Big Girl Playing in Paris: Big Girl Series Bk4 Read Online Free PDF

phone and pressed the speed dial. Shannon’s phone rang once, twice, and then went to voicemail. He hung up.
    “You texted her like a dozen times already last night. Until we took the phone away from you.”
    Julian couldn’t remember making a single one of those texts. “What? What are you talking about?”
    “You were really out of it, man.”
    Asher paused.
    “It sounded like you might do something bad. When you were talking about her last night.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like, shit about not wanting to live.” Asher shrugged, but there was concern in his voice.
    “I’m not suicidal.”
    “Could have fooled me.”
    “Fuck you.”
    “Fuck me? Fuck you!” It was the first time he had ever seen Asher get mad. Hell, he had punched the guy in the face and still he hadn’t blinked an eye. But this time he was furious, albeit a mild kind of furious. “You’re like, fucking up the band when you do this. It’s not just about you, you know!”
    Julian felt it like a punch to the gut. He turned away.
    “Julian—”
    “Jesus, Asher, I’m sorry. I—fuck, I can’t say it enough, even though it doesn’t change anything. I messed up.”
    “It’s okay,” Asher said, after a pause. “You can fix it.”
    “I messed everything up. I mean everything . With Shannon.”
    “I’m really sorry, dude.”
    “How can I get her back?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “How can I fix it?”
    He was desperate, but the question stood unanswered. Asher had helped him win Shannon over once, but that situation had been a far cry from puking his guts out in a Parisian street with another woman on his arm. They stood in silence for a while.
    “Forget about it,” Asher said. “Do the music.”
    “Music?”
    Asher shrugged. “It’s what you do. Fix what you can first, then deal with Shannon. First things first.”
    “Music.” Julian felt something inside of him tug. He hadn’t played music for himself in a long time. It was always the band, the set, the recordings. Now he felt an inexplicable urge to pick up a guitar and just play any melody at all, just to get the pain out of his mind and into the air.
    “Julian?”
    “That’s what I need.” He strode off down the hall, Asher trailing behind him. He passed by the nurse’s reception.
    “Au revoir, ladies,” he said, waving one hand in the air. His head ached as he made the gesture, but the pain he felt was all in his heart.
    The hospital wasn’t far away from their hotel rooms, but when Julian arrived there with Asher the other guys were gone.
    ”They’re probably going to eat,” Asher said. “I’ll text them.”
    “I’m just gonna stay here a while,” Julian said.
    “Here?” Asher looked around the cramped hotel room.
    “I’ll order up some room service,” Julian said. “I really just want some time to practice alone.”
    “Oh, sure,” Asher said. “I’ll bring you back a eclair or some shit.”
    “That would be great,” Julian said. He didn’t think that he could taste anything right now anyway. Asher left, and Julian sat on the edge of the bed. He picked up his guitar.
    Music. Asher was right. That’s what I do. He began to play, and once he started he couldn’t stop.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Shannon felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces. She knew that Julian loved her, but that wasn’t enough. Not if she couldn’t trust him.
    She called the airport from her hotel room, but all of the flights were booked until the next night. Tossing and turning all night, she finally got up at nine in the morning, bleary-eyed and completely unrested, and decided to go for a walk. Her phone buzzed. Julian, again. She ignored the call. She needed to escape, to get away. Even knowing Julian was in the same country as her was too much.
    The park a few blocks away from the hotel stretched out in a long green line under the sunshine. Families scattered through the park, children screaming and running in circles. She had thought that France