The forty-five-minute drive back to Dallas took over three hours with traffic and my little detour to the mall. Closing my eyes, I turned the tiny box over and over in my hand. It was a token. Nothing really. A guitar pick made of white gold with a diamond in the corner and Lily’s name engraved on the back, along with the date we met.

Music was my first love, and I wanted to share it with Lily. If I could be as faithful to her as the words I put on paper, we could get through anything.

I jumped out of the limo as soon as we coasted to a stop in front of the Mansion.

“Hey!” Logan called after me. “Where are you going? We’ve got a ton of shit to go over.”

Skidding to a stop, I let my head fall forward. He was ruining my fun. “Like what?”

Joining me by the door, he lowered his voice so no one else would hear. “Like…I just fired our manager and we’ve got nobody to handle our tour now.”

I thought I might be able to get one day of peace before Logan started second guessing our decision. And I got it. Changing managers was a big, scary move. But I hadn’t fully come to grips with my other big, scary move. I only knew Lily was waiting for me, and I didn’t have time to waste standing around worrying about Lindsey.

Blowing out a breath, I pinned on a reassuring smile. “What’s done is done, bro. We can’t worry about what might happen. I’ll call Chase. He’ll know what to do.”

Logan rubbed the back of his neck, unconvinced. “The label is gonna shit. They handpicked Lindsey.”

I softened a little. He was right. And it didn’t matter that most of this shitstorm was about me. Metro would blame Logan and his fiery temper.

“Dude, Lindsey needed to be fired,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “And we shouldn’t be listening to the label anyway. Not when it comes to our management. We need to hire someone local. Someone from Austin. Like Twin Souls.”

He rolled his eyes. A band didn’t hire Twin Souls. They hired you. The boutique management company had the three biggest bands in the country in their stable, so they could afford to be choosy.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said. “We’re just as good as anyone on their roster.”

Appealing to Logan’s ego was the easiest way to get him out of his own head. Worked like a charm, too. Because he puffed out his chest and said, “Fuck yeah, we are.

Mission accomplished.

“I gotta go. We’ll talk more later.” Much later since I planned to have Lily under me for the next several hours. “Don’t worry about anything. It’ll all work out.”

He gave me a shove. “Get out of here. Go find your balls.”

“Right here, buddy.” I grabbed my crotch. “Look on the bright side. If I’m off the market, you might actually get some quality pussy.”

I made a break for it, ducking inside the front door before he could chase me down and make me eat my words. Keeping my head down, I avoided making eye contact with the staff as I traipsed across the lobby. A smile crept over my face when I saw the little bungalow. Home. Not quite. But with Lily there, that’s what it felt like.

“Hey, baby… I’m back!” I called as I pushed open the door. “I hope you’re naked.”

God, I really hoped she was naked. Or not. Stripping her down was almost as much fun. But she didn’t answer. And it was dark. And quiet. I flipped the light on and a small twinge worked its way from my chest to my throat. The room was pristine. Untouched. Like no one had been here all day.

“Lily?”

I paused at the bedroom door, panic spreading to my limbs. But I didn’t go in. Because if I didn’t go in, it wouldn’t be real. But I knew it was. Lily’s clothes, along with any trace of her, were gone. My shirt, the one she wore to bed every night, was folded on the dresser.

Willing my feet to move, I peeked inside the bathroom, where not so much as a strand of her hair remained.

Stumbling backward when my knees went weak, I felt around for the edge of the bed. But I missed the mark, and landed on the floor with a thud.

Wrestling my phone from my pocket with shaky hands, I dragged my finger across her number. Straight to voicemail. I tried again with the same result. And again. I finally gave up and typed out a text.

Baby, answer your phone. Please.

I didn’t care that I sounded desperate. Hell, I was desperate. I waited for a reply. Five minutes. Eight. Twenty.

Closing my eyes, I let the truth sink in. She was gone. Back to her life. The world where I didn’t quite fit. And then it came to me. I was never afraid of hurting Lily. All along, I was terrified that she’d see what I had to offer and it wouldn’t be enough.

And in the end, I guess I was right.