Paige used to talk about fate. She believed in that shit.

“Everything happens for a reason,” she’d say.

Of course, she didn’t say anything now. Except to me. Don’t get me wrong, I knew it wasn’t her. But when I talked to myself, the voice in my head that answered was always hers.

Sipping my drink, I stared out the window of the plane into the pitch-dark Texas sky.

This is where I felt closest to Paige, in that space between heaven and earth.

When you were careening through the air at five hundred miles per hour, defying the laws of nature, anything seemed possible. Even a conversation with your dead best friend.

“I signed an all-girl act today,” I murmured into my next sip of vodka and cranberry.

Light bells of laughter that I’d know anywhere echoed in my head, and then that voice. “Not as good as we were.”

Paige’s memory always brought up the Austin Dolls, the all-girl group that Tori, Paige, and I formed before Damaged.

I snagged a couple of pretzels from the foil packet on the tray table. “They don’t have to be good. They just have to be passable.”

Like me.

While Tori and Paige, my closest childhood friends, were born with music in their blood, I had to work for every note. And hard work only got you so far when you were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with two powerhouse talents.

By our sophomore year in high school, I’d decided to step aside. It saved everyone the awkwardness of asking me to leave. Tori had already hooked up with Rhenn, and the music they were working on…well, it was magic. And the first time I’d ever heard Paige join in, I knew their sound would become the stuff that legends were made of. A once in a lifetime thing.

And I was right. Not even three years later, Damaged took the music scene by storm. By then, I’d settled into my role as manager. Which, in those days, meant I fetched lunch, kept track of the band’s schedule, and did my best to scare up gigs.

In private though, Paige had always protested the demise of the Dolls. She would’ve been content to play the dive bars on Sixth Street with Tori and me forever.

Forever, as it turned out, only lasted twenty-four years for Paige. If I had known how it was going to end, maybe I wouldn’t have slipped into the background. At least Paige and Rhenn would still be alive.

“Quit thinking like that,” I chided myself.

In that moment, I had to wonder if that was the reason the voice in my head sounded like Paige. To assuage my guilt. Because if Paige forgave me, then maybe I could forgive myself.

The fasten seat belt sign illuminated, and the captain came over the intercom to announce our descent into Austin.

I tossed back the last of my drink, and the voice was quiet for the rest of the flight.

My phone vibrated as the Google Alerts continued to pour in. Still woozy from the rough landing and the mad rush out of the airport, I blinked at the screen from the backseat of the Town Car.

A secret wedding for Beckett and Maddy?

Beckett parties in Vegas with supermodel, but where’s Taryn?

Beckett leaves Taryn high and dry as settlement in Damaged case looms.

“Taryn?”

Dazed, I looked up and found Ethan, my driver, eyeing me in the rearview mirror. “Huh?”

Concern creased his brow. “Um…we’re here. Did you need me to take your bag upstairs?”

Glancing around, I realized that we were, indeed, parked in front of BlueBonnet Towers. I’d lost a good thirty minutes scrolling through the avalanche of stories that hit my phone before we left the airport.

“Um…no.” I shook my head. “I got it. Thanks.”

As I moved for the door, Ethan twisted in his seat. “Listen, Taryn…I’m sure there’s nothing to any of those stories.”

Ethan could barely look at me as he forced out the lie. He knew Beckett. What he’d become in the five years since the accident.

Schooling my features into a practiced smile, I pushed open the door. “No worries. We’re not together. Haven’t been for a long time.”

It was the truth. I broke up with Beckett, my high school sweetheart, seven months ago, after he moved to Los Angeles to record the latest Leveraged album—and hooked up with Maddy Silva. The funny part? Except for the sex, nothing much had changed. I was still his manager. Still the person he trusted most in the world.

Becks claimed Maddy was just a friend, but the recent photos of them in Vegas more or less blew that lie out of the water.

Waiting on the curb for Ethan to fish my suitcase out of the trunk, I scrolled through my messages, zeroing in on the one from Beckett. Expecting one of his long-winded excuses, I stared at the two words in the little box.

I’m sorry.

Ethan dropped my rollaway on the pavement. “Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

Apparently, I needed a shit-ton of help. Because I was fighting to hold myself together.

Maybe I wasn’t as “over” Beckett as I thought. Or maybe I couldn’t stand the fact that he was finally over me. That’s what nobody understood. We loved each other. Despite what he’d done—what he continued to do—our connection ran deep.

“No.” I smiled that fraudulent smile. “I’m good, thanks.”

Before I broke down right in the middle of Sixth Street, I waved, spun on my heel, and headed for the glass doors.

