Connor

Four Months Later

“You look ready to take on the world,” Kenna’s husky voice came from behind me.

Tossing my luggage into the storage cabinet under the foxhole, I reached for Alys’s bags and shoved them in, too. I looked over my shoulder to see my sister leaning against the opposite foxhole, her arms crossed over her chest but a gentle smile on her face.

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “Just that, these past few months, you seem…at peace. Happy.”

I got to my feet, my own face breaking out into a grin. “Well, yeah, I am.”

“I know. I guess I just wanted to tell you that I’ve noticed. It looks good on you.”

“It feels good.”

She broke eye contact with me and glanced around the new tour bus. “This seems like a better fit for us. The bus. You know?”

I nodded. It was top of the line. Phil and Kenna still had their own freaking quarters on the upper deck, but that was cool with the rest of us. Our foxholes were bigger and more private, which was fucking appreciated since Alys and I were now sharing one.

Alys and I had seamlessly slipped into our relationship. No one—and by that, I mostly meant, Lili—had so much as blinked an eye when we emerged from our home a day or so after she came back from London, holding hands as we walked through Phil’s backyard. It was as natural as breathing, as the sun shining, as the world turning.

“It’s gonna be great,” I said.

NOLA’s Own was going on its first tour. It wasn’t a huge one, just six weeks to get our sound into the fans’ ears. The shows were sold out though, so that made us feel good. This was our first tour without X and with Devon. I thought we all were a bit nervous about that.

To top it all off, Kenna’s friend and boss, Mike O’Flaherty, would be joining us in New York tomorrow and coming on tour to write a biography about NOLA’s Own. It was an exclusive story that Kenna had refused to cover because she thought she was too biased.

Kenna cocked an eyebrow at me. “You think so?”

“Fuck yeah. We’ve been busting our asses for this. The old fans still love NOLA’s, no matter if it’s Junk or Own—”

“I know that,” she huffed. “It’s just…now, with Devon—”

“Ah, so now, we get to the issue.” I laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, you’re nervous about GianFranco being on board.”

Glancing around to make sure we weren’t overheard, she hissed, “It’s just…Phil gets so territorial with me where Devon is concerned.”

“He’s territorial with you no matter who is concerned,” I pointed out.

“That, too. I just wonder if this is a mistake, me coming along.”

“Phil won’t tour if you’re not going, Kenna.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I know. That’s a lot of pressure on me. I know that Phil and Devon are like brothers. I just don’t want Phil to jump to conclusions or something because we’re all in close quarters.”

Loud thumping footsteps sounded from the front of the bus, and we both tensed up as Phil showed up with his and Kenna’s luggage. Jason was right behind him, followed by Devon himself.

“It’s gonna be fine, Kenna,” I softly told her.

“Yeah.”

Phil came up and manhandled her up to their bunk, giving me a wink and a grin as he pushed her along. As they ascended the ladder, Phil had his hand on her ass the whole way up and then closed and locked the door after he disappeared.

“Which one’s mine?” Devon asked me.

I liked Devon a lot. Away from Cannibal, he shone brighter than ever. My heart had to go out to him though. While he fit into the brotherhood of NOLA’s Own, was a part of our bizarre family, I always felt this perpetual sense of loneliness from him. He wasn’t hurting per se, but there was a bruised undercurrent to his soul that I hoped would heal at some point.

“Whatever one you want,” I replied. “The two up front aren’t taken. Jason likes the one closest to the bathroom—”

Devon held up his hand. “The front it is then.”

Just then, Alys bounded into the bus, her face bringing sunlight into my world. “I can’t find my suitcase. Did you get it?”

“Yeah,” I replied, stretching my arm out so that she would come and give me a squeeze.

Devon took a couple of steps back to give her some room, and Alys came up and wrapped her arms around my waist. That sadness I felt from him increased even though his face showed nothing but love for us.

“I guess I’ll just claim my bunk then,” he said.

He picked the one up front, on the opposite side of ours.

“You ready?” Alys asked, leaning back to look up into my face.

She was my everything.

There hadn’t been a single day of my life that Alys wasn’t in. From the moment of my birth, she had given me her love. I didn’t know how to exist without it. She was my music, the very language that sang in my blood and whispered to my soul. An endless song of love and devotion.

“As long as you’re with me, Sunshine, I’m ready for anything.”