Page 1 of In the Air Tonight

Chapter 1

Blaise

NOW

I’m late getting home from work and in a foul mood after another long day with my jerk of a boss, Wendall, barking orders at me that couldn’t be seen to in a month, let alone a single day. But that’s what he expects—everythingright now. Six months ago, I stopped taking his calls after hours because I don’t get paid to tend to him for more than eight hours a day. That’s all he gets from me now.

He didn’t like that.

Ask me if I care. We’ve reached the point where he needs me far more than I need him, and he knows it.

My friends in the city were green with envy when I landed a job as the personal assistant to the hottest star on Broadway. They don’t know he’s a nightmare. No one knows that but me and the people he stars with inGray Matter,the top-grossing show on the Great White Way this year. As the show becomes more successful, he’s an even bigger dick to everyone around him.

I’m giving him six more months and then moving on. Life’s too short to work for someone I can’t stand.

I’ve barely walked into my apartment when my phone rings with a call from my mother. I hesitate to take it because I’m in such a shitty mood, but she worries when I don’t answer. I press the big green button.

“Hey, Mom.” After kicking off my sneakers, I drop my bag on the sofa. It’s got my laptop and the heels I wear at the theater where I spend my days.

“I’m so glad you answered, sweetheart. I tried you yesterday but got your voicemail.”

I’ve told her—many times—I never check my voicemail and she should text me if she wants to chat, but she’s never gotten the hang of texting. My siblings and I have tried to teach her. She says she has a mental block. I say she couldn’t be bothered. “What’s going on?”

“Teagan is pregnant again.”

I’m shocked. My sister has four children under the age of seven. “Wow. Four wasn’t enough?”

“I guess not. She’s so happy. I could hear it in her voice when she called to share the news. Doug has a big new job that allows her stay home with the kids. She’s thrilled to be a full-time mom now.”

“I’m glad for her. That’s a lot to juggle with a job.”

“It was too much, and the daycare bills were sucking up most of her salary anyway.”

“I’ll text her to say congrats.”

“I know she’d love to hear from you.”

I hear the sadness in my mother’s voice. How could I not? It’s been there since the day I left home and never looked back. My family has asked over the years why I never come home, even for holidays I used to enjoy. I haven’t been able to provide an answer that satisfies them. This is what works for me. Staying away from there, from the memories, has made it possible for me to have a life of purpose without guilt swallowing me whole.

Since I left for college nearly thirteen years ago, I’ve been home once—when my father died suddenly.

I’ve always been certain that if I go back there for any length of time, my carefully constructed house of cards will come crashing down.

My mother chats on about people I barely remember, kids I grew up with who are now parents many times over, her friends’ grandchildren and other gossip from home.

“Was Ryder Elliott your year or Arlo’s?”

The bottom drops out of my world at the mention of that name.

Ryder Elliott.

“Blaise? Hello? Are you there?”

I swallow hard. “I’m here. What did you say?”

“Was Ryder your year? Or Arlo’s?”

All the spit in my mouth is gone, and I’m right back in the woods on the night that changed everything. The scent of woodsmoke is forever tied to that night as is the Steve Miller song “Jet Airliner.”

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