Diving Into Him (18 page)
“Okay.” Griff stood. “Call me if you need anything.”
“You’re not staying?” Jett tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. As much as she liked being alone with Koty, she didn’t want Griff to think that she didn’t want him around.
He crossed the space between them and kissed her forehead. “Someone’s gotta take care of band business while you’re in here.” He grinned. “Besides, it looks like Koty is taking good care of you. One less thing on my worry list.”
“You don’t worry that he might not be any good for me?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She wrapped her fingers around the water bottle and wished that she had come down with strep or something else that would tie up her vocal chords for a while.
Griff snorted. “If anyone’s hurting anyone, it’s gonna be you, again.” He ambled toward the door. “Go easy on him, Jett.” With those parting words, he left her room.
Rolling her eyes, she turned on the TV. Noise from the show filled the room—a rerun of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
—but she hardly paid attention. Her eyes flicked to the doorway every few minutes.
A nurse drifted in and gave her another dose of dilaudid. As the drug took hold, she struggled to keep her eyes open. As her eyes closed, she glanced at the door one more time.
* * * * *
She woke up to shades of pink and purple streaking across the room. Heart lurching, she sat up on her elbows. The room was empty. Panic strangled her chest. She glared at her IV, wishing she had declined her last dose. Koty had probably come back, found her passed out, and decided to go home. She couldn’t exactly blame him, but disappointment—and something else—tugged at her. Swallowing hard, she reached for the remote and turned the TV back on.
Koty eased into the room, hugging a brown paper sack to his chest.
Her breath caught in her throat. “Hey,” she said.
He grinned. “I was hoping you would be awake.” The scent of sesame chicken and steaming hot rice drifted to her. He set the bag down on the tray. “I figured you might be tired of hospital food by now.” He lifted his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets.
She wanted to jump up and hug him. Instead, she fumbled for the button for her bed and slowly elevated herself into a sitting position. “Sweet.” She turned the volume of the TV down. “I thought you might have gone home.”
Koty opened the bag of food. “And eat dinner by myself?” He pulled out containers of Chinese. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I got a little bit of everything.”
“You’re the best.” Heat flushed her cheeks. She pressed her lips together.
His eyes flicked to hers. He stood next to the tray, frozen. “How are you feeling?”
She wondered if she was imagining the way he was looking at her. Though wary, his blue eyes watched her as if she was the only woman alive. “Better now,” she said.
Koty pulled out a couple of styrofoam plates. “Did they give you another dose of painkillers?”
“No.” She caught his hand. “I thought you were gone for the day.” Her heart slammed into her chest. She twined her fingers with his. Maybe it was the drugs making her so bold. Licking her lips, she surged forward. She might not ever get another chance. “I’m sorry,” she said.
His blue eyes blinked. “It’s really no big deal.” He glanced at the food, but remained rooted to where he stood, his hand still in hers.
Her eyes roved over the stubble on his face, his lips, half curved into a smile—mostly out of nerves, she guessed. Koty almost always smiled. “No, I mean for everything.” Griff’s words surfaced to her mind, and she cringed. Even if Koty had no interest in being with her anymore, she at least needed to be honest with him. “I’ve been awful to you.”
He lifted his shoulders. “It’s okay.” His fingers tightened around hers, though, and something that looked like hope sprang into his eyes.
Or maybe she was imagining it. “I mean, you’re probably here because you feel like you have to be, and I get it.” She untangled her fingers from his. “I’d run far away from me, too.” Taking a deep breath, she surged forward. “But I’m kind of hoping you won’t, because I wanna be with you.” She frowned. That sounded so lame. For someone who wrote lyrics for a living, she was really bad at wooing men with her tongue.
But Koty sat down on the bed next to her. A smile twitched on his lips, and relief flooded his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, I will love you forever, Jett Costa. If I had to, I would wait a million years for you to catch on.”
“I’m kind of a slow learner,” she said as he leaned forward. Pressing his lips to hers, he cradled the back of her head. Her heart stopped beating its regular rhythm, picking up like drums building in a song, and she stopped thinking. She let her feelings for Koty pull her under, and for the first time, she didn’t try to kick against the current.
Easing the car to a stop by the curb, Jett glanced out of the passenger window. With its brick facade and maroon overhang, her father’s bakery looked exactly as it had when she left. Print on the large front window announced Costa Breads and Pastries in bold white letters. Though Ruben never opened on a Sunday, the light in the window was bright and warm. She swallowed back tears and took a deep breath.
“Are you ready?” Koty took her hand and squeezed it hard. Despite the sirens swirling around them and the three homeless men laying on the sidewalk, he seemed at ease back in Brooklyn.
She snorted. “Are
you
?” Her father had never met any of her boyfriends, unless she counted Phillip. At the time, they had only been friends, building Perpetual Smile one gig at a time. In high school, she kept the guys she slept with a secret from her father. There was no telling how he would react.
Koty shrugged, but dimples appeared in his cheeks. “I can handle it.”
Giving him a curt nod, she unbuckled her seat belt. Excitement thrummed in her veins, and she had to force herself to get out of the car slowly. A black Honda Civic sped by, and she eased toward the sidewalk, her eyes wide. She had forgotten how aggressive New York drivers were. Locking the car, she tossed the keys to Koty. She had agreed to drive in, but made him promise to take the night shift, when traffic would be heavier as commuters headed back into the city for Monday morning.
She still couldn’t believe that Koty had just bought a car. She couldn’t remember ever owning one. It still felt weird to her that Koty could pay cash for pretty much anything he wanted. Despite how uncomfortable it made her feel when he bought things for her, she couldn’t argue with him. They had needed a car more times than she could count. Still, as she glanced over the glossy black paint and BMW logo, she wished she could have talked him into a cheaper one. At least she had been able to convince him to register it in his name. The last thing she wanted to be responsible for was a car that cost more than their condo.
