Page 22 of Where Happiness Begins

“Will you be there too?” I ask him.

Carter shakes his head, not offering more of an explanation. I guess it makes sense that the producer wouldn’t need to be there for their tour, but I’m not sure how to feel about his future absence. It’s not like he’s the life of the party, but he’s also the person I’m the most familiar with here, and living with only strangers for a week is something I never thought I’d ever have to do. Hopefully, they won’t feel like strangers anymore then.

Nana better be proud of all this living I’m suddenly doing.

“It’s settled, then,” Ethan says before lifting his beer. “Welcome to the Crash & Burn fam, Lil.”

The rest of the band members lift their glasses too, Bong shouting a “Whoop!” on top of it. I find myself smiling at the warm welcome they’re giving me, not even caring that the least happy person in this room is the one I married.

Once they’ve all taken a sip, the band gets lost in mixed conversations, and while Joe and I remain pretty silent, I don’t mind it. I take the opportunity to study these people I’ll be spending a lot of time with in the upcoming months, but more often than not, my attention goes back to Carter.

We haven’t been here long, and even so, I see a change in his demeanor compared to how he is at home. He looks much more at ease, even if that comfort is subtle. A slouch of his shoulder here and a huff at a comment someone made there. And while I know it’s stupid, I still feel a pang of disappointment. I used to think I was an easily approachable person, but clearly I’m not. Something in me makes him uncomfortable.

A few minutes pass before I grab my phone and walk around to take pictures of everyone. If I want to uphold my end of the deal, I need content, and I want to figure out the vibe I’ll be going for with my promo posts.

“Wait,” Emmett says, jumping to his feet when he sees what I’m doing. “We can do better than that.”

I lift a brow.

“If you’re going to post about us, we should be playing instead of slouching around.”

“Oh, I’m sure people would actually love seeing the behind the scenes,” I say.

“Still,” Ethan says as he too gets up. “He has a point. We can give you better photos than that.”

“You’re going to serenade me?” I ask the band.

“Damn right we are,” Ethan says as everyone walks to grab their instruments.

I smile, excited to see what they’re going to play. Even after only listening to them live once, I’m eager to hear more. As they get ready, I work with the lighting in the room to make sure the pictures and videos I get are the best they can be, and only once I take my position sitting on the couch’s armrest do I notice Carter’s eyes on me, watching. As soon as I meet them, they move to the band.

“Ready to get your mind blown?” Bong asks, bringing my attention back to what’s important.

I lift my camera. “Bring it.”

Chapter9

If there’s one thing that never fails to make me happy, it’s people getting what they deserve.

And I mean that in all senses of the term. Sure, I do enjoy when good, old karma hits bad people every now and then, but more than that, I love seeing hard-working, kind people find happiness and success, especially after a lifetime of trials, and no one deserves that more than my closest friends.

“I suck at this,” Lexie says, letting go of the bouquet of faux roses she was working on before dropping her head to the table, her short brown hair splayed around her.

“Stop it,” I say, perfecting my own. “You’re doing just fine.”

“Why didn’t I hire someone to do this again?”

“Because flowers are expensive,” I answer as I tie the white silk ribbon at the base of my bouquet. Not that they really needed to save on their wedding. Ever since Lexie won a bronze overall medal in gymnastics at the summer Olympics last year, job offers have been raining on her, and as much as she continues to live a modest life, she could definitely splurge. I turn to her with a grin. “Andbecause I convinced you that having a DIY weddingwould be so much fun.”

“Right, that’s the actual reason.However, this is the least fun thing I’ve ever done.” She throws a plucked plastic petal my way, making me laugh. “You should’ve gotten Finn to do it with you instead.”

“Oh, please. As if I haven’t convinced Finn to do plenty of stuff for the wedding already.”

She perks up. “Really? Like what?”

“None of your business.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine then. If you won’t tell me, then at least distract me with something else.” Her flowers are completely forgotten now, and she’s looking at me with strange interest, her hands flat on the table.

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