“Believe it, girl. You’re one of us now.”
Her words settled something inside me. Levi might have walked away, shattering my heart in the process, but Letty was a good friend, and I was grateful to have her in my life.
“H- how is he?” I whispered.
“He stormed out about an hour ago. We haven’t seen him since.”
“He left?”
“Johnson’s got eyes on him; he’s been checking in with the others. So far, he’s okay.”
“God, what a mess.” The guilt coiled around my heart, squeezing tighter. “I’m so sorry. I never meant—”
“What did I say a minute ago? This is not your fault. But we clearly underestimated your father’s reach at the label.”
“He’s just trying to protect me.” Despite his heavy-handed ways, I knew he only wanted to keep me out of the clutches of another toxic relationship. But he hadn’t even given me a chance to explain... and then Levi had barged into the room and everything got super confusing and messed-up.
“He said I wasn’t his.” The words splintered something inside me.
“He’s confused and he’s hurting,” Letty said, and I could hear the sadness in her voice.
“Do you think he’ll do something stupid?” I couldn’t live with myself if Levi tried to hurt himself because of me.
“We won’t let him, I promise. Besides, it’s not Levi I’m worried about right now, it’s you. You shouldn’t be there all alone.”
“I’m okay.”
“It’s not right.” She let out an indignant huff. “You should be here.”
“The label said—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what the label said. They don’t understand what it’s like on the ground, managing these guys, keeping things running smoothly. We need you, Phoebe.” She hesitated. “He needs you.”
“They were pretty clear that if I didn’t return to Nashville by tomorrow, then I wasn’t to bother.”
“That’s just fucking wrong. Have you tried calling him?”
“My father?” I scoffed. “He’s fielding my calls via his assistant.”
“Coward.”
“He doesn’t enjoy confrontation.” He preferred to handle his business in a more direct and to the point approach. But I still couldn’t believe how unyielding he’d been about this. As if I wasn’t old or wise enough to make my own mistakes and shoulder the consequences.
“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” she muttered. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean...”
“It’s okay.” She was right. The end of the tour was imminent. The band had three shows left to get through. The one tomorrow in Milwaukee, and then the two shows in Atlanta.
The last thing they needed was for Levi to go MIA. All because of me. Because he thought I’d betrayed him.
If only I’d have gotten to my father first.
But Letty was right. It wouldn’t have changed anything. After Zephyr, he would never have accepted Levi—he never would.
Not that there was even a me and Levi to accept anymore.
“But I- I love you. I’m yours.”
“No,” he breathed, “you’re not.”
The words repeated in my head, over and over, taunting me, shredding my heart in two.
I wanted to believe Levi was just lashing out because I’d hurt him, but I knew Levi well enough to know he didn’t hand out second chances.
You got one shot to prove yourself, to earn his trust... and in his eyes, I’d broken it.
Pain rolled through me as I sat in the small, dingy motel room. It was a far cry from the hotels I’d stayed in with the band. But I was no longer with the band. I was an intern at the label; the girl who got coffee and filed paperwork.
I wasn’t sure I could go back to that, not now I knew what it was like to be right there in the thick of it. But I needed this job, I needed the steady income. I was a twenty-one-year-old college dropout with a very lacking resume. For as much as I hated to admit it, I needed my father’s connections if didn’t want to end up working a dead-end job.
“Phoebe, are you still there?” Letty’s voice pulled me from my depressing thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Even if Levi would hear me out, it wouldn’t change the fact the band was due to leave for their world tour in a little over a month. And I’d be stuck in Nashville.
It couldn’t work.
Levi there and me here. He’d grow frustrated, angry... he’d get drunk or high to try and fill the void and eventually he’d lose control... he’d find some pretty French girl or British girl to chase away the pain.
It was always going to be hard being on tour with Levi... but being thousands of miles apart for six months at a time?
Our fragile relationship couldn’t withstand that.
If there was anything left.
Tears pricked the corner of my eyes as I swallowed over the ball of emotion lodged in my throat.
“When are you leaving?” she asked, because like me, she knew I didn’t have a choice.
“My flight is tomorrow.”
“I’ll find him. I’ll talk to him.”
“Okay,” I said.
Even though we both knew it wouldn’t matter.
The next morning, Letty sent me a car to take me to the airport to catch my flight from Des Moines to Nashville.
For a second, when I’d spotted the familiar black SUV, I’d half-expected to find Levi sitting inside waiting for me.
Of course, he wasn’t.
I’d cried the entire journey. But when I touched down in Nashville, I’d dried my tears, pulled up my big girl panties, and told myself that I would be okay.
I’d survived Zephyr.
I would survive this.
As I exited the airport and joined the line for a taxicab, my cell started vibrating. Hope filled my chest, but quickly turned to dread when I saw my father’s number flashing on the screen.
“Hello,” I said with little emotion.
“I just wanted to check your flight was okay?”
“You mean you wanted to make sure I was on the flight?”
“Phoebe, don’t take that tone with me, young lady.”
“Dad,” I sighed, “I’m really not in the mood to argue.”
“I got you that internship because I wanted more for you than a life shackled to some junkie. A rock star, Phoebe, really?” he sneered. “Levi Hunter is nothing more than—”
“Don’t. Don’t you dare talk about him like that.”
“Don’t tell me you actually fell for the guy?” He scoffed as if the idea was preposterous. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I never was very smart when it came to trusting the men in my life.” I hung up and shoved my phone in my pocket.
The women in front of me glanced back and gave me a sad smile. I didn’t return it, glancing down at my feet. All I wanted was to get to my apartment and shut the world out.
“I’m heading downtown if you want to share the fare?” The woman asked as a cab pulled forward.