IT WAS FINE FOR CROW to say he’d be the one to speak to Polly, but I was the one who had to go back to Brussels to face her. The entire train trip home, I anticipated her reaction. She’d be angry. That much was certain. I played out all the scenarios in my head. As much as I said she had no right to try to control me, I understood now that she was justified. She’d been worried and freaked out.

When I got to my room, I called her. There was no point putting off the inevitable. It might be harder to be proactive about this, but that was what I needed to do.

About thirty seconds after I called, she came to my room.

“I’m sorry, Polly,” I said. “I’m really sorry. I know I did the wrong thing and I’ve been a pain in the butt to you.”

She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. “It’s easy to apologize when you got your own way,” she said. “That was a really stupid thing to do. I’m not sure if I want to take responsibility for you anymore.”

I rushed to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Yes, you do, Polly. You really do. I’ve learned the error of my ways now. I’ve grown as a person. I’ll never do anything stupid again.”

She snorted. “That’s unlikely.”

“I promise. I’ll be hardworking and diligent and never do anything impulsive. Polly, I saw the crowd at that festival. We need to be better than the Freaks. We need to be bigger than them, too. I want to play to crowds like that.”

I stepped back from her and shot her a timid smile.

“You say that now, but what about next time you get a fool idea in your head?”

Before I could answer, Jax came into my room to join us. “Is shit hitting the fan here?” he asked. “Because if Fay’s being kicked out of the band or any of that, I need to know.”

He sat down on one of the chairs. I sat opposite him.

“I’m not kicking her out of the band,” Polly said.

“Yay! Thank you. You’re the best,” I said.

She put her hand up to stop me. “But I’m not putting up with your shit, either. This is the last warning. Even if we have to pull out of this tour, I’m not going to be the one to call your mother and tell her you’ve been found buried in a shallow grave in some backwoods.”

“Yeah, or thrown in a river somewhere,” Jax added.

“I’m not going to be,” I said. “But I am dating Crow.”

“No!” Polly’s mouth drew into a firm line.

“Yes,” I responded. “He’s going to talk to you when we hit Paris. I know you have your doubts about this relationship, but we’re serious. Isn’t it better to have everything out in the open?”

She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no, either. She just gave me a strange look.

I’d work on her. I’d work hard. By the time we got to Paris, she’d be ready to agree.

“Come on. Surely, you don’t want to spend all your time watching over me when you could be with Damo. It must suck for him. No dude wants to play second fiddle to their girlfriend’s cousin. They want the hot sex.” That might not have been the best thing to say to get Polly onboard. “And the other stuff. The sweet talk and the snuggling and spending time together not having sex...”

“I’m with Fay,” Jax said. “It’s ridiculous to be so protective of her. Crow might have faults, but he’s no worse than Damo.”

The look on Polly’s face was priceless. She glared at him so hard, she must’ve strained her eye muscles.

“Damo’s a control freak. No pun intended. And he’s way too bossy,” Jax said. “Even if he is hot.”

“And he’s heaps better than Miles,” I said. “Miles was the worst kind of jerk. Crazy and controlling and full of petty jealousy. Crow is nothing like that. He just likes keeping to himself.”

I said that, but I wondered if there was more to it than that. He’d said as much, but my faith in him was unshakable.

“She’s got you there,” Jax said. “Not only was Miles a jerk on a personal level, he let his jerkiness interfere with the band. We’d be screwed now if it weren’t for Fay and my fast thinking.”

He shot me a self-satisfied grin.

“No one has actually told me what the problem is with dating Crow,” I said. “Everyone keeps saying to stay away from him, but he’s a good guy. He’s not a player like Elijah. He’s not going to run around and cheat on me. He’s not going to lie. Those are very important qualities in a man.”

I folded my arms, but my gaze went to the room service menu. I’d been too stressed about facing Polly to eat the whole morning, and now that that was over, I was starving.

Polly relaxed a little. “He’s got a darkness in him.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just part of being human. It’s not a violent darkness or anything like that. There’s some sadness in his past, and I think I can cure that.”

Jax sighed. “You can’t cure people, Fay. That’s a myth. You have to accept them.”

He might say that, but I knew I could make Crow forget that past sorrow. I made him smile and laugh. Not many people were capable of that.

“All this philosophical talk can wait for another day,” Polly said. “Since you’re back, we have rehearsal to do.”

Jax and I both huffed.

“And you said Damo was a control freak,” I said to him, glancing over at Polly.

“They’re an evil couple,” he replied. “If they weren’t in music, they’d probably run a sweatshop or something. Not even a regular sweatshop, but the kind that the other sweatshop owners think overworks their staff.”

I grinned at him. “Yep, they’d be the definition of evil sweatshop owners.”

“Fay, you’re the one who wants to play the big crowds like the Freaks,” Polly said. “You don’t get to do that sitting around having love life chats with Jax. So, are you serious or not?”

I stood up. Of course I was serious. Well, mostly serious.

Despite my complaints, my heart buzzed. I’d gotten over the hard part with Polly, and it hadn’t been too bad at all. By the time Crow talked to her tomorrow, she’d have become accustomed to the idea. Jax had really helped, bringing Miles into it. Why hadn’t I thought of that argument? It was something Polly couldn’t disagree with.

“Can we eat before rehearsal?” I asked. “My belly is about to collapse in on itself with starvation.”

“Burgers?” Polly said.

“Burgers,” I agreed.