“I have to think about it,” I told my agent over lunch at her favorite sushi spot.

I hated sushi but ate it to fit in with the image I had of big city rocker.

I’d grown up in Seattle, but just outside in a sleepy suburb.

Until I was eleven when I’d lost my parents in a house fire.

My sister and I had been shuffled to a group home in the city and I’d been tossed into the rough streets with no preparation.

But here I was, sitting in LA with Gail Adams…agent to the stars. She was single handedly responsible for the success of at least ten Rock n Roll Hall of Famers that I knew of.

I picked at the rice and held the chopsticks in one hand while Gail frowned and rolled her eyes.

“You’re joking, right? You have to go. You are headlining the biggest European tour of the year. This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, you’re…well fuck, you’re an idiot if you don’t take it,” she said. Her voice was forceful and her intent was clear.

She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

But I didn’t want to fucking go.

I needed a break, I’d been on tour eleven out of twelve months for every year since I was discovered at the age of eighteen.

So for ten years now, I had about ten months of down time, vacation. Now I needed some time with my sister back in Seattle, back in my old neighborhood.

Back where nobody cared that I was Gavin Pierce. I was just Peg’s little brother Gav.

To top it off, I’d gotten drunk out of my fucking mind about a month back and had broken my ankle jumping off the roof of my buddy’s pool cabana.

I’d been aiming for the pool itself but had missed and had been using the time to do some studio work instead of touring, but everybody knew you made the real money once you hit the road.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. “I’ll think about it. You know this cast comes off in a couple weeks. I’ll tell you then.”

I could see the muscle in her jaw tense up and she ground her teeth, but she didn’t push. She knew I was as stubborn as she was, and if this was a battle of wills, she had more to lose than I did.

“Fine,” she snapped and picked up a thin slice of salmon sashimi, flipped it into her mouth and chewed angrily as she glared at me across the table. “I’ll give you exactly two weeks and that’s it. The minute they cut that fucking thing off your foot, you’re mine again.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said with a grin and drained my glass of sake. The strong alcohol warmed my belly and added to my calm sense of smug accomplishment.

I had two…or three weeks to spend with my sister Peg, and then after that it was up to me where I went.

“Oh my god!” Peg squealed and jumped to her feet when she saw me. Her customers stood back as she ran across her music store and jumped into my arms. “I can’t believe you’re here, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“Is that…”

“Holy shit…”

“Gavin Pierce!”

I heard her customers talking to each other in complete surprise, but I ignored them. I was completely used to it.

“Hold on, sis,” I said and balanced on the cast. She dropped to the ground and looked down.

“Ouch, I forgot. I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re an idiot, you know. But why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the city?”

I wasn’t planning on it until yesterday,” I told her. “I got in about an hour ago.”

“Have you been to the apartment?” she asked.

“Not yet, I’ve got a car waiting outside,” I replied.

“Thank god, it gives me time to beg your forgiveness. I let your plants die, all of them.”

“They were fake.”

“Oh. Well they got really dusty and I threw them out.”

“My interior designer might have something to say, but I don’t give a fuck,” I laughed. I’d only gotten them as an attempt to ‘warm up the place’ as my designer had suggested. “You know you’re welcome to live there when I’m gone. And I’m gone basically most of the time.”

“I know, but it’s such a bachelor pad I wouldn’t feel comfortable there without you. Besides, you bought me such a cozy awesome place on the water, why would I want to be anywhere else?”

“Can you get away right now?” I asked, scanning the store for an employee who could take over for my sister.

“Nope, it’s just me lately. Dinner later?”

“Sounds good, I’ll make reservations.”

“Nothing pretentious, I want a good meal…not a couple wafers covered in gold flecks that cost five hundred bucks because they’re plated nicely.”

“One time,” I rolled my eyes. “One bad recommendation, one time, and you’re never going to let me live it down, are you?”

“Not on your life, little bro,” Peg grinned at me. “You’re looking good though. Tired, a little too skinny, but good.”

“You too,” I replied as I hobbled out of her store.

I heard the customers explode in eager conversation the moment I left and I knew Peg would be fielding questions about her famous rock star brother for the next hour or so.

I just hoped it got her a few sales, other than the apartment and an operation for her cat, Peg refused to take money from me. It bothered me to see her talent being wasted in her music store, but I wished her nothing but success at it.

I climbed back into the car I’d hired for the weeks I was here and told the driver my address.

I hadn’t ever given up on living in Seattle one day and had splurged with my first hit record royalties and bought a penthouse on the water.

It wasn’t that close to Peg’s little walk up a ways out of the city, mine was right down town and had a view of the ocean and the islands beyond.

I owned the top two floors of the building, it had come fully furnished in leather and chrome and expensive art, and I’d hired a designer to give it a personal touch.

So now it looked exactly like a poor kid from the wrong side of town had fallen into a vat of money and tried to buy some taste.

But at least it impressed enough women that I never slept alone if I didn’t want to.

It was a lonely life, but I wasn’t alone.

Still…I was starting to think about settling down. Quitting the tour lifestyle and finding a good woman.

But what kind of woman was willing to shack up with a guy like me?

A notorious playboy with a bad boy reputation and a party history that would follow him for years to come.

It’s not like I could expect an ordinary woman to take a chance on me, to get to know the real me beneath the persona. I’d wind up stuck with some psychotic starlet with an eating disorder and a dark side.

It seemed sometimes as if I’d be lonely forever, surrounded by legions of screaming fans and lustful women.

I slept until it was time to leave for dinner, found a diner I thought Peg would like, and picked her up as her store closed.

We settled into the booth, as usual I ignored the stares and whispers of anyone who recognized me, and listened to Peg complain about her day.

“I’m so overworked, dude, you have no idea,” she said and we ordered our drinks.

The place was exactly what I’d expected, kind of a dive but you could be sure to get something delicious and home cooked. Not sushi, not keto, and not anything I’d eat in LA, but I would enjoy every last crumb of it.

“Can I help out while I’m here?” I asked.

“You’re here for what, two weeks? Maybe three? I doubt you could do much in that time,” she said. “Besides, you’d probably attract too much attention.”

“I could give a few lessons. Just here and there,” I replied. “Nobody would really need to know. But if they happened to find out it would be good for business.”

The waitress interrupted us at that point to take our orders. Peg got her usual, cheeseburger with onion rings and a small house salad on the side. I got a double mushroom and Swiss with extra fries and gravy.

The waitress scribbled our order in her notebook, turned away and then looked back at us.

With a hesitant smile on her face, she said, “Gavin Pierce?”

“That’s me, sweetheart,” I replied.

“Oh my god, wow. I can’t believe it’s you. I love your music. Your song, ‘One Heart’ got me through my last break up.”

“I’m glad I could help,” I replied and ignored Peg’s smirk. She still couldn’t believe her bratty little brother was so famous and made women so crazy.

“Could I get your autograph and maybe a selfie?” she asked and giggled when I nodded my head.

She bent down next to me, held her hand out with her phone and snapped a pic. I signed her notepad next to my order and she was seemingly satisfied with it as she practically skipped to the kitchen to get our orders in.

“That still makes me laugh like crazy,” Peg said, shaking her head.

“I know, but if I give lessons I promise I won’t make your customers crazy.”

“I’ll think about it,” she replied, but I knew she was on board.

And if I needed to, I could push for another week or two before the European tour.

Gail would just have to calm down and deal with it.