The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(93)

I shook my head, looking down at my shoes. “I’m sorry for ruining the mood.”

“Don’t apologize for being honest. You’re admitting what you’re worried about. And I was honest in admitting that I wasn’t ready to deal with it. Even if we don’t always love the other person’s answers, we should always talk about what’s bothering us.” She tugged on my shirt. “And by the way, opening up to each other like this is a better use of the no-sex period than you dressing up like Mr. Rogers and pretending to be someone you’re not.”

Breaking my vow to not kiss her, I leaned in and took her mouth in mine. Speaking over her lips, I muttered, “I just don’t want to lose you. That’s what all of this is about.”

“I know,” she whispered.

My damn emotions were all over the place. Lowering my mouth to her neck, I sucked on her tender skin, needing to be inside of her like I needed my next damn breath. “I want to fuck you so badly right now.”

She laughed. “Did someone flip a switch inside you, Catalano?”

“That’s how it is when you…” Love someone. Fuck. Every time I’d nearly said it, things didn’t feel right. Now wasn’t the time—I’d already fucked tonight up.

I repeated, “That’s how it is when you want someone as badly as I want you right now, sweetheart.” I forced myself back. “But I’m gonna stick to the plan.”

She spoke against my chest. “Not gonna pretend to be happy about that.”

I switched the subject before I gave in. “Here’s something that might take our minds off sex…”

“What?”

“I want to talk about your dad.”

“Yeah, okay. That might work.” She chuckled as she moved away from me. “What about him?”

“I’m not gonna pressure you about me spending time with him, but I’m secretly hoping you change your mind about that.”

“Why does it matter so much to you?”

“I think it’s two-fold.” I paused. “Part of it is that Ryan can’t be here to give me the official seal of approval. I still can’t figure out if he’d be happy about us or want to kill me, and most days I feel like it’s the latter.” I sighed. “So getting on your dad’s good side would be like the next-best thing.”

“What’s the other component?”

“I’m not gonna lie…knowing how well your father got along with Warren irks me. It’s because your dad trusts him. And he sure as fuck doesn’t trust me yet.”

“He also had a really long time to build that trust with Warren. I don’t want you to feel like you need to rush. That happens with time. There’s nothing you can say or do that’s going to make him trust you right now.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“What I mean is that if you stick around and he gets to know you naturally, that’s how he’ll end up trusting you. You can’t make that happen overnight.”

“I get it.” I exhaled. “Okay, here’s what I propose. It’s been too damn long since I’ve spent some quality time with my parents. You said you were going back home in a couple of weeks. Why don’t I drive us out there, but I’ll stay with my folks. My mother has been bugging me to come home for a long time. Then I can drive you back and maybe sneak in some time with you there, too.”

“You don’t have any gigs scheduled that weekend?”

“I’ll let the band and our manager know that those days are blocked off for me. It’s non-negotiable.” Showing her I meant business, I took my phone out. “Matter of fact, I’m gonna text them right now to let them know that time is off limits.”

After Lala took out her calendar and confirmed the three days she’d planned to go home, I sent a group text to my bandmates and manager, specifying the dates I’d be home in Pennsylvania.

Within a minute, I got a text back from my manager.

Daisy: I’m sorry. You can’t take those dates off. We just received word that Seal Records wants you guys to go back out to L.A. and record a demo. Those days overlap with the dates they booked the studio. Sorry!

A rush of adrenaline hit me as I typed a response.

Holden: There’s no flexibility on the dates?

Daisy: Nope. Studio is booked solid otherwise. We don’t want to fuck around with these guys by acting like a bunch of divas off the bat. Non-negotiable.

I stood there frozen, looking down at my phone incredulously.

“Holden, what’s wrong?”

“Sweetheart…I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I can’t go to Pennsylvania.” My stomach ached.

“What happened?” She blinked.

“Daisy just told me one of the record companies wants us to go out to California again to record a demo. They booked the studio during the time you’re going to Pennsylvania.”

She leapt toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Oh my God. That’s amazing!”

Sure, that was great news, but it wasn’t even fazing me. Grasping at straws, I asked, “I assume you can’t go any other time?”

“No. We have that Monday off—some sort of government holiday I’ve never heard of, which is the only reason I can take that long weekend. Since I’m already behind, I really can’t take any other time off.”