Page 99 of Just Wait

I don’t want to screw up Malcolm’s ability to use the song he came up with.

Dammit.

I really like Malcolm, Riser, and Kincaid, but I’m afraid my being here could make things messy for them.

“No,” I say, shaking my head.

At the same time, Kincaid says, “If you’d like to give her the contract, now is your chance. She’s not signing until a lawyer of her choosing looks over it.”

I guess he’s probably right. Without a lawyer, I would have no idea if I was signing my life away.

Kincaid leads me down the hallway, and the door behind me bursts open.

I haven’t even tried to read through the contract, but it’s clutched to my chest.

“You’re ignoring all my calls. You don’t even open my texts,” Theo says, making me freeze. “You told me to get you paperwork to sign…”

“I did say that, but I was angry,” I say, spinning around. “I wanted leverage to ensure you wouldn’t leave me with the huge bill from the apartment complex. I wouldn’t have gone after you guys. I just thought it would be fair.”

“I love you,” Theo says. “I’m trying to make up for my mistakes. My career doesn’t mean much if you won’t be by my side. You’re the one who told me to tell the label that I wrote the songs, so I did. Then you told me to tell them the truth. I’ve done what you told me to do every step of the way.”

Having a band that can write their own music is attractive. It means the label won’t have to spend money pairing them with songwriters. I was just trying to make sure they would succeed.

“I’m sorry. I handled that wrong.” I shove the contract between my arm and chest, pulling my hands up and rubbing my temples. “When we talked, I guess I didn’t make it clear what I meant. I thought you would have paperwork drawn up, like privately, between us. I didn’t want the label knowing or you risking anything.”

I’m exhausted, and not in the right shape to try to talk in riddles.

It’s too late for that, anyway.

Kincaid knows I was writing music for Tangled Desires.

He’s still somewhere behind me, watching this entire thing play out.

Glancing over my shoulder, I give him a plastic smile. “Would you mind giving me and Theo a minute alone?”

He nods, spins around, and walks deeper down the hallway.

“Damn, Lu,” Theo says, laughing mirthlessly. “You’ve really got a thing for lead singers.”

“Don’t do that.” I jab a finger at his chest as my head shakes violently. “I was a damn good girlfriend to you.”

“You were, but you sure moved on quick,” he says, shoving his tattooed hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Meanwhile, you won’t even talk to me so I can start trying to fix things between us.”

“I still feel too betrayed,” I say, both shoulders bouncing. I’m not sure I meant to admit that, but it’s true. “Too angry to communicate with you in any way that wouldn’t be toxic.”

I mean, unless he wants me to unload a bunch of hateful shit, I should probably keep my mouth closed. I don’t have it in me today to be nice.

“I thought you stuck around with Liminal because it gave you an excuse to stay close to me,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m a fucking idiot.”

“I hate it when you say things like that about yourself.”

“Yeah, well, I am. You’ve always been way out of my league. Smarter than me. More talented.” Theo tosses his head back, shaking the hair out of his eyes.

“Not even close. We have different strengths and weaknesses,” I say, keeping my walls up. “You should work on not comparing yourself to any future partners before you get into another relationship. The entire goal is that you can tackle things better together.”

“You know what?” Theo growls, shaking his head and stomping down the hallway past me. “Fuck you.”

I sigh, and my stomach churns.