Emily

We spent Monday night at Ethan’s and Tuesday at my apartment, where my screaming totally freaked out Janice again—who called before showing up at the door, thank goodness.

Answering the door would have been awkward, since Ethan had me pinned against it while he took me from behind. There were probably claw marks in the wood, not that I’d bothered to check.

My neighbors were going to hate me, if they didn’t already.

Wednesday, Aubrey and I met up to have lunch before going out to do the grocery shopping.

She let me choose the place, so I went with an amazing sandwich shop not far from my apartment. They had the best paninis and homemade soups ever. The place was so popular they had a line around the block every day at noon, which is why we did an early lunch to beat the crowd.

Aubrey was dipping her Italian panini into her tomato bisque when she asked, “How are things with you and Ethan? That kiss the other night nearly set off the smoke alarm, so I’m guessing you two had just as much fun as Kade and I did.”

I felt my cheeks heating. “Things were…intense.”

“Were or are?”

“Both,” I admitted. “This week has been amazing.”

“It’s only halfway over, sweets. And the best is yet to come. I promise.”

“The concert, you mean?”

“Your amazing dinner tomorrow, the concert, the talk show, the surprise appearance on Friday…all of it. After today, all hell breaks loose.”

“What surprise appearance?”

She frowned. “The one super early on Friday morning. Ethan hasn’t mentioned it?”

“No.”

“Hmm. He must have been distracted by something. Wonder what it could have been…” She winked. “Ask him about it later. I’m sure it just slipped his mind.”

Had we really been so wound up in each other that he forgot what sounded like a huge event?

Maybe he didn’t want you there, so he didn’t tell you about it.

Mother’s voice swooped in like a vulture to pick at any shred of insecurity. It had been happening more and more since Ethan got into town. Like that night after he showed me the painting. I’d sat in front of it in the darkness, still in awe that he’d chosen to paint someone as unremarkable as me. Not only that, but he’d captured the real me—the insecure me who lets her mother’s stupid, nagging voice creep in and ruin everything. The me who tries so hard to be everything my mother isn’t: compassionate, nurturing, loving, stable. The me who is passionate about art because I came from an artist, because I have his heart if not his talent. The me who’s vulnerable and alone but not giving up or letting shit stop me from trying. All of it, he captured all of it with his brush. And I was in awe.

Sure enough, Mother’s nagging, niggling voice had chimed in.

Better take a photo of it now because that’s all you’ll have left of him after he leaves you. Not even the painting, which you know he’ll never let you keep because he’s going to sell it someday. Because it’s just a painting to him, nothing more.

God, I hated that voice.

I pictured a Whack-A-Mole game in my head, only in my imagination it was Whack-A-Mom, and I was standing at the ready, mallet in hand.

Say something else, bitch.

“Em?” Aubrey’s brow furrowed as she looked at me. “You okay?”

“Sorry.” I smiled, picking up my spoon. “Spaced out a little. Probably from lack of sleep.”

“Isn’t it the best when a guy is so hungry for you that the two of you walk around like zombies from fucking all night?”

I nearly shot soup out my nose. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?” I sputtered, looking around to see who might have overheard. Her bodyguard was rubbing his face and looking anywhere but at us, so clearly, he’d caught it.

“Whoops. Sorry. Too much time around Lennox, I guess. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“You didn’t. I just wasn’t expecting such a blunt statement.”

“Blunt but accurate?”

I nodded and smiled down at my soup when she giggled in response.

“Your bestie will be there tomorrow, right? What does she think of the whole thing?”

I did another quick scan of the room and muttered, “She doesn’t know everything, of course, but she’s really excited for me. And nervous to meet everyone tomorrow. She’s probably home right now baking up a storm. It’s her therapy, which works out great because mine is eating.”

“Mine, too.” Aubrey laughed as she pushed her bowl and sandwich plate away. “I can’t wait to meet her. I’m really excited to have other women to hang with for once. Being the only girl with those five goofballs gets old sometimes. I mean, I love them all dearly, but a girl can only tread water in that ocean of testosterone for so long before she goes insane.”

“They don’t bring girls on the buses to…hang out?”

“Nope. Not after the drama with Kane last year.”

I blinked. “You mean Kade, don’t you?” I’d heard all the stories—not that it was my business, but it had been everywhere, so it was hard not to notice.

She blanched. “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

I eyed her for a second. “Uh huh. Then why do you look like you just outed a state secret?”

There was a long pause as we stared each other down.

“That pic that started all the drama, it was Kane, wasn’t it?”

Her gaze flitted around the room, and she gave an infinitesimal nod. “No one outside the band knows that, though.”

“And no one will ever hear it from me. I promise,” I assured her, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

“I know. If Ethan trusts you, I have no doubt I can too. I’m just pissed at myself for the slip because it could have been a real mess if I was talking to anyone else.”

“Nah. Their names are similar enough that you could just play it off as a slip of the tongue.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She fiddled with her straw. “It’s just always there, that worry that I’ll do something to hurt one of them. Kade is my husband, the love of my life. And Kane is my best friend. I love them both so much. And it’s not just them. I try so hard to protect my boys. All of them. Ethan always seems to have everything under control, but I spend an insane amount of time worrying about him, this balancing act he’s got going. Jared has his own issues going on, but he at least lets me help where I can.”

“And Lennox?”

“Pfft… there’s no help for Lennox.” She smirked. “He’s so wide open, there’s no point even trying.”

“I told Ethan I thought he was that way because he’s either never been in love or he fell for someone who burned him really bad.”

“Sounds about right. I don’t have particulars, since it was before my time, but I think Lenn falls into that second category.”

I tipped my head. “I’m sorry if Ethan won’t let you help as much as you’d like. I can talk to him, if you want.”

“No, no. It’s fine. He’s just independent. Besides, he’s been letting me do more lately, which is progress. I’m actually handling something special for him Friday morning while they’re otherwise engaged.”

I just nodded, since I didn’t know what was going on with the surprise appearance yet.

Aubrey slid a fifty under her plate and dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “You ready to hit the store?”

I followed her out a minute later as fat flakes of snow started to fall all around us, and my stomach tied itself in knots. I was actually going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the most popular rock band on the planet.

For fuck’s sake, don’t let me burn the stupid turkey.