Page 22 of Dangerous Encore
5
Ethan
There'sa sound coming from mypants.
Not the ones I'm wearing, but the jeans crumpled on the dressing roomfloor.
Shit. That'sI'm Only Happy When It Rainsin glorious cell speaker quality. That's my ringtone forViolet.
I bend to grab mycell. "Hey."
"Hey." Her voice is soft.Tired.
All I want to do is teleport to where she is and wrap my arms around her. It's a common feeling with half my time on the road, but right now, it'sheavier.
"I, um… I was talking with my mom, and I just kinda lost it." She lets out a soft sigh. "I know I do a pretty good job convincing people I don't care what theythink—"
"But you do." I lean against the dressing room wall. I can't rush out of here wearingonlyslacks. No, I can. And I will if that's what Violetneeds.
"Yeah. And Mom, she kept looking at me like she didn't think people would approve. And she's right. They probably won't. I mean, what normal person approves of their niece or cousin or granddaughter's wedding looking like a My Chemical Romance musicvideo."
"They broke up four years ago. You need to update yourreferences."
She laughs. "Fuckyou."
"The second yougethome."
Her laugh gets louder. "That'scheesy."
"You don'twantto?"
"I'm onlyhuman."
I shift my weight between my feet. Violet and I are the same in so many ways. We both pretend like we don't give a fuck what anyone thinks, but we do. We both hate how much we need approval from other people. "It's okay to care what peoplethink."
"Yeah, but the thing is… I love my mom and dad. And I do really care about their opinions. And yours. And Mal and Piper and all the band family. But I don't care what Grandma thinks. I don't care what Aunt Jeanie thinks. These are people I never see. I only invited them because I felt like I was supposed to. And I kind of wish I hadn't, but I'm not crying overspilledmilk."
"Yeah."
"I… I want to stop thinking about everything besides walking down the aisle and taking your hand and sayingthosevows—"
"And jamming your tongue down mythroat?"
"Or course." She laughs. "Maybe some over the clothes groping too. You know I can't be held responsible for what my hands do when you're in a suit. Tell me your suit isready."
"I'm trying itonnow."
"Mhmm.Picture?"
"You havetowait."
"You'recruel."
"It'stradition."
"Sincewhen?"
"Sincenow."
