Page 49 of Tortured Tones

“Please do.” I nodded. “That’d be cool.”

“What about our cousin Harper?” Tia leaned against the counter, tossing a salad in a big bowl.

Shit. Why didn’t I think of her? “Isn’t she in Nepal?”

Harper would be ideal. She taught English to Nepalese kids and loved traveling, painting, reading and watching old Hollywood films. I wasn’t sure the offer to work for me would be enough to entice her home.

Tia picked out a cherry tomato from the salad, tossed it in the air, and caught it in her mouth. “Yep. Harper’s in Kathmandu. She’d be fun to have on the tour.”

“It’s not just for the tour.” I winced. “It’s ongoing. Forever. Until Charlotte’s like...eighteen.” Anxiety hovered through my every word. Fuck...that was a long time.

Tia just giggled. “There’s no harm in asking. Email her. That’s the best way to track her down.” She slinked sideways and nudged her hip against Slip’s. “You’d like Harper around again, wouldn’t you?”

He shook his head as he munched on a slice of garlic bread. “Um. No. I’m with Maddy.”

A wary smile quivered across Sutton’s lips, but it was gone within the blink of an eye. She pinched her eyebrows together. “Slip, did you used to date Harper?”

“Date? No.” He licked breadcrumbs from his fingertips. “We just slept together.”

I jumped in. “Slip was the first to break our dibs rule. He lost his virginity to Harper in senior year. He thought he was king shit because she was in college.” She was three years older than us and quirky, and fun, but we hadn’t seen her for almost two years. Not since Phil’s funeral.

“I was the shit.” Slip grinned from ear to ear. “We fooled around for a couple months. She wanted more. I never did. But she was a hot fuck. She has this tongue ring, and when she suckedon my—”

“Slip.” I glared at him and covered Charlotte’s ears. “We can’t talk about sex in front of my kid. She’s too young.”

Lewis chuckled and slapped me on the back. “Oh, she’ll learn a lot by hanging around us.”

“That’s what worries me.” Was I destined to ruin her life too? My kid had no hope. But my concern drifted to Slip. “So do you have any issues if I contact Harper and ask her to work for me? Any problems if she comes back?”

Slip shrugged a shoulder. “Nope. None.”

Thank fuck for that.

Slip swiped the garlic bread off the counter and headed over to the table. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

“Time for lunch, kiddo.” I picked Charlotte up and carried her over to her booster seat at the head of the table.

After Flint and I took the chairs adjacent to Charlotte, and everyone else found a seat, we dug into the dishes of food. Plates were loaded with pastas and salads. I filled a bowl with spaghetti bolognese for Charlotte and placed it in front of her. She, of course, ate it with her hands.

Flint held his beer toward me and jerked his head toward the others. “See?” he said over everyone’s chatter and laughter. “Asking for help wasn’t so painful. Was it?”

We chinked our bottles together, and I sighed. “No. I guess not.”

“You got this. Everything will be fine.”

“It will be once I know Charlotte’s taken care of. I promise she won’t be a problem.” I had Hannah to take care of her for now. I’d find someone else before we headed overseas. “I assure you, I’m not going to miss one more rehearsal, or a show, or skip any of our appearances and parties or the events we have planned.”

Flint dug into his carbonara. “Cole, I know you’re as committed to the tour as the rest of us, but you’re going to have to make some adjustments. You can’t ignore Charlotte.”

There was no way I could do that as she stuffed a handful of spaghetti into her mouth, dripping sauce everywhere. I grabbed a napkin and wiped her chin. What a mess!

Flint waved his fork at me. “You’re going to have to come home earlier than normal, take the random afternoon off, start later, miss an after-party.”

Miss a party? Never. Charlotte had to fit into my life, not change it. I’d do everything for her, but I wasn’t going to stop doing what I loved. “We’ve worked too damn hard for this tour. I’m not going to miss one second of it. I’m not giving up anything and definitely not giving up hooking up with different chicks all the time.”

He threw me a smug smile. “You’ll change when you meet the right girl.”

“I’m not in a hurry to do that.”

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