Page 75 of Siren's Heart

"I can't help but notice that Naroa isn't here," Dad says diplomatically, raising his eyebrow at us. He’d thrown himself right into research as soon as their plane touched American ground again, sending us suggestions for lawyers and legislations that could help us out.

"Well," I start, and Kayla quickly jumps in.

"We've decided to part ways with our label and management," she lets the two of them know quickly, like she’s pulling off a band-aid, blushing when my mother gasps for a shocked breath.

"Yeah," I add. "Of course, nothing is set in stone yet. We'll start calling lawyers tomorrow and see how we can bring our contract to a satisfactory end for us. Fuck Starlet Sounds."

"And then?" Mom asks, beginning to pace the room. I’m starting to realize where I got the habit from. "Are you looking for a new label? Retiring?"

"That depends on how long everything is going to take," Kayla sighs, sinking into one of the padded chairs. "I'm not recording another album with that label but if the negotiations take forever, so will making new music and touring, and with a legal fight, money running out at one point is a possibility we have to keep in mind. I'm not sure how Millie feels about everything, but I, for one, would love to find a way to release our music by ourselves."

My eyes go wide. That's the first time I ever heard of this idea, but the determined look on her face tells me that she's thought about it a lot already.

"What would that look like?" I ask her curiously and tilt my head.

"We'd found our own label and hire people to take care of everything that comes with it." She shrugs, making it sound way easier than it’s probably going to be. "I have no exact plan yet, but if we're already scouting lawyers, we might as well keep an eye out for firms that deal with that kind of stuff as well."

"How about we meet tomorrow and do a bit of research?" I ask her. A muffled announcement from outside the VIP booth makes my head turn to the glass front.

"Sure," Kayla says absentmindedly and steps closer to the windows as well. "Let's do that. Now, let's watch the second half of the game and cheer for our guys." She sounds very motivated, considering she didn’t used to be Asher’s biggest fan.

I shoot her a curious gaze, and she looks right back at me, her forehead crinkling in a frown when she realizes that I see her blushing.

Without saying anything, I raise my hand and make a zipping motion across my lips. Which also helps hide my smile.

Kayla can deny it all she wants, but the way she interacted with Asher? The way she listened to him when they set his plan in motion?

She doesn't dislike him as much as she's portraying. There’s just no way. I’ve seen her interact with people she doesn’t like, and a night in that hotel in Scandinavia where everything is made of ice blocks would be an evening in front of a campfire in comparison.

But judging from her actions, she's not ready to confront that yet, so who am I to push it?

My parents also join us at the window to watch the game.

It's hilarious, really. The only person in this room who has any idea about what's going on down on the field is my Dad. He tries his best to give us a crash course on football and explain what's going on, but it takes him all of fifteen minutes to realize that it's just not happening.

Finally, he resorts to just telling us when to cheer and when to look sad, and that works absolutely fine for Kayla and me. He hasn't quite given up on teaching Mom, though.

Whenever Luca is on the field, I grow nervous. The Walker brothers don't take any prisoners, they push each other, shove, elbow, and punch their way past each other, and I'm really damn worried that Luca somehow lands in between their fights.

"So, your man is the halfback," Dad tries to explain one more time, so we at least understand what their positions are for. "All he's got to do is catch the ball and run through at least one of those lines." I nod. That's still understandable.

"Your man," he murmurs towards Kayla. "Is the fullback. Both of them kind of do the same thing, but playing together, the fullback tries to clear the way for the halfback."

"Like Asterix and Obelix, basically?" Kayla asks, and I grin. She isn't wrong to compare them to the comic book characters we've picked up on during our tour in France. Reading those comics has gotten us through a lot of very long tour bus drives.

"Oh, I'm so telling Asher you've compared him to Obelix."

"Well, if he's mad at it, he shouldn't eat like him," she says, rolling her eyes, but I catch the hint of amusement in her voice and expression. “Like a damn barbarian.”

"You're right, though, basically like Asterix and Obelix,” Dad confirms with a chuckle. “Your man beats up the Romans, while yours runs with the magic potion? Does that make sense?" He can't help but chuckle as he explains it.

The crowd lets out a shocked sound, and my gaze quickly jumps back to the field. A bunch of the players are wrestling each other, and I hold my breath as Luca tries to find a way through the fighting crowd. I gasp when he only barely evades one of the Walker brothers suddenly sprinting at him, taken down by Asher.

"Fuck that's hot," Kayla mumbles under her breath, freezing when she realizes what she said. I bite my lip to keep from laughing and act like I haven't heard her.

Finally, Dad tells us that the match is almost over. Team Friendship, Luca's and Asher's team, appears to be winning, but only by a hair. The mood in the stadium is tense, as all the fans are on the edge of their seat for the final minutes.

Someone from the event organization pops their head into the room to get Kayla and me. We're supposed to be down at the field for the final shots, for whatever reason. Well, I know the reason. Apparently, a lot of people tuned in to see some cute moments between Kayla and Asher.

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