Page 5 of Reckless Encore

She leaned against her window and stared down at the miles of passing highway as maternal instinct tightened her chest.

Every day she questioned whether she should’ve become a stay-at-home mom once Tyler was born. At first, her drive for success had made it hard to quit. She also couldn’t stand the thought of someone else taking over while Reckless embarked on their new indie adventure. Then, later, she couldn’t leave because they needed her help establishing their own label.

She’d bought into the company.

She’d become even less of a mother.

And through it all, Tyler had never seemed to mind.

Or maybe he had and she just hadn’t noticed.

“Stop placing guilt on yourself.” Ryan grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers. “The next two days are about drinking and relaxation. Don’t let it go to waste.”

She released a sardonic laugh. “The next two days are about you and the guys putting shit on each other while us women try to distract the kids from your shenanigans. There’s no relaxation in sight as far as I’m concerned.”

“Then maybe you and the ladies should start some shenanigans of your own. The kids aren’t babies anymore. They can look after themselves and do their own thing.”

“I think I’m too old for shenanigans.” Her forties had come and gone way too fast. Along with a lot of things in her life, like her sanity. “I’ll stick to the wine and conversation.”

“Suit yourself. But remember the rules. Everything else has to slide for the weekend. No stress. No guilt. The next two days are about us detoxing from all the crap.”

“Agreed.” She squeezed his fingers. “And I’m not going to ask him how things are going with Sophie.”

Ryan nodded. “That’s a good decision.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.” She smiled at him. “Because that’s going to be your job.”

Chapter Two

Sean walked across the manicured gardens of the Deep Creek Lake vacation house toward Mason and Sidney. They climbed from their decked-out SUV, making their way to the trunk. “Need a hand?”

Mason poked his head out from behind the car and pointed toward the back seat. “You can tell the little fuckstick in the car that he can stay in there until he’s ready to apologize for acting like an asscake.”

“Hey,” Sidney warned. “You can’t call Ethan names like that.”

“I didn’t call him names,” Mason snarled through clenched teeth. “I just said he was actinglikean asscake. I didn’t point out that he is one.”

Sidney hitched her handbag higher on her shoulder and sighed. “Mason, you called him a fuckstick.”

The Reckless Beat front man paused, his hand on the suitcase in the trunk as he stared into the distance. “Oh…yeah, you’re right. My bad.” He yanked the case to the pebbled ground and slammed the trunk. “How you doin’, man?”

Mason came forward, luggage rolling at his side, and greeted Sean with a shoulder bump and a pat on the back.

“Good.” He reciprocated the gesture. “I gather the drive was rough.”

“Tough as nails, motherfucker. Aren’t you glad you don’t have kids?” Mason strode for the house, not waiting for an answer.

His best friend’s beautiful songstress wife approached next, coming forward to wrap her arms around Sean. “It was five hours of me playing referee to their arguments. They’re both as stubborn as each other.”

“Must be a full moon tonight, because Blake is having the same issues with the girls.” He kissed her forehead. “Want me to chat and subtly tell him to wake up to himself?”

“Which one—my husband or child?” She snorted. “They both need that talk.”

“I lost hope for Mason twenty years ago.” He grinned. “But I can give it a shot with the devil’s spawn.”

She hugged him tighter. “That would be great. He usually listens to you.”

The back door of the car flung open, and the scowling teenager slid out, his dark hair spiked and black jeans ripped in more places than not. He stalked toward the wall of trees at the edge of the yard, in the exact opposite direction to his father.

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