Page 160 of The First Time
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kit
After a fantastic week of texting and chatting with Piper, I have to return to reality.
Not that reality is all that bad for a rock star. At the moment, everything about my life is fucking amazing.
I slide off my bike, ready for practice. It's a quarter till noon on a weekday, our first post-tour practice, the first time I'm at the Strong place since—
Fuck, since a lot of shit.
Everything is different now.
Joel is leaning against his sleek black sports car, arms folded over his chest, eyes fixed on me.
I motiongo inside.
He stays put. "You're early."
I wait until I'm on his side of the street, on the sidewalk in front of the Strong house, to speak. "Figured there'd be traffic."
His grey-green eyes stay incredulous. "I called you three times yesterday."
"I was busy." Not exactly true. I spent my morning at the gym, again, and my afternoon practicing, again, but I spent the rest of the day reading and texting Piper.
"What the fuck happened after you left Friday?" He taps out a drum beat on his thigh. "Nobody's telling me shit."
"I took Piper home."
"Here?"
"My place."
Realization flares in Joel's eyes. I guess he didn't know that part.
He drops his voice to a whisper. "You fucked Ethan and Mal's baby sister?"
"It wasn't like that."
His voice raises with every word. "Did you put your dick inside her?"
"I care about her."
"Enough to leave the band?"
"Enough to do fucking anything."
He stares into my eyes, deciding if he believes me. He nods. "Good. Besides the whole off-limits innocent kid thing, she's good for you. And she cares about you enough to not put up with bullshit."
"She's too good for me."
"Maybe. You're pretty good looking." He shakes his head. "You know you have my loyalty. If you're out of the band, I'm out."
"That's not necessary." As much as I appreciate Joel's support, I don't need him falling on any swords for me. I'm an adult. I made my bed. I can lie in it.
"Yeah, it is. We're a team. You're family." He cuts me off when I start to object. "Don't give me shit about how we're not blood relatives. You're family."
There's no talking Joel out of this. There's no talking Joel out of anything. I nod. "Let's go inside."
