GIDEON REFRESHED PIPER’S social media links one by one, but nothing new had been posted since the annual Wonder Woman group photo shoot. Gideon had considered working half days and going to the con. At least until he blurted out that he loved Piper and all she wanted was for him to get out of her apartment.

How had he screwed things up so thoroughly?

Lola had good news about his clients, but nothing they did would resolve the events already set in motion with the videos. He could have opted to not tell her, hide it all in an effort to protect her, but the woman she’d become wouldn’t want that. She could stand on her own two feet.

“Stop stalking her.” Thomas punched Gideon in the arm, jostling his phone.

“Fuck off.” Gideon glared at his brother.

“Seriously, you’ve been here the whole weekend doing nothing but moping and looking at your phone. Stop for five minutes.”

A ball bounced off the living room window.

“Christ.” Thomas sighed and pushed to his feet.

Gideon used the parental interlude to refresh once more. After the incident with Carl, Gideon knew he needed to get away, clear his head and get some perspective on his actions. His cop brother had the good fortune to marry a sociology professor. Neither pulled the punches when dispensing advice. Besides, it was nice to see his nieces and nephews. With how large the family was now that almost all his brothers and sisters had kids, holiday get togethers were harder.

“Okay, where were we?” Thomas dropped onto the sofa and leaned his head back.

“You’re about to pass out. I can watch the kids, you know?”

“If I take a nap, you aren’t getting to the airport. You’ll never be able to wake me up.” He folded his hands behind his head. “Have you talked to her yet?”

“No,” he said after a long pause.

“Why not? You know the best thing to do is just say you’re sorry.”

“What am I sorry for?”

“All of it. Just be sorry.”

“It’s not that easy.” Gideon slouched.

“I’m telling you, it can be.”

Gideon hadn’t gone into detail about his history with Piper or the events that had transpired to put him sleeping on his brother’s sofa instead of in his own bed a home.

He’d fucked up a lot of things with Piper right from the very beginning. Maybe he’d been wrong to ever hide his feelings for her. He’d thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but then things got more and more complicated. If he hadn’t been there for her, who would have?

No, if he could change anything, it wouldn’t be then. The change would have been at Christmas when he’d decided to leave. That was the moment he really fucked things up.

“You all packed and ready to go?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah.”

“Any big plans? Going to any of those big parties?”

“No. I’m going to land and a friend is bringing my Jeep to the airport. I’ll drop him off and then drive to San Diego for a few days.”

“Oh, that’s right. That band we were crazy about when we were kids is playing, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“How old are those guys, anyway?”

“They’re getting up there.” Gideon chuckled. “I’ll likely be the only person in their thirties there.”

“And you aren’t going to repack? Do you have a hotel or anything?”

“No.”

“I don’t remember what it’s like to go and do without massive prep.” Thomas waved his hand. He’d become a father the day he committed to his now wife. She’d had a small child when they met, and that was it. Thomas was a dad. A really good one judging by the smiles around the dinner table.

Gideon had never been content on his own. Perhaps it was because he came from such a large family, with people constantly underfoot at all hours.

“What do you say we load the kids up early and grab some ice cream on the way to the airport?” Thomas’ smile took on a mischievous bent.

“Are you asking because you want ice cream, or because you want to give your wife a heart attack when she wakes up and realizes all the kids are gone?”

“Both?”

“Fine. Let’s go.” Gideon shook his head.

“Some unasked-for advice?” Thomas stood and stretched. “Whatever you’ve done, whatever you think you’ve done, she hasn’t gone to the stalker-calling you, cussing you out stage. That’s when you know there isn’t hope. Tell her you’re sorry and fix this. You’ve known each other too long, and you’ve been hung up on her for years. Mom still talks about her, the one and only girl you ever brought home. Please, put the rest of us out of our misery.”

PIPER CLIMBED INTO the passenger seat of her dad’s van.

“Let me get that.” Dad reached over and grabbed his shaving kit off the seat. “Ready for the day?”

“Yeah. How is everything?” Piper shoved her duffle bag into the floor board and buckled. She’d lived ten years of her life traveling the country in this van. It was surreal every time she got into it.

“You know how these things go.” Dad shrugged and turned onto the road, headed toward the venue hosting the music festival. “I’d have been happy to put you up, you know?”

“You’ve upgraded the van. There’s not room for me—what’s your girlfriend’s name again?”

“I do not have a girlfriend.” Dad grinned.

He had a girlfriend. There was always a girlfriend even if that wasn’t what he called them.

“You think Gideon’s still coming?” Dad asked.

“I’m counting on it.” Piper blew out a breath and leaned her head back.

“I always liked that boy. I’m glad you found someone.”

Piper pressed her hands to her stomach. There were so many opportunities for things to go wrong today. She dearly wanted something to go right. Days spent thinking about things, weighing her options, talking to everyone about it had worn her down.

“You really think you’re ready to settle down?” Dad asked.

