Page 9 of Rock On

“All? Did you bet on them, too? Marley, you didn’t,” I chided.

“I bet in all the pools—it’s a thing.”

“All the pools?”

“Stix and Stone getting together. Blu punching out some rando guy at a concert—she can have some anger issues when it comes to misogyny. That Kyson will knock up someone while we’re on tour. I’ve got real good odds of winning for Stix and Stone. With all that, I didn’t have Jay wandering off the plantation on my bingo card, though.”

“I can’t believe you betting on them.”

She shrugged, leaning against my bedroom doorjamb as I finished getting dressed, paying extra attention to what I wore, hopefully without looking too much like that’s what I was doing.

“Gotta amuse myself somehow,” she defended. “Hey, since you’re ready, can you give me a ride over to the fairgrounds? I took an Uber to your place this morning. I can’t believe Spring Harbor has Ubers now. Our little town… All grown up.”

“Not so little anymore.” I pulled out my phone and texted Jerrin, letting him know that I would be dropping off Marley.

Jerrin:I’ll be waiting where you dropped me off last night. XO

XO?

A little flutter took off in my chest.

“Who are you texting?”

“One of the girls from work. We’re supposed to meet later.”

“Uh-huh…” Marley’s tone said she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t press me on it. Which was good. I was a pretty terrible liar; that much was clear since I was practically transparent to my sister.

Her gaze speculative, she silently gathered her bag while I got my purse and we left.

“You’re still coming to the concert tomorrow?” she asked once we were on the way to the venue. I was pretty sure it was the thirty-seventh time she’d checked in the past month. Maybe, this time, she’d been waiting until we were locked in a moving vehicle together, so I couldn’t escape if I’d changed my mind.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I quipped.

“Ha!” she laughed. “Yes, you would.”

“Okay, you’re right,” I conceded. “But for you, I won’t miss it.”

“Good. You’ll like it. I promise. And they always play that song you like.”

“What song?”

“The Sky one.”

When I glanced over, she had an amused smile on her lips. I sighed. “You know that obsession is embarrassing, now. I was a kid. Sixteen. I’mwayover it.”

“It was cute.”

“Whatever.”

Before I knew it, I was at the music festival grounds. The venue wasn’t far from my place—nothing in Spring Harbor was far, totell the truth. A thin, eerie fog lay over the nearly deserted lot, with only a half dozen vehicles parked close to the backstage access. I pulled past them and to the walkway where a single guard leaned against a post, drinking what was likely coffee from a large thermal cup.

“I probably won’t see you until right before the concert, but once all our stuff is packed and out of here tomorrow, I have a few days off until I fly back to LA. So keep an opening for me.” She hugged me. “Love you. See you tomorrow.”

“Love you, too.”

Pulling back, she reached for the door handle then paused and looked at me. “Be careful.”

“I’m…” I started to argue then decided against it. This was her way of saying she knew there had been more thaninventorylast night. “I will be. I’m not the little kid you left at home back when you went off to make it big.”

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