It wasn’t until I was tucked inside my sixth-floor loft that I allowed the first tear to fall. Sniffling, I kicked off my shoes and wandered to the kitchen for some wine.

Propped against the counter with a glass of chardonnay in my hand, I finally opened Tori’s message.

I'm up if you need to talk.

Of course she was. The girl rarely slept. And like me, Tori monitored the social media coverage of the bands we managed.

Well, some of them.

Twins Souls, the company we’d formed after Tori had recovered from the accident that almost took her life, was now the premier management agency in the business, with over a hundred acts on our roster. But only four mattered. Leveraged, Revenged Theory, and Drafthouse. The bands I’d handpicked and then propelled to the top of the industry to preserve the legacy Damaged left behind. The Big Three.

Reluctantly, I swiped my finger over Tori’s name.

"He's an asshole," she blurted, not bothering to say hello. When I didn’t respond, she added, "You know he didn't mean to…”

Tori grappled for words. But there was nothing to say. Not anymore. Becks had said it all.

I’m sorry.

Swallowing my tears, I climbed the stairs. “To do what? Get photographed? He’s not cheating on me, you know?”

“Whatever,” she grumbled. “He should be more discreet.”

After wiggling out of my skirt, I dropped onto the unmade bed and closed my eyes. “Why? So he won’t hurt my feelings? He’s allowed to have a relationship.”

"Relationship?" Tori scoffed. "Beckett's never had a relationship with anyone in his life except you."

Until now.

The invisible string tying me to my lost love tightened around my heart, and I wondered if Beckett still felt it. “Well that’s not the case anymore.” Sighing, I rubbed my tired eyes. “You’re going to have to face facts sooner or later. We’re not getting back together.”

“Maybe not right now,” Tori protested. “But he loves you.”

My mouth dropped open, but instead of offering another rebuttal, I said, “I know. I love him too.”

I brushed my thumb over the infinity tattoo on my ring finger, identical to Beckett’s. We’d gotten them when we were eighteen. And though the ink was faded now, with small hairline cracks, the symbol endured. Kind of like Becks and me.

Mollified by my confession, Tori said, “We should hang out tomorrow night. Grab some dinner and—”

Her sentenced died on a hiss.

Anxiety stiffened my spine, and I sat up. “What is it? Are you in pain?”

She managed a labored breath. “No. I’m all right.”

The strain in her voice sent a fresh wave of panic crashing over me. Digging my iPad from my tote, I flipped to my calendar and, sifting through Tori’s schedule, my heart squeezed.

“You saw Andrews on Tuesday?”

It sounded more like an accusation than a question.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Tori snapped. “Would you like to see the report?”

She knew I wanted to see the report. Which is the reason she waited until I was out of town to go to the doctor.

"I'm not trying to get up in your business," I said quietly. "I'm just, you know..."

So many adjectives sprung to mind, I couldn't finish the thought. The two weeks Tori had lingered in a coma after the accident had been the worst of my life. I’d already lost Paige. And now, every time Tori’s pain flared from the injuries that would never fully heal, I panicked. I couldn’t lose her too.

“Yeah, I know," she finally replied, her tone considerably softer. "It's been a bad couple of days.”

Guilt crept in, coloring the anxiety. I should’ve cancelled my trip. Sent one of the junior managers traipsing across the continent.

Glancing at the clock, I chewed my bottom lip. “You should get some sleep. Maybe take a pain pill and—"

My heart leapt into my throat when Rhenn's voice, crooning "Forever You," echoed in the background. And then silence. Picturing Tori on her bedroom floor, sorting through all the old photos and memories, it broke me in places that had no bones.

Wobbling to my feet, I grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor. “I’m coming over.”

“No,” Tori said, emphatic. “I’m fine. I don’t want you driving all the way out here in the middle of the night.”

For the millionth time, I cursed Rhenn and his decision to build a house on the northern shore of Lake Travis. For years I’d begged Tori to leave the place. It wasn’t even a home, more like a mausoleum. A monument to the life she’d never have.

Stepping onto the balcony, I breathed in the humid air and leaned against the railing. On the street below, people congregated, and I could almost hear the music drifting from the small bars and taverns down the road.

After a long moment, Tori cleared her throat and said softly, "I miss him so much, T-Rex. Sometimes, I just want…”

The anguish in her voice cut through the miles, and I could feel her pain so deeply it stole my breath.

“I know, Belle. Me too.”

Her pet name slipped out, the one Rhenn bestowed on her when we were just kids. Lost in another place, we drifted like that for a long time.

When my lids started to droop, I went inside and crawled into bed.

“You want me to stay on the line?” I murmured.

Tori sighed contentedly but didn’t answer, so I rolled onto my side, the phone still pressed to my ear. “Night, Belle.”