“Same,” Maddox and Ryder say.
“I’m kind of tired of you guys keepingall your shit to yourselves,” Dane snaps. The three of us look at him withidentical expressions of surprise. “We are family. We unload our shit on each other, remember? Even if we know it’s going to piss the others off.”
“Mine’s just the same bloody shit, mate,” Ryder tells him. “My sister calls to tell me my grandfather is getting worse. Then I try to call him, and my mother has given orders that I am not to speak with him.”
“What is her problem?” I ask gruffly.
“Me,” he chuckles. “I don’t play her games. If I won’t speak to her, she won’t let me speak to my grandfather.”
“Whywould you talk to her after the crap she pulled?” Maddox growls. “That was the lowest of low.”
“Not talking to her is the least she deserves,” Dane adds with his own harsh tone.“What about you?” he asks Maddox.
“My dad wants me to come home,” he tells us.
“Why?” I ask.
“He says because he misses me,” he shrugs.
“You don’t believe him.” It’s a statement, not a question. I know Maddox and his dad haven't seen eye to eye in a long time. His dad wants him to take over the family business. He’s tried to groom Maddoxhis entire life. Maddox has never wanted any part of it.
“I don’t believe he misses me now when I’ve spent most of my life away from him. He had years to spend time with me. I’m not buying it now.”
“All right, this little group therapy session seemsto be making progress,” Dane chuckles. “What about you, Jake?”
I scrub my hands over my face with a groan. “My choices are coming back to bite me in the ass,” I grumble.
“Don’t they always?” Maddox laughs.
“I swear to you I must be paying for something horrible from a previous life.”
“What’s going on, Jake?” Dane asks again.
I lay there on the stage floor with my arm thrown over my face in silencefor a second. “Peyton,” I tell them.
“As inLyra’s mom, Peyton,” Dane grunts. “Why the hell is she a problem?”
“Because I didn’t do what you and Angel told me to do,” I admit.
“You’re joking, right?”
“You don’t have to say it. I already know. Now she’s threatening to sue for custody and have me picked up for kidnapping.”
“Jesus fuck, Jake,” he yells. “Of all time to have a freaking heart.”
“She won’t win,” Maddox tells me.
“I know.I won’t let her,but it will get ugly. And it’s going to cause hellfor the band. None of that is what I’m worried about, though.”
“What are you worried about?” Ryder asks.
“Cara,” Isigh. “I’ve just gotten her to stop running or looking for a reason to run. This is a lot of drama that will get ugly. And being back in the band is going to bring a lot of attention to it.Is she going to want to stick around for that?”
“I’m guessing that meansyou haven’t told her.So what? You’rejust hoping it will go away? You can’t suck her into more drama, Jake,” Dane warns me.
“I’m not suckingher into anything. Stop with that protective brother bullshit. Cara is as much my priority as Lyra,” I growl.
“I am her brother. I will always watch out for her. Even fromyou.”
