Page 85 of Places I've Never Been

“I don’t know about Della,” he said, “but I know my brother absolutely knows when he’s pushing my buttons and he always does it on purpose, the little shit. But these days I can make him back off if I want. Then there’s my dad. He may not know he’s doing it, but he’s really,reallygood at it. I swear he refuses to move just to piss me off.”

“I doubt that’s why.” Mattie sniffed. “You said you used to practice in the garage. The memories you both share are there, in that house. Maybe he doesn’t want to lose them.”

He’d never looked at it that way. They’d fought so much over the music Adam thought the garage was more of a sore spot than a memory to hold on to, but he had to admit, he’d never askedwhyDad didn’t want to move. Adam squeezed her shoulder, then went back to work with the washcloth.

“Maybe.”

Mattie rolled her shoulders and lifted her chin to let the water run down her face. “You said you could make your brother back off. How?”

He grinned. “I know all his secrets. He knows mine. We’re a mutual destruction society. And if that threat doesn’t work, we end up wrestling for dominance. I’m bigger than him, so I usually win.”

Mattie giggled, which was exactly the reaction he’d been hoping for. “Girls don’t do that. We fill the air with silence. It cuts deeper.”

He ran the washcloth down her back and hovered at the little dip just above the curve of her bottom. “What did Della say to upset you?”

Mattie sighed and leaned into his hand. “You know The Bellamy Sisters broke up. You know she went solo. I mean, there’s all kinds of gossip about it in the tabloids, right?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her shoulder, then shifted the cloth to his other hand and went back to work. “I figured you were all tired of the circus. You’d been at it since she you were, what, twelve?”

Mattie nodded. “What’snotin the tabloids is that Della did that without asking the rest of us.”

“Seriously?” Adam stopped moving, momentarily stunned.

Mattie wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It was one of the worst days of my life. On top of Dad dying it was …never mind.”

“She just popped up at dinner and said, ‘Hey everybody, I’m going solo?’”

“Not dinner. Worse than that. It was right after the last show of that big world tour. We were in the greenroom getting ready for the after-party. She was so excited to tell us shecouldn’t stand still, like it was Christmas morning and Santa was there with presents. She tore our family apart without a second’s thought for how it might affect the rest of us.”

“What a bitch.” He probably shouldn’t have said it quite that way, but the words burst out of him before he could stop them.

To his relief, there was a grin on her face when she turned toward him. “That’s exactly what Piper said.”

“Well, it’s true. That was a shitty move. Kind of like when Johnny J quit. He had a good reason, but it was a gut kick all the same.” His gaze followed the water now running between her breasts, over her nipples, and down the rest of her. “I will never, ever get tired of this view.”

She took the washcloth from him and rolled her eyes. “No, no, no, we arenotdoing that now. We’re already late.”

He pulled her closer. “I swear, when we get back I’m having an outdoor shower installed just like this one.”

He’d seen the faraway look that flashed through her eyes before. He just wished he knew what it meant. He kissed her long and slow to help ease her out of the bad mood her sister had inspired and bring her back to the here and now, with him.

The shower took a lot longer than it probably should have.

When they were both washed and satisfied, Adam handed a towel to Mattie.

She wrapped the towel around her body and picked up a hairbrush. “Sorry about before. I didn’t mean to be so snotty. It’s not me.”

“You don’t ever have to be sorry for saying how you feel. And everybody needs to lash out every now and then. It lets off steam.”

“It doesn’t make me feel any better.” She sighed and worked at a knot in her hair. “There are at least twenty texts from her and every one of them makes me feel guilty. Shethinks if she pounds in her idea enough times I’ll just do what she wants. I guess I’m still processing that stupid brunch.”

“Brunch?” He saw her grimace at herself in the mirror.

She caught his gaze. “Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?”

He waved his hand. “It’ll take me two seconds. Tell me about brunch. When was this?”

She walked past him to the closet and thrust clothes back and forth. The towel inched down her back with every move. “Just before this trip. It was just supposed to be Piper, Lizzie, and me, but Della showed up and announced that she wants us all back together, and something inside me just snapped. It was like the room turned upside down and inside out and all the things I should have said years ago came spilling out. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

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