The only thing that never managed to come back together, though, is TRIGGER.
And now I’m sitting here on the floor in front of my bed with that letter in my hand, wondering if I should throw it in the trash. I suppose it wasn’t all for nothing. I got a lot of fans, and maybe I can start up again someday. But I don’t think Tristan and Benji will be so easy to forgive me.
“Is that … an invitation?” Monica asks.
I look up. She’s lying right behind me on my bed. “You know snooping is against the rules.”
“What rules?” she taunts, winking. Then she snatches the paper from my hand. “Lemme see.”
“My rules,” I growl, and I turn around and try to steal it back, but she keeps jumping across the bed to get away from me. “Monica, give that back,” I say with a stern voice.
“An audition for TRIGGER?” she muses with raised brows. “And next week!”
“Doesn’t matter, just give it back,” I say, sighing.
“Why not? This is important! Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.
“Because it doesn’t matter anymore,” I reply, lowering my head when she looks at me with the same pride I wish I could feel. “We’re not going.”
“What?” she gasps. “Why not?”
“We kinda broke up,” I say.
She snorts. “Broke up? You make it sound like a relationship.”
I shrug. “As a band, we’re married to the music.” I sit down on the bed. “Or we were. I haven’t actually talked with either of them since that whole thing with Michael went down.”
She stops running and lowers the paper. “Well, then go talk with them.” She sits down behind me and wraps her arms around me, the paper still in her hands. “This is worth it.” She sighs. “Besides, I don’t want to be the reason for your breakup. Can you imagine? Monica Romero, destroyer of TRIGGER. Your fans would kill me.”
I laugh. “It’s not your fault. It was my choice to kick Michael out.”
“Yeah, but if I hadn’t gone and walked out of the party, they wouldn’t have—”
I turn around and quickly place a finger on her lips. “I don’t wanna hear any of that shit. You hear me? None.”
She lowers her eyes at me, and I slide my hand to her cheek and give her a gentle but enticing kiss. And she smiles against my lips in appreciation.
“But what about TRIGGER? You’re just gonna give up?” she asks.
“I appreciate that you wanna fix things, but what’s done is done. I made a decision. And there is no way in hell I ever want Michael back in the band. And I simply don’t have a replacement that’s as good as him with a bass guitar,” I reply, leaning my forehead against hers. “But I have you. And that’s enough for me.”
I kiss her again, this time even slower than before because I wanna savor what I have.
Suddenly, she leans back, her eyes springing open like a light bulb just went off in her head.
“Wait,” she says. “I think I know someone.”
I frown. “What are you talking about?”
She jumps up from the bed and fishes her phone from her pocket. “Someone to replace Michael.”
“You know a bass player?” I raise my brows.
“Well … technically …” When I eye her hard, she starts backtracking. “Maybe.”
“Monica,” I murmur, giving her a stern look.
“Just let me do this, okay? It’s worth a shot, so let me try, please?” she begs with such a cutesy voice that I can’t say no.
God, if only I hadn’t fallen so hard for her, maybe I would’ve been able to resist.
I rub my eyes and groan. “Okay, fine.”
“So you’ll meet him?” she squeals. “Yes! I’ll set up a meeting for today.”
Shaking my head, I laugh. “Oh, brother.”
Monica
My nerves are killing me as I walk into Spark’s Curve Diner, which looks like it was designed by an older couple in the 1950s. Apparently, they have the best ice cream in the neighborhood, but more importantly, this is where Sam, Nate, and I agreed to meet.
Cole clears his throat and adjusts his hair while I look around until I find them sitting in a red booth in the back. When she looks up and spots me, she waves, and a beaming smile appears on my face.
“C’mon,” I tell Cole, and I walk toward them with pride.
Sam gets up from her seat and immediately runs to hug me, almost choking me with her strong grip. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too,” I reply. “But have you worked on your muscles or something? ’Cause damn girl, you’re squeezing me to death.”
She snorts and pulls back only to poke me in the belly. “Thought I’d give you some of your own medicine for a change.” She licks her lips and glances at Cole over my shoulder. “Who is …?” Then her eyes widen. “Wait a minute.”