“Totally.” She laughs. “He threatened to have me come on stage tonight and dance. I told him I will flat-out refuse and ruin his show.”
Ruin his show?
I don’t know exactly what my face does, but Larissa balks.
“Oops,” she groans.
“I …” I look at Holt, who is pointedly not looking at me. “Do you want to explain why your brother would ask your cousin to come on stage?”
Holt bites his bottom lip. The lines around his eyes crinkle, making him look more like his father.
My heartbeat quickens.
He doesn’t say a word. Just works hard not to smile.
“Fine.” I peer around him again. “Larissa, why would your cousin Coy ask you to come on stage tonight?”
She looks at Holt. Then at me. Then at Holt again.
“Hey, kids,” Siggy calls from the other end of the aisle. “I forgot to tell you. Coy has to leave town earlier than expected tomorrow. Can you all come at ten for brunch instead? I know you all have lives and things, but it would mean a lot to have you all at home for a quick meal.”
Oh my God.
They all turn to their mother except Holt. I think he’s too afraid to look away from me.
“So, Kelvin McCoy is my brother,” Holt tells me.
“What?”
I put it all together before this, but to hear it out of his mouth is insane. My brain chooses this exact moment to replay all the things I’ve said about the band and the music and …
Shit.
“You jerk,” I say, my brain still processing all this.
I’m not mad about this, just shocked. It’s kind of funny that I didn’t know because everyone probably does.
Everyone but me.
Damn him.
Holt grins like the cat that caught the canary.
“His name is Coy Kelvin Mason,” he says. “He goes by Kelvin McCoy, which is also the name of the band—which is weird to me, but I’m not in charge.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I’m so embarrassed.”
Holt’s body rumbles beside me.
“I mean it,” I tell him. “Why did you let me go on and on about him?”
“It was funny.”
“It’s totally not funny at all,” I say with a laugh.
He lifts my chin with his finger, and I open my eyes. He’s peering into my face with a sweet sincerity that makes my stomach flip-flop.
“Maybe I should’ve told you,” he says softly. “But it was adorable that you didn’t know. Besides, if I told you, I wouldn’t have anything to tease you about.”
