Jezebel’s right inside the door when we enter the hotel suite, and she glares at both of us as she holds out her phone. “What the hell is this?” she demands, shoving the phone between us.

I glance down and see an image showing Delilah and Levyl with their arms around each other, and Levyl pressing a kiss to her temple.

It’s posted on Levyl’s Instagram page, and the caption reads Love this girl. #DelilahStuart #stillfriends #shesalwaysgotmyback #IveGotHers #austintexas #NoHaterz #WeGotThis

“We made up,” Delilah says. “It’s all good now. And Jason—the band’s new drummer—snapped the picture. Levyl said that if he posted it, the fans would chill out.” She takes the phone from Jez and starts tapping and scrolling, a hell of a lot faster than I can manage on my phone.

After a moment, she looks to both of us and smiles. “I think he was right. Everything I’m seeing is all thumbs-up. Nothing snarky or mean at all. Not yet, anyway.”

“That’s great,” I say. “It worked.”

“But it might not have.” Jez’s voice is tight, and I know that I’m going to have to double-down on the apology I came here for.

“Oh, come on, Jez,” Delilah begins, but Jez just shakes her head, cutting Del off.

“Go on,” she says, pointing to Del’s room. And then, when Del hesitates, she adds in a softer voice, “Please. I’m glad it worked out with the fans. And I’m glad you and Levyl made up. But right now, I want to talk to Pierce.”

Del looks at me, and I can see the solidarity on her face. If I want her to stay, she’s not going to leave my side.

“Go on,” I say. “I’ve got this.”

She drags her feet, but she goes, shutting the door firmly behind her. And the second the door snicks into place, Jez lays into me.

“What the fuck?” she snaps. “I mean, seriously. What. The. Fuck?”

I lift my hands, trying to calm her down and create a break to get a word in. But she’s having none of it.

“I told you specifically that I was trusting you with my sister. And you promised. Not only that, but you entered into a contract. And this is how you live up to your obligations? Seriously? This could have blown up. It could have completely destroyed her.”

“But it didn’t,” I finally manage to say.

Now it’s her turn to try to get a word in, but I hold up my hand. “No,” I say, taking a step toward her. Which is dangerous, frankly, because right now she looks about ready to boil over. “What was destroying her was knowing that she’d never really apologized to him. That he didn’t know how she felt.”

I try to draw a deep breath, but it’s hard. My throat is thick with emotion. “And once I realized that,” I continue, “I knew I had to help.”

“How altruistic,” she snaps. “Why?”

I look at her face. At those eyes now lit with anger. Eyes that used to look at me with heat. And passion. And humor.

“Because of you,” I say simply. “Because that’s what’s been destroying me.”

She turns away, looking down so that I can’t see her face. “Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t even go there.”

I hear the vulnerability, and I know I should stop. But I can’t. I have to make her understand. Because I’m hollow without her, and I’m so desperate to be filled.

“Just go,” she says. “Please.”

“I can’t.” I take a step closer. “Jez—everything you said yesterday—”

She interrupts me with a harsh scoffing sound. “How stupid was I to show you my heart?”

“Jez, please.”

“I trusted you. With my body. With my secrets. With my sister and her whole career. I thought you were worth it.”

“I am. We are. But I fucked up.”

“Damn right, you did.” I hear the thickness in her voice, and I know she’s on the verge of tears.

I step closer. I’m right in front of her now, and I have to force my hands to stay at my sides when all I want to do is touch her. Comfort her.

“I let my past get in the way,” I admit. “I thought about Margie and about the way she hurt me. The way she left. But she shouldn’t have been anywhere near my head. It should have just been you. Only you.”

“Then why wasn’t it?”

“Because I’m an asshole.”

She lifts her head, her expression wary. “Keep going.”

“Because I was scared.”

Her brow furrows. “Of what?”

“Of you. Of everything. Of the way you make me feel.”

She licks her lips, the anger in her eyes starting to dim. “How do I make you feel?”

“Like maybe I have a chance at forever.” I draw a breath for courage. “Like maybe I’m falling in love with you. And I think you’re falling with me.”

I hear her breath hitch. “Pierce, I—”

“No, let me finish. Jez, I know this has been fast—crazy fast. And maybe we’re both wrong, but I don’t think so. And want to put in the time and the work to find out. More than that, I want to make it work. Mostly, I want us to stay us.”

A tear trickles down her cheek, and I reach up and gently brush it away. “I was afraid, and I hurt you. And I’m so goddamn sorry. Please, Jez. Please say you forgive me.”

She licks her lips and sniffles a little. “Your timing sucks. We don’t even have those three days. I’m leaving for LA tomorrow.”

I can’t help it; I laugh.

Her brow arches up. “That’s funny?”

“It’s wonderful,” I say. “Because you didn’t tell me to get lost. All you did was tell me you’re leaving. And baby, that’s just geography. We can make geography work.”

She says nothing, so I take a step closer, then slide my arms around her waist. “Move here. You and Del. You said you want out of LA, right? So come here. Rent a house. Buy a condo. Live with me. But give it a chance. Del’s not a struggling actress. She can live wherever she wants.”

“She’ll want LA,” Jez says, and I smile again.

“And she’s old enough to live there on her own,” I say. “There’s this cool invention called the Internet. Texting and video calls and all sorts of magical stuff. And these metal tubes that fly through the sky and get you to LA in only about four hours.”

She smacks me playfully on the shoulder.

“You shouldn’t hit in anger, you know.”

She narrows her eyes. “Maybe I’m not angry anymore.”

“Really?” I press a kiss to her jawline. “I’m very glad to hear it. Of course, I still had a lot of apologizing left.” My hands cup her waist, then start to slowly slide up, taking her T-shirt with them.

“You hurt me.”

“I know,” I say, then gently nip her earlobe.

Her body trembles under my hands, and her breath comes out in a shudder. “I think you need to apologize more.”

I step back so that I can gently pull her T-shirt over her head. “Sweetheart, I’m going to spend the rest of the night apologizing in every way I know how.”

I kiss along her collarbone, then over the swell of her breasts.

“Enough?” I tease. “Am I forgiven?”

She cocks her head and presses a finger to her lip, hiding a mischievous smile. “Not even close.”

“In that case,” I say, as I kiss my way down her abdomen, lower and lower towards heaven. “I’ll just have to work a little bit harder…”