Page 15 of Endless Harmonies

I snort because that’s relative when you’re that little. They sleep, eat a boob, shit, and look adorable while doing it. Other than the lack of sleep, they’re perfect.

“They’re two weeks old,” I tease her. “They’re doing everything they should be at this age.”

“I don’t know anything about babies,” she says with a shrug. “These two are everything though.”

“They really are,” Lennon sighs happily, leaning into her sister’s side.

“Tori and Tesa are coming over for some girl time,” I tell them. “I ran into Tori a second ago. Are you okay with that?”

“Can we sing break-up songs and fuck shit up?” Layla asks, glancing my way.

“Yep, anything in particular you want me to play, or are you writing with Lenny tonight?” I ask her with a smirk.

Lay gets shy about songwriting around her sister, insisting that Lenny is better at it. Art isn’t a competition, it’s about sharing your soul.

Blushing, she shrugs. “Let’s go with Gayle and songs along those lines to begin with, and see how it goes.”

“Good enough, let’s get some food into you first, did someone warm up the lasagna?” I ask.

“I did,” Orion reassures me with a smirk. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t fuck it up.”

Shrugging, I’m sure he didn’t. Turner and Derek take the babies from Layla and she sighs as she stares at them.

“Okay, I really am hungry. Have I missed anything crazy? Give me the gossip,” she teases as she stands.

There’s a lot we can’t talk about with Layla because it’s not normal. Greg’s missions for O and Derek is one of those things.

“I spoke to Jordan,” Lennon says gently, following us to the kitchen. “He says he didn’t know how bad it was and he’s going to move you out of the tour bus. It’s not fair to you to deal with their bullshit.”

Nodding slowly, she leans on the island as she processes that. “It’s not fair, I agree. I don’t think I want to stay on their bus anymore. I never cared about sleeping on one of the tiny bunks, but it’s the rest I can’t deal with.”

“They’re bigger than the bunks the crew sleeps on, right?” Derek asks, following us with a baby in his arms. Turner follows, because they dislike being apart.

“Barely,” I acknowledge. “Mav and Atlas’ bus is set up differently, and we don’t use ours unless we’re on the road. God, I’m so damn mad at them right now. I’m sorry, Lay.”

Shrugging, she smiles sadly. “They flirted with me, gave me butterflies, you know? Mav and Atlas were protective of me, but I didn’t think the age thing would be an issue for long. I’m twenty-one for God’s sake.”

“I was a lot younger when I was tending bar.” Lenny winces. She doesn’t like to bring up what she had to do to get by when she left Farrelsville.

“I don’t know what their deal is, I just can’t do the back and forth anymore. Part of me is embarrassed and ashamed about how I followed them like a little puppy—”

“Nah,” I deny, pulling out the bubbling lasagna from the oven. “You may think that’s how you acted, but they fed into it. I don’t think you did anything but follow through on mutual attraction.”

Orion and Lenny grab plates, as we’re all used to eating at crazy hours. I can practically hear her stomach growling now, even though she had a snack a few hours ago. Part of the joy of feeding twins.

Soon, we’re sitting in our breakfast nook, eating as I pour glasses of wine. Lenny abstains, but only because she says a sip is a tease.

“I had to be misreading things,” Layla decides, taking a healthy sip of her wine. “There’s no way I kept falling on my face otherwise.”

“I watched the way they would touch you,” I tell her with a sigh. “They were interested. They’re being dumb, and truthfully they don’t deserve you.”

“I want to be with someone that gives a shit about me romantically,” Layla complains. “I feel like I’m wrapped in bubble wrap, and I know the world is dangerous…”

“I know you know that,” Turner says with a nod. “You’re smart. You still want to live, as you should. Lay, your time is also very limited with touring. Where are you going to meet someone?”

Layla deflates as she thinks about that and I glare at Turner. This isn’t a very good pep talk.

“What Turner means,” Lenny says as she rolls her eyes, “is you’re going to have to think outside of the box. How do you feel about online dating?”

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