There’s a softcoonoise, and I glance closer at my big brother.
He’s cradling Miles, who’s barely a month old. I set the beer aside and make thehand him overgesture.
“I’m not letting you hold my kid.”
“You think I’m gonna drop him?”
“No. But it’s my turn.”
“Youlivewith him.”
“And I like it that way. He didn’t like the airplane and needs daddy snuggles.”
“He needs to learn his Uncle Cooper is hella dependable when his dad’s being a butt.”
Grady growls.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll go hold Beck’s baby. She’s cuter anyway.”
“Sunny has her.”
“Fuck.”
“Watch your mouth around my kid.”
“People who cuss are smarter. You could be giving him a head start, but instead, it’sno, don’t do this, don’t do that.”
Grady doesn’t answer.
Not right away.
And when he does, he says the worst thing possible.
“You know you could fit in her world if you wanted to.”
“Fit just fine, thanks.” I don’t fit.
I don’t belong at movie premieres. I can fake it, but I don’t fit. Not really. Not when the best thing to happen at her movie premiere was her heel breaking off.
Tomorrow, I’ll be on the sidelines at her concert, completely helpless when it comes to whatever she might need in the middle of the show.
Helpless to be the one at her side if she’s hurt or sick, because she’sbigger.
Helpless to be the one putting her ex in his place for fear that anything I said would reflect poorly on Waverly—and yeah, I cringedhardto myself when I realized I’d pulled a total grade school move. What to say and what not to say when I’m out in public on a date with one of the world’s top ten most famous stars is not a cheat sheet I’ve been given yet.
And it’s not only that she has this big life.
It’s that this big lifesuitsher.
Watching her sign autographs for those kids at the baseball diamond yesterday was the exact same as watching her interact with my adopted Little Sluggers back in Copper Valley. She looks at you, and you’re the center of the universe.
She makes people feel important. She makes them feel valued and loved.
And it’s not just in person.
It’s in her music.
The world’s a mess. Itneedsart like Waverly’s.
