for for a good five hours. But I can’t seem to make myself care. All I can hear, over and over again in my head, is James’s voice, telling Haylee that I’ll hurt her.

It would be a lot easier to ignore if I weren’t pretty sure he was right.