“Did you ever think you might meet someone that would make you consider settling down?” She turned to study his profile.

Dad grinned but didn’t answer. They both knew he might be a lover but he would never give up the open road. She’d been scared of signing her first apartment lease and being tied to one spot for a year, but over time she’d grown to like the regularity of it. As a child, the change in scenery was fun and exciting. Later, as a teen, she’d struggled, but this life was all she’d known.

“Did you and my mother ever consider settling down?” Piper didn’t often ask questions about the woman who’d birthed her. She had a name, but Piper never remembered it.

“No,” Dad answered without hesitation. “Your mother...she wasn’t like us. Having you was the best thing in my life, but it scared her. She didn’t want to stay with me.”

Piper nodded. Stories about her mother were foreign sounding as though they happened to a baby that wasn’t her. She’d have liked to grow up with a mom, but if that meant trading any part of how she’d been raised, she didn’t think she’d make that switch. Her father had doled out love and acceptance, always encouraging her to do what she wanted, go where her heart led her. They’d had bumps in the road, but that was nothing. No life was perfect.

Dad pulled the van onto the performance grounds and found a spot to park the van between big, touring busses. It was early enough she didn’t think Gideon would be here yet, but she needed to get into place.

“You still going to help out until it’s time?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, do you have work for me to do?”

“I could always use you on monitors.”

“I’d like that.”

She still didn’t quite know what she was going to say or how Gideon would respond, but she needed to do this. For herself, for him, for the future, it was the right thing to do.

GIDEON HANDED OVER a couple bills to the vendor, trading them for a beer. He’d thought about double fisting it, but that seemed unwise. No matter how sour his mood was, beer wasn’t going to fix anything.

The late afternoon sun beat down on his head, reminding him of the numerous ways his day had gone wrong since leaving his brother’s house. First, his niece got sick all over the back seat, so instead of ice cream and early to the airport they’d had to emergency clean the SUV. Gideon had to scrape into the airport with only minutes to spare and managed to get on his flight at the last call. The trip back to L.A. hadn’t been all that bad if it weren’t for his elbow happy seatmate. To top it off, he’d left his baseball cap in the overhead bin and traffic headed to San Diego was never fun. He’d missed most of the acts because of his unplanned trip to see family. He was really only there for one band so it didn’t bother him too much. Next time he reconciled his bank account he’d be less thrilled.

Music played on the speakers while the team of stage hands changed out the equipment for the headliner of the evening.

Gideon didn’t have a good reason for why he still liked Ancient Sons as much as he did. They were a group of old guys playing old music, but he loved it. Sure, there were better musicians out there, tunes that stuck with him better. The best moments of his life were their music. He’d scaled mountains of boxes with his brothers to it. Terrorized his sisters pretending to be the guitarist. The first song he played in his Jeep was one of theirs. By the time he’d grown up the band had passed out of style. No one knew who they were anymore. And then Piper had climbed in his Jeep and rattled off the band members by first names. Turned out her old man had worked with them a time or two.

It’d always been on Gideon’s bucket list to meet Piper’s dad. He seemed like a unique individual. Maybe Gideon would understand Piper better?

“Do you know what time they’re going to start playing?”

“Hm?” Gideon blinked at an older gentleman who looked like a taller, leaner Willie Nelson.

“The time?”

“I’m sorry, man. I’m spacing out. Sure.” Gideon dug out his cell phone and showed it to him.

“Plenty of time.” The man grinned at Gideon. “How’d you get roped into coming to this?”

“Oh, I’m an Ancient Sons fan. This guy who lived next door to us growing up listened to them and gave my older brother a tape. I think my parents still resent him for it.”

“You got good taste. Family with you?”

“No, it’s just me these days. They all settled down and don’t have time for this stuff anymore.” Gideon had some great memories of one particular concert. It was the only one he and all his brothers had attended together.

“The things we do for the ones we love, right?”

“Yeah.” Gideon smiled, but all he could think about was Piper. They’d never been able to go to an Ancient Sons concert together, and now they likely never would.

“I have gone places and done things I never thought I would.” The old man’s gaze dropped to the ground, but his smile seemed happier. “Enjoy the show, man.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

Gideon couldn’t help but wonder where Piper was, what the girls were up to after the con, how it’d all worked out for her. He could text Ellie, his unlikely ally, and get an update. He’d resisted that route. If Piper really meant it, if she wanted him to leave her alone, then he had to go cold turkey.

He slid the phone in his pocket and took a long drink from his beer.

Things had to change. He had to change. He wasn’t sure how, but he’d do something.

The lights along the stage flashed and a wailing guitar stirred a cheer from the audience. Gideon sighed and vowed that for the next hour he wasn’t going to think or feel about anything except the music.

The band churned through three of their best-known songs.

“San Diego, how are you tonight?” the lead singer said as the guitars died down.

The crowd cheered.

