Diving Into Him (South of Forever, Book 1)

Chapter 1

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Jett Costa let her eyes open slowly. Gray light stung her retinas. Squinting against the haze, she glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand and yawned as she read the time. It was only seven in the morning. She should still be sleeping. Groaning, she turned onto her stomach and let herself sink back into the velvety darkness behind her eyes as she tried to remember what she had been dreaming before she woke up. Maybe she'd been having a sexy dream. She snorted. Dreams were the closest she had come to having sex in the last three months. Part of her had hoped that, even though she and Koty had separate bedrooms, the condo they shared would become some kind of sex haven when they moved in together.

Gripping her pillow, she sighed. She was pathetic. She needed to remember that they were better off keeping things platonic. They had way too much work to do to waste time on each other. The band would never take off if they continued going back and forth. Still, sometimes she wished that he would come into her bedroom and crawl into bed with her. Not so long ago, he had pressed his lips to hers in a dark tour bus, back when things were less complicated—before she ruined her entire life.

She had no job. If listening to wannabe musicians carve out her eardrums all day counted as a job, she was in big trouble. She was probably wasting her time—and Koty's, not to mention his money. They'd been holding auditions for their new band for weeks. Maybe it was time to call it off. She could probably find a job as a music teacher somewhere or, at the very least, a cashier at a record store. Separating for good would probably be the best thing for both her and Koty, she surmised.

She rolled onto her side and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. There was one missed call. Her eyes widened as she read the name on the display. Her heart beat frantically in her chest. She wanted to shut the ringer off and go back to sleep. Knocking herself out would require more Benadryl, though, and it was already 7:10. She wondered where the time was going.

Nibbling on her lower lip, she stared at the phone, unable to believe what she was seeing. It seemed impossible. She hadn't spoken to Griff in almost five months. He was a part of her old life, and she preferred that it stayed that way. Besides, there was no reason for him to call her—unless he was apologizing for what had happened all those months ago when Perpetual Smile broke up.

She sat up at the thought. Griff had never been slow to admit when he was wrong. It didn't make sense for him to wait so long to say that he was sorry for what he did. There had to be another reason for him to call.

As she toyed with the idea of calling him back, her phone went off in her hands. Jumping, she nearly dropped it. Griff's name appeared on the screen. Hands shaking, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She had no idea how to answer. Neither a casual "Hey" nor a professional "Jett Costa" seemed right. She sat cross-legged on her bed, mouth hanging open.

"Hello?" Griff said into her ear. He sounded confused. "Anyone there?" Sirens blared in the background, nearly drowning him out.

Jett frowned, wondering where he was. "Yeah," she said, voice thick with emotion and sleep.

"Jett." He paused as the sirens flared again. When they died down, he wasted no time on pleasantries. "You've really fucked up this time."

Her eyebrows shot up. Even five months earlier, when she'd deserved it, he had never spoken to her like that. "Excuse me?" She lifted the phone from her ear, double checking the name on the caller ID.