Joining him on the sidewalk, she slipped her arm into his and led him toward the bakery. She couldn’t help but grin. It felt so good, so normal to meet her father for dinner and introduce him to her boyfriend. She giggled, and covered her mouth with her free hand.
“What’s so funny?” Koty nibbled at her ear, his warm breath moving the stray hairs from her ponytail, tickling her neck.
She pulled away from him, but her smile remained. “My dad’s right in there,” she said, swatting at him.
He straightened. “I’ll behave.” He opened the door for her. The warm scent of fresh baked bread enveloped her.
Grin widening, she paused in the doorway. “I’m just really happy.” Pressing a quick kiss to his lips, she danced away. “Dad?” She glanced down at her feet. The floor was still ceramic red tile, just as she remembered. In front of her, a counter sat, displays empty for the moment.
Ruben Costa ambled out of the storage room, a white apron tied around his waist. Flour smeared his nose. His face lit up at the sight of her. “Minha querida!” He held his arms out.
She met him halfway and wrapped her arms around him, breathing in his scent. He smelled like cologne and dough, a heady mix that brought her straight back to her childhood. Memories of helping him make Portuguese rolls swirled about her. She grinned. “I missed you.”
He stepped away from her, but kept an arm around her waist. “I missed you more.” He held out a flour covered hand to Koty, and they shook. “Come on upstairs, kids.” He turned and shuffled toward a set of stairs just next to the storage room.
Jett threw a wink at Koty over her shoulder and followed her father upstairs. As she emerged into the small apartment, a surge of warmth washed over her. Ruben’s place had changed little in the years since she moved out to pursue music. The old Stratocaster still hung on the wall, gleaming from a recent polishing. Photos from her childhood buffered the guitar, lining the wall. She touched one of her mother, tapping the glass that separated the photo from her skin. Though she might not be able to have children of her own, she still wondered what her life would be like if her mother had survived.
“Your old room’s an office now,” her father called as he moved into the kitchen, pulling her out of her reverie. He was enough, she realized. She vowed to make a point of visiting him more.
For the first time, she realized that he walked with a slight limp. “Are you all right?”
He brushed her off with a wave of his hand and bent to open the oven door. He pulled out a steaming pan of roasted chicken and potatoes. “It’s just gout.”
Before she could say anything, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She frowned down at it.
“Take it,” Ruben said. “I’ve still got to throw the veggies in the microwave.” He held up a package of steam-ready carrots and corn.
She yanked her phone out, meaning to silence it. When she read the name on the caller ID, though, her heart lurched into her throat. She made eye contact with Koty and mouthed, “Griff.”
He grimaced. “What now?”
She shook her head. They had been gone less than a day. It seemed impossible that any of the men she had left behind could have gotten into trouble so quickly. Her thoughts flicked to Perry’s drinking problem and Max’s overbearing girlfriend. Swallowing hard, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear. “Yes,” she said slowly.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Griff said, “but I figured you would want to know right away.”
Fingers slipping to the pack of cigarettes in her jacket pocket, she braced herself. “What’s up?”
Koty’s blue eyes watched her face. He lifted an eyebrow at her.
Griff chuckled. “Everything is fine, Jett.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “You just almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Watch your mouth,” Ruben said. He waved a carving knife at her. “We don’t use those two words in this house. I’ve made it this far.”
Despite her nerves, her lips parted and she smiled. “We’re sitting down to eat. What did you want to tell me?”
“I got us a new studio,” Griff said.
Her eyes widened, and she pumped a fist into the air. “In our budget?”
“Yep. We can resume recording the minute you get back.”
Lips curled, tears misting her eyes, Jett gave Koty a thumbs up. Though she was in no hurry to end the visit with her father, she couldn’t wait to get back to Boston. “Thanks,” she told Griff, and hung up. As she sat down at the table across from her father and next to Koty, an emotion she hadn’t felt in years flushed through her—fulfillment. No longer struggling against the currents of her life, she was exactly where she was supposed to be, and everything was exactly how it should be.
Twining her fingers with Koty’s, his skin warm against hers, she put the soles of her boots flat on the floor.
The End
Thank you so much for reading
Diving Into Him
, the first book in my South of Forever series! Please take a moment to leave a review on your favorite website.
The South of Forever series follows the belles of the band as the band continues to grow. Each book is written in the point of view of another bad-ass girl, with plenty of romance and suspense. The overall series follows the progress of the band, with all characters making appearances in each book.
As of June 2015, there will be four books in the series. I have finished writing the second book, am currently working on the third, and plan on writing the fourth before the year is over. I do not have specific release dates in mind yet, but I am hoping to release a new book in the series every other month.
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Becoming Natalie Series—
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Raising Dad
Chasing Rohan
Becoming Natalie
Becoming Natalie: The Complete Collection
(Books 1-3)
Comes in Threes Series—
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Crazy Comes in Threes
"The Santa Pact"
ESX Series—
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Amplified
Tempo
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ESX: The Complete Collection
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Positive
Upside Down
Losing It
Ever After
On the Edge: The Complete Collection
(Books 1-4)
South of Forever Series—
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Diving Into Him
(Available August 2nd, 2015)
Savannah's Song
(Available Fall 2015)
Elizabeth Barone writes contemporary New Adult suspense and romance. Her stories focus on the gritty side of being a twenty-something, featuring characters who chose an alternative path in life. She is the author of over a dozen titles, including the bestselling
South of Forever
series.
Elizabeth lives in Connecticut with her husband, the artist Michael Campbell.
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