Chapter 25 #2
Eunice cleared her throat and tightened her grip on Addie’s hand. “What you’re feeling—and I know you said that you’re experiencing all the symptoms written in that book—but it’s not Muse Sickness.”
“But—”
“It’s not Muse Sickness, Adalyn Love Whitlock. You’re not a Muse. Yes, you are a gorgeous, softhearted, and talented young demigoddess with loads of inspiration to give, but you’re not a Muse. Muses are born. Therefore, you—and anyone you’re in contact with—cannot be afflicted with Muse Sickness.”
Maxi and Bailey whispered on the other side of the living room as Addie struggled to comprehend everything.
“Then what the hell is this all-consuming, simultaneously thrilling and scary-as-hell feeling that washes over me whenever I think about Phoenix Cross? It’s not …
natural. It’s too powerful and overwhelming and it’s—”
“Love.”
Addie scoffed at her aunt’s response, but her humorless laughter died in her throat when she glanced at her mom. “Is she serious?”
“Very,” Eunice answered instead.
“And she’s also very right,” Aphrodite agreed.
Addie took a deep breath and her entire body—and her heart—trembled.
Did she love Phoenix Cross? The weight-crushing pain and her struggle to take full breaths—not to mention her sudden Planet of the Apes and The Princess Bride binge-watching—would indicate yes.
As improbable as it was, and as much as she tried denying it, she was, without a doubt, in love with Phoenix Cross.
In love with his wicked smirk and that panty-dampening dimple. In the way he protects—and teases—his family. His nipple piercings and every single tattoo. In the way he holds her, his strong hands gentle as if they possessed something precious in his arms.
Hell, even now, thinking about his ridiculous pickup lines, her heart did a little flip.
She couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment it had happened.
It could’ve been when he’d taken care of her after the Jones Beach incident, or when he first opened that apartment door and half-jokingly asked her to be his Muse.
Hell, it could’ve been when he remembered she liked her coffee piping hot with a single ice cube thrown in.
“Oh. My. Goddess. I’m in l-love with him,” Addie murmured softly. The truth hit her in the face like a two-by-four and the impact teetered her sideways. “I need to sit down.”
“You are sitting down,” Aphrodite mused, and pushed her upright.
“Oh. Good for me then.”
Somewhere nearby, Max and Bailey whispered their shock at her admittance.
Addie dropped her head into her hands and sighed, feeling as if her heart was breaking all over again. “He’s never going to speak to me again.”
“Why on earth not?”
Addie snorted humorlessly. “Well, because first he tried telling me how he felt and I played it off like we both just had a case of the cooties. Then, I basically told him that I got what I wanted from him so I don’t need him anymore, tried to shake his hand, and after he kissed me, I holed up in my room and blocked his number because I didn’t trust myself not to call him. ”
“Dang,” Bailey muttered.
“Well, that isn’t ideal.” Aphrodite grimaced, but quickly patted her hand. “But it’s not irreversible. You tell him you were wrong and—”
“That you were an idiot,” Bailey added pointedly.
“But you’ve since realized your error and wish to make amends.”
“Mom,” Addie sighed. “People don’t just walk up to people and say things like ‘I wish to make amends.’ I fucked up. Big-time. Phoenix was trying to tell me how he felt, and he was so damn sure, but … so was I.”
A new wave of tears threatened to fall.
“I was so quick to believe that what I felt for him couldn’t be possible that I latched on to the only other feasible excuse—or so I thought.” Addie glanced to her mother for her input. “What about that screams love?”
“Everything.” Aphrodite smiled. “Love is scary. Love is blind. And more often than not, love makes absolutely no fucking sense.”
Addie rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe away the gritty sensation. “It would’ve made things so much easier if I had just seen a damn link.”
“A link?” Maxi asked from her spot leaning against the chair.
“Unlike the gold cords I’ve seen linking all the other couples, I’ve never once caught a glimmer of one between me and Phoenix. Not a gleam or flicker. Nothing.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
Addie glanced to her mother, to Bailey, and then to Maxi.
It was her sister who broke the silence first. “Golden cords? Do you mean that all those times we were out in public … at the café, and during that brunch … you saw actual links tethering people together?”
