Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“Shit, sorry,” I say as I catch her before she crashes into the wall.
“No, no. It’s my fault. I should watch where I’m going.”
That’s ridiculous. We both came out at the same time and just happened to turn in opposite directions. Could’ve happened to anyone.
“It’s not that deep, Justine.”
She nods but doesn’t look at me.
I don’t know her story, other than she ran away from home. She doesn’t talk about her life prior to Plum, and I don’t ask. If she wanted me or any of us to know, she’d say something.
But whatever forced her to leave home, she carries it with her. Sometimes she looks scared when we have meet-and-greets or have to go to promos, like at the mall. I’ve watched her hide herself behind Keane. Even me.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Heading to the vending machine for a snack,” she says, finally looking at me. I swear, she has purple eyes, which I know is an illusion because of the overhead lighting. They’d fit her, though, with her shoulder-length lavender hair. I heard someone call her cute as a button during one of the stops and can’t get the thought out of my head. She is cute.
Adorable, in fact.
And short, which I think adds to her cute factor. When she’s on stage, she doesn’t look small, until she’s standing next to me.
“Where are the girls?” I ask, in reference to Wynonna and Priscilla.
“They went out to dinner.”
And left Justine behind, or did she choose to stay?
“Come downstairs with me,” I suggest. “Elle and Ben are down there, and I’m sure we’re going to be talking non-stop about the tour.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re not.”
It takes her a minute to agree. She walks next to me to the elevator; the silence between us doesn’t seem uncomfortable, but just normal. Like this would be a moment when we don’t have to speak.
The doors open, and I motion for her to go first. There’s a man in the elevator, and I make sure to stand between him and Justine. She steps closer to me, and for whatever reason, I grab her hand, hoping to convey that she’s safe. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
In the lobby, we make our way to the restaurant and tell the hostess we’re meeting people. I find my sister, Ben, and my parents, along with Oliver in the back corner. Ollie stands in his chair and screams out my name, waving his hands in the air. I go to him and pick him up.
“What are you guys doing here?”
My parents stand and give me a hug.
“Your mother missed you,” Dad says as we sit. Thankfully, there’s an extra chair, so nothing feels awkward with Justine joining us.
“You guys remember Justine?” My parents nod and say hi to her.
“So, you didn’t miss me?” I say to my dad and then tickle Ollie. “Did you miss me?” He laughs and gives me a hug. His adoption still isn’t final, and I know it’s weighing heavily on my parents.
“Yeth,” he says with a slight lisp. “Dis much.” Ollie extends his arms out as far as he can.
“I missed you too, bud.” He goes back to Dad so he can sit in his booster seat. “So,” I say to my sneaky sister, “did you set this up?”
“Of course,” Elle says with a shrug. “We all need family time.”
She’s not wrong.
The waitress comes, and we place our order. My parents make things easy at the table and engage with Justine, asking how she’s enjoying the tour, living mostly on the bus, and dealing with my moody self. The latter being a question from Elle.
“I’m not that bad,” I say in my defense.
“He’s not,” Justine agrees. “Besides, the so-called moodiness brings out the best in his songwriting abilities.”
“Thanks,” I say as I look at her, wink, and casually put my arm around the back of her chair. She blushes and looks away. Duly noted, do not to wink again. Or maybe it’s my arm. She doesn’t shy away, though, so I don’t move my arm right away because I don’t want to embarrass her.
We end up hanging out in the restaurant for a lot longer than necessary, considering my parents are staying here as well. We finally call it a night and head back to our respective rooms.
On our floor, Justine and I walk side by side again until we get to our rooms.
“If you need anything, I’m right here,” I say as I point to my door. I have no idea what spurs me to say this, but I don’t regret it.
“Thanks,” she says and pauses. “And thanks for inviting me to dinner. I had a great time.”
“You’re welcome. See you in the morning for rehearsals.”
Justine nods. I wait for her to get into her room before I go to mine, wishing we had connecting rooms because I’d invite her over to work on some new music. She’s a hell of a songstress, and I really enjoy writing with her.