Page 60 of The Forbidden Note

She rolls her eyes. “My best friend made the ridiculous decision to marry the lead singer of a rock band at eighteen. I don’t have a choice but to tag along.”

“Nice.” I ease over her. “I get to corrupt you for the night.”

“You get to do no such thing.” Cadey drags Breeze behind her. “Back off, Zane. She’s untouchable.”

I laugh at Cadey’s protective stance.

Viola joins us, her steps slow and draggy.

Everyone immediately sobers.

“You okay, Vi?” I ask, touching her back.

“Yeah, I said my goodbyes to mom.” She sniffs, shoulders slumping. “Can we go home now?”

I pat her shoulder, not sure how to console a thirteen year old girl. It’s always been me and my brothers. We don’t really get emotional. When we do, our form of commiseration is to jam together at the highest volume and then drink until we pass out.

Unfortunately, Viola is more into makeup than music.

And Cadey will kill me if I give her baby sister alcohol.

We separate into our own trucks.

Dutch takes Cadey, Vi, and Breeze in his car while Finn gets behind the wheel of his electric convertible. Sol is in the backseat while I take shot gun.

I lift one leg on the dashboard. “I’ve been thinking…”

“Ugh…” Sol groans, eyes going dark. “Those three words never mean anything good coming from you.”

“Get your feet off my dash,” Finn orders.

I drop my leg, take out a drumstick, and twirl it. “I think we should do something for Cadence and Dutch’s wedding.”

“Didn’t we already?” Finn mumbles, flicking the indicator.

“We onlywatchedthem get married. And it doesn’t count because Sol wasn’t there. Right?” I meet his eyes in the rearview mirror.

He shrugs.

It’s not an enthusiastic response, but I’ll take it.

“Plus they didn’t get to have a reception because Tina, you know,” I slide a finger across my neck, “at a very inconvenient time.”

“Don’t let Viola hear you say that,” Finn warns.

“What do you propose?” Sol says.

“A party.”

Finn rolls his eyes again. The punk says so much without saying anything at all.

“Think about it. It’ll brighten up the vibes, clear the air after the funeral. Give them a proper beginning. What do you think?”

“Do whatever you want, Zane. You’ve never let us stop you before,” Finn mumbles.

I smirk all the way home.

In the driveway, Dutch moves toward us.

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