I unwrapped a honey candy and put it in my mouth. “Okay? But seriously, Debbie, no inter—”
“You, Jayd Rollins, are going to Iron Pipes!” she announced like a radio DJ telling me I’d won a prize.
I nearly choked on the honey drop. “You got us tickets? Oh, wow! Wait, but doesn’t it start tomorrow?”
Rafe threw himself down on the bed with a groan and started massaging his temples. His towel loosened in the process, and the sight was extremely distracting.
“Jayd? Jayd!”
“Hmm? Oh! Uh. Yeah, no, I can’t go to Iron Pipes. Thanks anyway. I’m heading to Florida tomorrow. I’m playing a concert there Saturday.”
Rafe lifted his head to stare at me. “Iron Pipes?” he whispered.
“Tickets? Good Lord, Jayd! We’re not gonna watch the show. No, honey, they want you toplay. A side stage performance tomorrow at seven, and the main stage Saturday!”
“I… I…” I stared at Rafe helplessly.
“What?” he mouthed. “Tell me!”
“They wantme,” I whispered, twisting the phone away from my mouth. I was half panic and half pure delight. “Iron Pipes. They want me toplayFridayandSaturday. Holy shit.”
“Holy shit is right! You’ve been dreaming of this since we were kids!” Rafe sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed closest to me. “Ari Friedrich is gonna be there! Hurry up and say yes!”
I got excited for precisely half a second before reality set in.
“Jayd!” Debbie called impatiently.
“Yes, I’m here. I’m so sorry, Debbie, but I can’t go.”
She laughed. “You’re hilarious, sweetheart, but stop before someone thinks you’re serious! So. Your sound check is tonight at eight. No time to fly commercial, so I’m getting you a private plane. I already called in the band, and I’m getting you a room at the—”
“Yeah, but—”
“Fine, asuite, then, but only because you’re my favorite,” she said indulgently.
“No, I mean, I’m already—”
Rafe snagged the phone from my hand. “Debbie?” he rasped out in aterribleimpression of me. “Debbie! Oh, gosh, this connection is awful. Gimme a minute. I’ll call yo—” He shut the phone off abruptly, and our eyes collided. “Have you lost your mind?”
“No, I have not. I have a previous commitment. I promised your dad, Rafe. I promisedyou—”
“I’m hereby letting you out of your promise,” he said quickly, leaning up to smack me lightly on the forehead with the heel of his hand. “There. You’ve been un-promis-ified. Go to Iron Pipes, babe.”
“It doesn’t work like that!” I scowled. “Your dad’s been selling tickets for a show featuringme. Besides, I’m not leaving you to fly to Florida by yourself! I’m not the irresponsible person you thought I was.”
“Jay,” he chided. “I don’t believe that. I never really did. You’ve got dreams. It inspires the crap out of me to see you fulfill ’em. So godo it. That’s what fill-in acts are for.”
Oh, right. The Cheez-Bergers in Paradise.
“Look at my nose,” he added. “Not a single twitch. I truly, truly mean it.”
“But I don’t know how to deal with the fallout from those tabloid pictures. I still haven’t made a statement, and—”
“Don’t make a statement if you don’t want to! Be mysterious, babe.”
I rolled my eyes. “And what about you and me?” I began as my phone started ringing on the bed.
“You and I are not about the Extravaganza, just like we’re not about your sister, or the kidnap van. It was always gonna be us, Jay. Those things were just the catalyst for bringing us back into the right orbit. Now we’re here, and we’re sticking together.” He tilted his head from side to side ruefully. “Even if we’re technically apart.”
