“Uh, guys?” I said, hoping not to scare them. “Sorry. Figured I should let you know I was here before you started getting naked.”
Ozzie turned on the light, and Walker—beautiful Walker—stood there, ready to defend my cousin from a dangerous intruder. The second he recognized me, his face reverted to its usual sunny disposition, and the ache in my chest went deeper than it had any right to.
This might have been a mistake.
CHAPTER 2
sawyer
I was on an evening Zoom call with DB, my boss, as well as our finance guy when my phone went off. They were chatting about a project I wasn’t involved with, so I unlocked my phone screen, wondering if my mom had gotten the results from her cardiologist. She’d started having heart palpitations, likely harmless, but her doctor had ordered a battery of tests just to be sure.
The notification, however, was from one of the Google alerts I’d set up for Hendrix. My stomach bottomed out as I read the headlines.
Punk Rock Superstar Collapses in Front of Record Crowd
Hendrix Cavanaugh Rushed to Hospital in Mexico City
Cavanaugh Leaves Hospital AMA
“Uh, DB? A personal emergency just came up,” I said, opening my texting app.
DB immediately halted his conversation with Schultz. “Is this about your mom?” he asked, concern in his expression.
I shook my head. “It’s Hen.”
DB and I had always had a good professional relationship, but one night after a business dinner in Dallas that had run a little too long, we’d started sharing our personal stories. Turned out he’d been in love with his now-husband for years but had held off because of a misplaced sense of duty.
Hendrix was one of our clients, so even though DB wasn’t a fan of punk rock, he knew who Hen was. I’d admitted I’d been in love with Hendrix since high school, even though he was in love with someone else.
Until then, my best friend, Major, had been the only other person who’d known how I felt about Hendrix. When I’d gone to DB’s office the next day, I could barely look him in the face, and he’d called me on it.
“There’s no shame in loving who you love, Sawyer,” he’d said, right before introducing me to his husband, a gorgeous Viking of a man with long blond hair and a trimmed beard.
I was sure DB had been trying to encourage me not to lose hope, but watching my hard-nosed boss go soft for his man had made my morning eggs turn in my belly. I’d never have what they shared.
“Go, take care of him. Let me know how it goes,” DB said, bringing me back to the present.
I thanked him and logged out of the call, then fired off a message to Hendrix.
Me:Hendrix, I just saw the news articles. Where are you?
Me:Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?
Fuck, I hadn’t even known that he was in Mexico City. He’d been touring in Eastern Europe, and he was supposed to have had acouple of days off before the last several stops. I stared at my phone, willing the three dots to appear, but they never did.
Hen was many things, but he always responded quickly to my texts as long as he wasn’t on stage. After two minutes, I couldn’t stand it and gave him a call. It went to voicemail, so I called again. And again. Then sent him another text.
Me:James Hendrix Cavanaugh, you’d better fucking respond to this damned text.
Nothing.
Seven eternal minutes later, I pulled up the group chat.
Me:Did y’all see that Hendrix collapsed on stage?
Tristan:Shit, no. Do we know if he’s OK?
Me:No. The article says he was taken to the hospital and then left against medical advice.
