The car beeped and I managed to pull myself up into the passenger seat with my good arm as Autumn got into the driver side.
“I’m taking Skylar to the store for food . . . We’re getting everything on the list Brenna gave us . . . because she needs fresh air . . .” She sighed. “She’s fine . . . makeup . . . my makeup . . . Aren’t you busy? . . . We’re fine . . . Fine . . . okay, okay . . . Sainsbury’s . . . Yes, that one . . . Okay, we’ll see you there. Bye.” She hung up and shot me a look. “Killian is meeting us at the store.”
“God, he is a control freak.”
Autumn’s face pinched with annoyance as she started the engine. “My brother is not a control freak. He’s worried about you.”
Oh yeah, sure. “Really? He’s so worried that he told me if I didn’t agree to sign to his label, I’d be back out on the streets.”
“He said that?”
“I asked him if that’s what he meant and he didn’t deny it. He said he was businessman, not a philanthropist.”
Autumn tutted. “That man. Seriously. He didn’t mean that,” she assured me. “He’ll probably kill me for telling you this, but there’s a big softie underneath that intimidating fa?ade.”
“Oh yeah, he’s a giant teddy bear.”
She laughed at my sarcasm. “You’ll see.”
No, I wouldn’t. All I’d ever see in Killian O’Dea was the man who forced me back into a life I loathed.
* * *
“DO YOU KNOW HOW PROUD I am of you?”
I grinned at my mom. “It’s all you. You never stopped believing.”
“She sure didn’t.” Bryan wrapped his arm around Mom and pulled her into his side for a kiss, making her giggle like a little girl.
He made her happy, so I decided not to ruin the moment by reminding him that he never believed in me. Still, while my mom wasn’t looking, I shot him a dirty look and he gave me a warning one in return.
When he and Mom got serious a couple of years ago, Micah and I were getting serious about making our band a success. We knew we had something great and my mom had been our biggest supporter. My dad died when I was a baby, so it had always been just me and Mom. And there was no one who believed in me more than my mother. She’d been my best friend for so long. I think if I hadn’t been so consumed with the idea of making Tellurian a success, I probably would have had a much harder time adjusting to the idea of Bryan.
As it was, he began to complain all the time to my mom about the money and energy she put in to helping a bunch of kids chase an “unrealistic dream.” He only backed off when it became a real sticking point in their relationship. And by that, I mean they almost broke up. However, the resentment simmered between the two of us. I could never really, truly like him. But I was civil for my mom’s sake.
Lately, however, my dislike for him was worsening. Ever since Tellurian’s debut single hit number one on the US Billboard, Bryan had become our biggest fan.
Asshole.
“I can’t believe I watched my baby on The Tonight Show last night.” Mom untangled herself from Bryan to come and hug me for the hundredth time. I laughed, breathing in the familiar floral scent of Miss Dior, her favorite perfume. I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and held on tight.
I’d been traveling the US for a while and was only back in Billings because we were playing The Pub Station for the first time that night. I planned to spend every second I could with my mom. The band’s success was more than I could have dreamt of, but I had no idea how much I’d miss my mother.
Mom pulled back to grin at me. “I got cake.”
“Cake is always good.”
“Not just any cake. It’s an eighteenth birthday cake. ’Cause I missed it.” She pouted. “I can’t believe I missed my baby turning eighteen.”
“I know.” I stared at her, drinking in her oh-so-familiar pretty face. “I miss you.”
Tears shimmered in her blue eyes. “Oh, baby girl, you have no idea how much I miss you. But I am so happy you got everything you ever wanted.”
Not everything, I thought. Micah and I had decided not to be together for the sake of the band, but he liked to torture me daily. Flirting with me, touching me, shadowing me. And then he’d go and blow off his pent-up frustration with a groupie.
Oh yeah, he was loving the groupies.
That’s why I lost my virginity to a teen drama series heartthrob at a stranger’s house party in LA instead of losing it to the boy I was in love with.
It hurt so bad, I had to throw the thought away before I burst into tears.
I stood in the small living room of the house I’d grown up in and decided not to be so selfish as to dwell on Micah right now. I was home. Mom deserved my attention because Micah got more than his fair share of it.
“What do you want to do today?” I asked. “I’m all yours.”
Mom grinned. “I was thinking we could go ice skating.”
Joy filled me. “Really?”
Ice skating had been our thing. Every birthday, no matter what other plans I had, my mom and I went ice skating. We couldn’t afford a lot growing up since it was only Mom for so long, which meant things other people took for granted were a treat for me. Stupid stuff like going to the movies, to the swimming pool, and ice skating.
So ice skating became our thing.
“I’d love that.”
“And it’s . . .” She smiled over her shoulder at Bryan. “It’s just you and me.”
Shocked, I looked at Bryan for confirmation. One of the other things that annoyed me was that even before Tellurian took off, I didn’t get to spend alone time with Mom once Bryan was in the picture. He insinuated himself into everything. Including my birthdays with Mom.
“You two go, catch up, have fun.” He promptly sat down on the couch and reached for the remote. “I’m going to be here watching the sports channel uninterrupted.”
Mom reached down to kiss his temple but my attention was drawn to the television, to the sight of me and the band on the entertainment news. Bryan turned the volume up.
The gorgeous female presenter stood in front of a digital screen where a clip of me and the band on The Tonight Show was playing.
“And the band Tellurian are trending on social media after their appearance on The Tonight Show. Or more specifically, the lead singer Skylar Finch and lead guitarist Micah Murphy are trending. Fans of the band have been sent into a social media spin when the chemistry between the two bandmates spilled into their interview on the show.”
I frowned as it cut to a clip from last night.
“I was going to ask you about that,” Mom murmured as she slid an arm across my shoulder.
I slumped into her, unable to tear my eyes away.
“You look beautiful, Sky,” Bryan murmured. “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Angie?”
“She does indeed.” Mom gave me a squeeze but I was focused on the interview.
“So, I can’t help but notice that you two look cozier than the rest of the band,” the host said with his usual dry mischief, gesturing toward Micah and me.
Micah had his arm along the back of the sofa where I sat, his long fingers resting on my shoulder. He was also pressed as close to me as he could get. Austin and Brandon sat casually at the end of the couch.
Prepared for questions about our relationship statuses, I’d opened my mouth to say, “We’ve all known each other a long time, we’re so comfortable with each other,” when Micah said, “Wouldn’t you cozy up to Skylar if you could?”
Shit.
I shot a look at my mom who watched the TV with a small smile playing on her lips.
The host had jumped right on it. “So, you two are a couple?”
“No,” I’d laughed, wishing I could shove my bandmate off me. And that’s when I gave him my rehearsed line.
Of which Micah followed up with, “Some of us are more comfortable with each other than others.” The audience oohed as the host raised an eyebrow.
Thankfully, Brandon broke in with a joke to deflect and we got off the subject.
But that was all it took.
Because now we were trending and on entertainment news.
“Jesus,” I huffed, pulling my phone out of my ass pocket.