The Rocker That Needs Me(25)

Emmie muttered a curse when she looked down at the letter and the packet that had come with it. Green eyes flashed fire as she met my gaze. “Why?” she demanded.

“Because it’s where I need to be,” I whispered.

“You need to be here, close to everyone that loves you. Layla is going to go ape-shit over this, Lana!” She stood, glaring down at the packet that contained all the paper work she would have to deal with come morning. “Have you even thought this through? What will you do that far away? You will be all alone in a big city. No Layla, no Drake…” She broke off when she saw me flinch at the mention of his name. “Is this about Drake?”

I looked away. “I have thought this through, Em. In fact, I have done nothing but think about it since about three o’clock this morning. Around the time the girl that Drake brought to his hotel room had left.”

Emmie muttered something vicious and dropped down into her chair once more. “Lana, I know that your feelings run deep for Drake. But, honey, you two are just friends. He is going to screw around from time to time.”

I met her gaze. “Like Nik screwed around while you two were just friends?” She flinched and I nodded. “How did that feel, Em? How did it feel knowing that the man you were in love with was off fucking someone else?”

Her green eyes darkened, and I was sure that I was going to get an earful because really that had been a bitch move. Instead, Emmie only nodded after a long pause. “Touché,” she said. “I understand where you are coming from, but…”

“No buts!” I cried. “He was fucking her against the door that separated our rooms. I heard her moaning. I had to listen while he…” Tears scalded my cheeks, and I quickly wiped them away. “Maybe you think that I’m being a coward for running away, but right now I really don’t give a flying fuck. I’m not as strong as you! I can’t do this and not crack. I can’t stay here and pretend that he didn’t shatter my heart last night.”

Emmie sat there, just looking at me. I didn’t know what was going through her head, but I was sure she was trying to come up with something to excuse Drake’s behavior the night before. Maybe it would have made me stop and rethink my decision. Maybe I would have listened and not make her put everything into motion so I could leave as soon as possible.

But then again, she didn’t know about Friday night…

“Okay.” Emmie surprised me by giving in without any more arguments. “I’ll start on it first thing tomorrow. I’ll get your dorm taken care of, set you up an allowance like Jesse said to, and maybe I can pull some strings and get you moved in early. Maybe some time away will put everything into perspective for everyone.”

I let out a relieved sigh. If Emmie was on board, then I knew that Jesse wouldn’t argue about my choice.

“But promise me something, Lana,” Emmie said after a moment. “Promise me that it’s only for one semester. Take this time away and get yourself pulled together. Then when summer starts, you come home. UCLA was what Jesse was hoping you would pick. It won’t take much to get you into the fall semester.”

I gave in and made the promise, but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep it. I didn’t know how Emmie expected me to “pull myself together” when my heart was in a billion pieces.





Chapter 8


Drake

Lana was avoiding me.

I knew that she had to study. She only had two more weeks of school left and her exams took up an entire week of that, but she didn’t have time to text me back or have dinner with me. I had no idea what was up with her, and it was driving me up the wall.

It didn’t actually bother me until one night midway through the week. Shane went out for his run and came back with Lana. They were walking, both of them sweating like they had run a marathon. I watched from the living room as Shane stopped on the patio and said something to her that made her chin tremble. My brother pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I wanted to punch my brother at that moment. His relationship with Lana was a strictly friends-in-passing kind of thing. They had only ever hung out when I was around. Now, all of a sudden, he felt like he could hug her…

Yeah, I was thinking of punching him, possibly in the throat or his pretty face that got him laid at least once a day.

I contained that urge, albeit with some difficulty. After all, it was a one-time thing. She was probably having an emotional melt down because she was working so hard studying. It wouldn’t be the first time she cried because the stress of studying for a test became too much and she needed some kind of release before it drove her over the edge.