The thought of leaving Trace, of finishing the tour without him, made her sick to her stomach. She knew exactly who the label had chosen to replace him and she’d be damn if she would sing the song she and Trace wrote together, with him.
Memories of the past and dreams of a future she rarely let herself imagine came to life all around her. She needed him to touch her, kiss her, to soothe that clawing ache inside. To return them to the private bliss they’d been wrapped in before police had come knocking on the bus door.
For so long she’d tried so hard to block those memories of her time with Trace in Macon. So much so that they’d begun to fade, making her fantasies less vivid. But being in his bed brought them back in full effect.
She was still reaching for him, surrounded by the ghosts of their past, when she drifted off to sleep.
“IT’S KIND of hard to explain. Things got crazy and I haven’t exactly had time to tell her yet.”
Trace’s voice roused Kylie from unconsciousness. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. It was barely daylight, and she wasn’t sure if she’d slept for a few hours or a few days. But she was in his bedroom. In his shirt. Which was her absolute favorite place to be.
Right up until a woman’s voice made its way to her ears.
“Well I’m thinking you’re out of time, Tray.”
It wasn’t Rae or Claire Ann, which she didn’t expect it to be since Rae still had at least one more day to stay in the hospital according to Trace.
Kylie grabbed her jeans and yanked them on.
I don’t bring women here. He’d told her that the first time she had come to the farm. And she’d believed him. But maybe things had changed, because even though Kylie couldn’t tell whose voice it was, whoever Trace was arguing with quietly in the next room was decidedly female.
She ran her fingers through her hair and stepped out of the bedroom.
“Hey, I thought you’d be back sooner…” Her voice failed her as soon as she saw the two people embracing in the kitchen. “Oh. God. Wow. Okay, well, I was just—”
“Kylie,” Trace began while hastily removing himself from Gretchen Gibson’s arms. “Good. I’m glad you’re up because we need to talk about—”
“Yeah. Um, actually I’ve been talking to Hannah and the label and I really need to go because I have like no time to get to Oklahoma. So I’m glad you’re here and I didn’t have to leave a note.”
The words tumbled over each other as her mind raced, trying to process the real-life version of the nightmare she’d been living for the past year. She prayed on everything holy that the feeling of blood rushing from her head wouldn’t cause to pass out. Because this was humiliating enough as it was.
This wasn’t a grainy cell phone photo in a cheap tabloid magazine or a pixelated image on a website. This was the real deal. Live and in person.
Adding insult to injury, Kylie looked and felt like week-old run-over garbage while Gretchen Gibson looked amazing. She was practically gleaming as she stood there looking from Kylie to Trace and back again.
Surprise, annoyance, and something akin to amusement sparkled in the woman’s eyes.
There is something I should tell you. Something about Gretchen.
“Kylie, wait. Slow down,” Trace began, coming toward her as she snatched her keys and cell phone from the kitchen counter. But she couldn’t hear him. She could only hear the memory of him trying to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.
“I’m gonna run by the hospital and say goodbye to Rae.” She swallowed hard and did her best to keep her grip on what was left of her dignity. “Great seeing you again, Gretchen.”
She let Trace’s back door slam behind her. Running to her truck, she ignored the way the wind ripped through her thin shirt. Just like she was ignoring the way it carried his voice calling her name.
HER TEARS were nearly blinding her by the time she hit the main road.
The voice in her head screamed obscenities and for her to turn around and face whatever was going on with Trace and Gretchen. Force it all out in the open.
But she just…couldn’t.
She’d walked away from her career, her dream, her managers, her label, her band, her best friend—all of it. Thrown caution to the wind to be with him. To be here for him because she thought he needed her.
And for what? So he could offer to let her be girlfriend number two?
There has to be an explanation for why she’s here.
But she couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be. The way they were hugging…Granted, it wasn’t like he’d had his tongue down Gretchen’s throat, but there was something there. Something deep and complex. Something she didn’t know about or understand.