“Hey, where are you going?” I call to him.
He doesn’t answer. He just walks over to a shed off to the side of the patio and pulls out two bed-like floats. He brings them into the pool and settles the pink one in front of me, “Get on.”
I slide myself up and lay down as he gets on his green one, then reaches for my hand to connect us. “Okay, pretty girl. I’m an open book. Ask away.”
“How did you pivot from hockey player to insanely popular nutritionist and fitness guru?”
“It took months for me to get over losing my hockey career, though if I’m being honest, I knew it was a long shot anyway. I didn’t have the talent Cole did, but I’d hoped to at least get to play through college while I figured my shit out. I considered going into sports medicine, but it didn’t fit me.
Before my injury, I’d gotten into what foods were best for athletes and had developed a diet for me and Cole while we were training. He’s the one who pushed me in that direction and then hired me after I graduated. The fitness and social media angle came about from a girlfriend I had briefly in my senior year. She was an aspiring influencer and talked me into joining her. I succeeded at it quickly, and she didn’t. That didn’t go over well, and she kicked me to the curb.”
“Did you have a lot of girlfriends?” I don’t know why I ask that. It’s none of my business, but my mouth acts without permission. “I always imagined you the same as high school, flitting from girl to girl.”
He grimaces, “College was a lot like high school. I was focused on the future and not interested in anything serious. I dated a few women here and there, but hardly more than that. Building and maintaining my career took a lot of energy. Plus, watching Cole with Hannah, I knew I wanted nothing to do with that. He was so miserable all the time, and I have no idea how he never realized it.”
I slide off my float and pull him out of the pool. We both grab our towels and dry off before Foster asks, “What now?”
“Talking time is over,” I tell him as I walk back into the house. Foster is right behind me as I walk through the stairs and up to my room, where we spend the rest of the afternoon.
Chapter 16
Isling my camera around my neck and grab my other lens before I run down the basement stairs toward Talon's studio. I knock on the door when I get there, not wanting to disrupt him too badly. He's holed himself up in this studio, working on his album for months.
Fifteen minutes ago, he sent me a message telling me he needed me down here. There was a heavy emphasis on the need. So, I finished answering emails, and now I’m here.
"Come in," Talon calls out, and I open the door. He sits in a chair with a red guitar in his hands. He has headphones on and a microphone in front.
"I’ve missed you," I tell him after he removes the headphones.Spending so much time with Foster has been amazing. Whenever I'm with Foster, I'm completely engaged with whatever activity we're doing together, but that doesn't mean there isn't a tiny part of me yearning for Talon. Without a doubt, it would be the same the other way too. They're both equal parts of my heart.
"I missed you too," he says as he puts his guitar beside the stand.
"Liar," I scoff. "You've been busy."
“I’m never too busy to miss you.” He pulls me into his lap and nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. He kisses me there several times before pulling away, "Has Foster been taking good care of you while I've been lost in music?"
I bite my lip, unsure of how to answer that. He has, but I don't think talking in this situation is appropriate.
Talon reaches with his thumb to pull the lip out of my teeth, "It's okay, Kitten. You can admit it. My feelings won't get hurt."
"You're not jealous?"
“Oh, I'm jealous as fuck, but only because I haven't been able to be with you. But I know I'll get my time with you when needed. It will all work itself out, I promise."
I don't stop myself from bending to kiss him with more force than before, and he opens to me immediately. I want to believe in his promises so badly. I pull away from his mouth before we get too distracted. "Why did you call me down here?"
"I wanted you to listen to the song I just finished."
He puts the headphones on my ears and presses some buttons on the keyboard on a large wooden table beside him. A guitar plays a hauntingly beautiful harmony. I sway to the tune when Talon's rich baritone starts to sing. Goosebumps rise on my skin. I don't think I've ever heard him sing before.
The lyrics touch my heart and make me tear up. They’re tragic, about a love that is an obsession. He needs it for survival, but at the same time, it's killing him. When the song ends, Talon looks at me expectantly while he removes the headphones from my ears.
"Beautiful and so sad," I tell him.
"The song is about my addiction. I wrote it just before I went to rehab."
I reach up and cradle his face in my hands, "You were in so much pain. I felt it with you."
"I deserved it. I caused those around me so much pain. I felt like I could control it in the beginning, just a little powder when I wanted to feel good and nothing else. Then, I needed it to feel anything, to function at all. I would do anything to get it. I treated my wife, bandmates, and anyone close to me like shit. I was partying all the time and waking up in places I had no memory of being. I was on the fast track to my grave."