“I’ve got a special friend with us here tonight that wants to say something.”

Gideon stared into the bottom of his empty cup. Did he want another one? He eyed the line at the beer vendor.

“Good evening!”

The hair on the back of Gideon’s neck stood up at the sound of that voice.

What was Piper doing here?

PIPER WAS GOING TO hurl.

She opened and closed her mouth, all her rehearsed words leaving her.

At the very back of the crowd a light shone, up-lighting her father.

He’d never wavered from who he was. Even when they didn’t understand each other, he’d smiled and accepted her choices. He was the man who’d raised her to follow her heart and stand up for herself.

Dad lifted a lighter and waved his arm from side to side. She sputtered a laugh that at least got sound coming out of her mouth.

“I am terrified being up here.” She swallowed and kept her eyes on Dad. Gideon was out there somewhere, she just had to hope he could hear her. “I had this whole thing planned out, all the stuff I wanted to say and now I can’t remember it and all I’m thinking about is how much I might vomit.”

“You’re doing great,” the lead singer whispered.

“A long time ago, some bad things happened to me. The only people who stuck by me were my Dad—back there on the controls—and my friend Gideon. Here’s the deal. I think I fell in love with Gideon the day we met, but my life is always crazy. Things didn’t work out until recently when we reconnected. I still love him, but I’ve never told him that because I’m afraid. I’m afraid of how that will change me, us, everything. Because of that fear, I told him I didn’t want to see him ever again.”

The crowd groaned.

Piper wiped her cheeks. She was grateful for the lights. She knew there were a couple hundred people out there, but she couldn’t make out their faces.

“Yeah, I know, pretty stupid, right?” She sucked down a deep breath.

“Tell him you love him,” some woman shouted from near the stage.

“I’m trying to, I swear.” Piper wiped at her eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop coming.

She needed a tissue or a rag, something to stem the leakage.

“You’re doing great.” The lead singer wrapped his arm around her and took the microphone.

“Move, move, move,” someone in front of the stage said.

Piper hadn’t said half of what she meant to say. Her knees were wobbly and her hands shook. Fear had nearly killed her joy so many times.

The crowd cheered so loud she stumbled back and blinked around her.

“Look over there.” The lead singer nudged her shoulder, turning her to her right.

A familiar figure climbed up onto the stage. His beard was scraggly and his hair stuck up around his sunglasses. He was the most handsome, amazing thing she’d ever seen.

She covered her face with her hands, peering between her fingers, watching Gideon walk closer.

The roar of the crowd made it impossible to hear anything. Her whole body seemed to pulse in time to her heartbeat.

Gideon wrapped his arm around her waist. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear the words. He pulled her closer, tight to his chest and kissed her cheek.

He was there. He was really there.

She threw her arms around his shoulders. For the last few hours she’d wondered if he’d show up, if he’d walk away when she got on stage, if she was just going to embarrass herself—and here he was. Like always, catching her when she fell.

“Let’s give these two a hand?” the lead singer called out.

The cheering redoubled. The drummer beat out a rhythm, signaling the start of a song.

Gideon grabbed her hand and pulled her off stage. She nearly tripped down the stairs, but Gideon was there to steady her.

“Here.” The stage hand thrust her phone at her.

Gideon took it and said something, his words lost in the music.

“I can’t hear you.” She tapped her ear.

She tightened her hold on his hand and led him through the warren of instruments, cases and equipment tucked out of sight. They exited through to the back stage and out of the direct blare of speakers and monitors.

“What are you doing here?” Gideon tugged on her hand.

She stopped and turned, searching for the words she’d rehearsed.

Gideon walked into her, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her hair and her forehead. She held onto him, blubbering words that weren’t remotely coherent.

“When did you get here?” He leaned back and peered down at her.

“Last night.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“My Dad saw you. If you tried to leave, he was going to have security grab you.”

“What are you doing here?” He smiled and cupped her face, his fingers wiping away her tears.

“I had to see you. I had to tell you I’m sorry—”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“I told you I didn’t want to see you again and then you went and got in a fight with Carl.”

“You heard about that?” Gideon winced.

“Yes.”

“That was a bad idea, I own that.” He squeezed her and bent his head.

She tipped her chin up and he paused.

He’d said he loved her, and she’d reacted out of fear and hurt.

“Ellie told me about what you said to her. Is it all true?” Piper had to know.

“Which parts did she tell you?”

“That you stopped being friends because of your feelings.”

“How could I keep being your friend when my feelings weren’t friendly?”

“I love you, Gideon,” she blurted.

He stared at her, not even blinking.

“The last few days I’ve done nothing but think about you, me, us—everything. We both made mistakes. I’ve let fear back me in a corner, and I took that out on you. I want to be with you. I want to stop pretending we’re just friends and...be real. Can you forgive me?”

He cupped her face and gently kissed her lips.

“My problem has always been that I’m crazy in love with you. There isn’t anything to forgive.”