Page 53 of Rocked: The Price of Dreams

“Yeah.” His shoulders slumped. Tiredness drummed low in his voice. “After much singing and reading, we got her to calm down and take some medicine to help her sleep.”

Most of the time Jenny was amazing, full of laughs and hugs and cuddles, but when she wasn’t, she could be more catastrophic than a tornado. Worst thing was, now she was entering her teenage years, her episodes had become more frequent and harder to control. “She seems to be getting worse.”

“And stronger.” Lowering his chin, he rubbed the mark on his cheek. “She needs better care, schooling, and medicine, but my parents can’t afford it. So we just have to manage.”

I placed my hand on his thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes.” A mischievous smile curled across his lips and his vibrant energy returned. That often meant trouble...and that he wanted to forget about home. He shoveled a fork full of carbonara into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed it down. “We play tonight and Sunday night, so between our gigs, we need to do something anti-Valentine. Something that is fun, crazy, and not romantic in any way.”

“I like your line of thinking.” Hunter was great at finding new ways to make the three of us laugh and get outdoors, especially during the summer. From ziplining to skiing, swimming to canoeing, any time we weren’t playing music he was hellbent on action and adventure. He brought out our competitive natures. We thrived on outdoing each other. Always trying to go harder. Faster. Longer. Hunter was the high. Kyle, the calm. They were my yin and yang. I peeled the lid off my pasta dish. Steam curled into the air. “What did you have in mind?”

“Let’s go to the movies, eat pizza, go ice-skating and bowling.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Hmm...sounds too much like a date.” Or just like any other day hanging out with him and Kyle.

“What about axe-throwing, or a historical walk around Princeton, or cleaning the grease-traps at Rosa’s?”

Definitely not romantic. “Ew! You said something fun. Not gross or boring.” I’d done enough history at school to last me a lifetime. Cleaning grease traps may have made me vomit. And axe-throwing? I’d never gotten into the local zany sport, but I’d be willing to give it another shot.

“We have to do something.” He stabbed his fork into his pasta. “Dad’s football buddies are coming over on Saturday to watch endless hours of football and Mom is having a Valentine’s Day tea party on Sunday for Jenny and her friends. I don’t want to be home for either.”

“Hell no.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Okay. Here’s a plan. Tomorrow afternoon let’s go ice-skating so I can beat you in races again and axe-throwing for some bad-assed fun. Afterwards, we can watch violent movies all night at my place. We’ll sleep in until noon on Sunday then go to our gig. It’ll be great.”

My mother remained intolerable, waiting for her divorce to finalize from Derek so she could marry Nolan. She rarely came home, spending most of her time with Nolan in Philadelphia. It suited me perfectly. Under sufferance, she’d agreed not to sell the house until I graduated. When I left, I couldn’t give a fuck what she did with our shit box place. She could burn it for all I cared.

“Awesome.” Hunter shoved pasta into his mouth. I didn’t know where he put all that food. He was so tall and skinny, ate like an animal, and never put on weight. “That sounds perfect. I’ll bring the DVDs and book the skating and axe throwing. You shout the pizzas. It’s an anti-Valentine anti-date. You’re the best.”

“I know.” I nudged my elbow against his arm. “Don’t you forget it.” Oh! Was some of Hunter’s cocky attitude rubbing off on me? I liked that.

Kyle rocked up with two cards and a rose in hand.

“Ooooh. Who’s got some valentines?” I teased, stealing the red card with a teddy bear on the front. I read inside:

Be my Valentine again. Love Laura

What the...?

His cheeks blazed red as he flopped down onto the chair opposite us. “Um...that one is from Laura and the other stuff is from...Vicki.”

“Vicki?” I drew my shoulders back. “As in, my friend, Vicki? As in, Laura’s best friend?”

“Yeah. That one.” Grinning, he rubbed the tip of his chin.

“How did that go down?” I asked. “Does Laura know?” Laura still pined after Kyle. But she was delusional if she thought they’d get back together. Kyle had moved on. A few college girls had helped with that.

“Yeah.” Kyle frowned. “She wasn’t happy.”

“What’s the deal with Vicki?” Worry rippled through Hunter’s voice. “Did she ask you out? You’re aware of her reputation, right?”

“Of course I am,” Kyle groaned. “I’m not stupid.”

“No, babe. You’re a stud.” I handed back his card. “You have two girls fighting over you.” But concern flickered in my chest. Vicki and Laura were cool. They weren’t stuck-up snobs like most of the cheerleaders at this school. They liked our music. But Vicki? Her interest in him had alarms going off in my head before a relationship even began. She liked the jocks, and they liked her. They got some action with no strings attached. I didn’t want Kyle to get hurt.

“It’s crazy, right?” Kyle’s eyes glinted. His cheeks reddened. “Two girls want me. Two! A year ago, no one even looked in my direction.”

“Yeah. You’re a real catch.” Sarcasm sliced through Hunter’s tone. But then he winced. “But Vicki? Do you just want to fuck her to see if she’s any good? If that’s all, fine. You know she’ll lose interest within a couple weeks.”

A smug smile curled across Kyle’s lips. “Maybe she’s just been waiting for the right guy.”

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