Addie nodded, unable to admit it aloud.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Maxi squealed. “I’ve been poring over client files and dealing with raiding police officers and fraudsters and you’ve been seeing freaking soul tethers?! How the hell could you deny love—true love—after seeing them?”
“In my defense, I thought—and so did my eye doctor—that something was wrong with my contacts,” Addie mumbled.
“That’s why you started wearing your glasses,” Bailey whispered.
“Except it didn’t work, and I’ve seen more since.” Addie turned to her mother. “But there’s a very obvious one that I haven’t seen, and maybe it’s a little chickenish of me, but I don’t think I can put myself out there without knowing for absolute sure that it’s the real thing.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Aphrodite reached for her hands and gave them a firm squeeze.
“A Cupidess can’t see her own soul tether—at least not until you make that fated leap of trust without a safety net.
Trusting that your love will catch you. Don’t ask me why.
It’s just one of those things that is what it is and I’m not sure there’s an actual reason. ”
“Well, that fucking sucks,” Addie mumbled grumpily.
And it in no way helped her with her situation in the least.
“I can’t believe you can see soul tethers.
” Maxi shot her a stern glare. “When East and Naiomi’s ceremony is over, we’re having a sit-down and talking about changing things up at Happily Ever Forever.
I mean, let’s face it. I’m probably more suited for the event planning side anyway.
I know the difference between antique white, pearl white, and airy white. ”
Addie groaned, but grinned wanly. “For the last time, there is no difference. They’re all white.”
Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. “Your sister may have a point. It may be time to shake things up … and I’m not just talking about things at Happily Ever Forever.”
Phoenix.
No doubt she meant Phoenix, or her love life, or lack thereof, but she just didn’t know how big of a leap she was willing to take without that damn safety net.
Phoenix
Phoenix brought his sticks down on the snare drum a little harder than necessary, his foot a little heavy on the bass. East snuck him a questioning look as they continued with the recording of their umpteenth party song.
By the time the chorus came around, the damn mallet went through the kick drum with a loud thud.
The producer’s voice bellowed through the comms. “What the hell did those drums do to you, Nix?”
He grunted and shrugged, knowing the guys were watching him. Hell, they’d been sending looks his way ever since he walked into the recording studio grumpy, cranky, and more than a little eager to pound away on his drums. His idea to wail on the set had evidently worked a little too well.
The people in the lounge cleared out as the producer sent someone to find another drum. Phoenix and the guys took this moment to drop themselves onto the nearby couches where he avoided all eye contact.
East kicked the side of his boot—and it fucking hurt since the bastard was currently in gargoyle mode.
“What the hell, man?” Phoenix shot at him. “No harsh physical contact in stone form. It’s one of the rules.”
East flickered into his skin suit and kicked him again, this time in the shin. “There. Better?”
“No, asshole.” Phoenix rubbed his sore foot and shin. Now he wouldn’t be able to pound on the bass drum too hard. “Look, I’m sorry about fucking up another take. I’ll get it on the next one, okay? I’m just … a little out of sorts.”
The guys exchanged a series of looks, and that’s when Phoenix realized.
He sent a glare to East. “You fucking told them?”
Easton shrugged his broad shoulders. “You didn’t tell me I couldn’t, so yeah. Figured they should probably be aware why you’re acting like a cranky toddler who didn’t get their afternoon nap for the last few days.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Phoenix repeated for the tenth time since his and Addie’s hallway conversation. Each time he said it didn’t make him believe it any more, but a guy could try. “We had an agreement. We each delivered on our end of the deal. Now it’s time to move on.”
And there was the problem.
He wanted to move on with Addie.
He wanted more bedroom snuggles. More evening strolls in the park. Hell, he’d even subject himself to weekly fucking carousel rides at Coney Island if it meant keeping her in his life.
And yeah, in his heart.
It fucking ached whenever he thought about her, a real, visceral reaction that’d been plaguing him for the last three days, and no amount of banging his sticks seemed to take it away. The only thing it did do?
Kept him up late into the night—and early morning—leaning against the shared wall of their apartment while he wrote more lyrics and melodies, churning out song after song until he had damn near filled his current notebook.
All because of her. Fucking Muse Sickness.
He still didn’t believe it, but he sure as hell could see how she did, someone who always had one foot poised to run in the other direction if shit got too real.