Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) by Laramie Briscoe Read Free Book Online

yourself. He doesn’t want to be the reason you don’t follow your dreams,” Hannah tried her best to explain. The many conversations she and Jared had while putting puzzles together played through her mind. He, like the rest of them, was a master at hiding things he didn’t want others to see.
    “Is he having a hard time?” Shell asked. “And I don’t mean with me not being there, I’m talking about the other stuff.”
    That was one of the major things Hannah had worried about when she decided to go on tour with them. If Jared went back to using drugs, would she be able to handle it? So far that hadn’t been a problem. He hadn’t even touched wine or beer. “So far, so good, but I know he needs to see you soon. Heck, I need to see you soon. It’s been almost five weeks.”
    Tears pooled in Shell’s eyes, and she had a hard time talking against the lump in her throat. “I know, it’s been forever.”
    Hannah knew she may hate herself for doing this, but she had to ask, she had to put it out there. She couldn’t stand for a friend, a sister, to look this miserable. “Nobody is going to think badly of you if you decide this is something you don’t want to do. You’ll always be paid as part of my management group—even if I decide not to go back to singing. There will always be something for you to do. You don’t have to do this to prove a point to anyone.”
    “Not even to myself?” she whispered. “I was so gung ho about it, how I was going to show everyone how strong I am, but I’m not. Fuck, I miss you all, and I’m a hot mess when it comes to the campus life too. Most of the classes are online, but I have to go to campus for two of them, and even though we’re roughly the same age as the seniors, they are so fucking immature.”
    “Then why are you doing this to yourself, honey?” Hannah asked softly. There was no reason for her to be pushing herself.
    “Because I’m stubborn and I want to see the things I start through. I’m not a quitter.” Her voice was as strong as she could make it, but even then it was still weak. They could both hear it.
    If there was one thing Hannah would have never labeled her friend, it was quitter. “No, you aren’t, and just because you’ve tried something and you’ve found it’s not for you doesn’t mean you’re a quitter either. It means you gave it your best shot and it just didn’t work out.”
    “Have I given it my best shot?” She was weakening. God, she missed her friends.
    “Only you can answer that.” It killed Hannah to see her friend looking like this. “What I’m saying to you is if you’re doing this as some sort of way to prove to yourself you can stand without me, stop. You hold me up most of the time. If you’re doing this to prove you can live without Jared, stop.”
    Shell opened her mouth, but Hannah cut her off, holding up her hand to the screen of the cell phone. The universal sign for “let me have my peace.”
    “If you’re doing this because you want to further your education, then please continue. But I’m here to tell you, nothing is worth being as miserable as you look. Stop punishing yourself and come join us on the road.”
    “I wanna give it one more week. I want to make sure I’m not making a knee-jerk reaction and I’m not jealous because y’all are traveling together and I’m not used to being alone.”
    “One more week,” Hannah conceded. “Then you decide. It’s tearing me apart to see you look as sad as you do, Jared to look as sad as he does, and for me to miss my best friend. There’s no sense in this. It’s BS.” She frowned as she caught the time on her phone. “I really gotta go because I have to meet Garrett to do the red carpet.”
    They talked for a few more minutes before hanging up.
    “Did you talk some sense into her?”
    Hannah wasn’t surprised Jared had been listening to her conversation with his girlfriend. It was only going to be her and her husband at the awards show, but the