My mouth goes dry. My heart does that stupid leap thing. I force my face into stone. “Stay off the stage while they’re still rigging,” I bark, harsher than I mean.
She blinks once. Then lifts her chin. “Copy that.”
No argument. No smart mouth. Just a clean, professional yes. It makes me feel worse.
“Good.” I nod toward the floor, like I’m talking to a crew kid instead of the girl who has seen me bleed without blood. “We don’t need another incident.”
Her mouth quirks slightly. Not amused. Not warm. Something in between. “Right,” she agrees softly. “No more incidents.” It lands like she’s holding a secret between her teeth.
I step past her fast, before I do something stupid like apologize. Before I do something worse like mean it. Behind me, the crew starts moving again. Motors hum. Chains clink. The world resumes.
But inside me, something has shifted. A door I welded shut just rattled on its hinges. And the girl with the camera? She’s standing right outside it. Quiet. Watching. Waiting to see if I’ll finally open the damn thing, or slam it in her face.
Chapter Nineteen
Sadie
Firework
Katy Perry
Memphis feels different once the tour noise fades. Two shows back-to-back, then suddenly… nothing. No crew swarming the hallways, no load-in alarms, no schedule taped to the door. Just the band, a handful of family, and a three-day bubble the universe somehow granted us between the chaos of life on the road.
And today, today is Larkin’s first birthday. Normally I would have taken advantage of the three-day break and flown home. Would have slept in my own bed, caught up with some friends, did I mention, sleep in my own bed. But Lily asked me to stay, and that was enough for right now.
Lily is glowing the way moms glow when they’re exhausted and happy and trying not to cry at how fast a year goes. Luc is carrying an absurdly large gift bag that definitely has more tissue paper than actual present, and the rest of the guys are scattered around the suite like big, tattooed bookends to the chaos.
I’m in the corner by the window, camera in hand, because Lily asked me to document the afternoon. And honestly? It’s easier to hide behind the lens than sit with my own thoughts.
Of course, Dean walks in last. He’s wearing a soft black tee and dark jeans and has that freshly-showered smell that hits like a sucker punch when you’re not prepared for it. His hair is pushed back, damp at the ends. He looks good. Like dangerously good.
He doesn’t look at me right away. He goes straight to Larkin, who is sitting in her highchair wearing a sparkly “ONE” crown that she keeps trying to rip off her head.
“Hey, happy birthday baby girl,” Dean murmurs, and his voice goes all warm around the edges in a way that makes something in my chest do a very unprofessional flutter.
Larkin grins at him, gummy and ecstatic, then slaps her hands on the tray.
Dean taps her nose. “You ready for cake?”
She shrieks like yes, obviously.
Lily laughs. “She’s been ready since sunrise.”
Luc wanders over with a tiny cake covered in pink frosting. “Okay, everyone. Cameras out. Phones ready. This little gremlin is about to make a mess that will haunt the housekeeping staff forever.”
I raise my camera. Dean steps back, but only after brushing a bit of hair away from Larkin’s eyes, his fingers impossibly gentle. It hits me then, like an arrow straight between the ribs, he would’ve been a good dad. He still could be. He’s only thirty. That thought is reckless, fragile, dangerous. I smother it.
Lily lights the single candle on Larkin’s cake and everyone crowds around the highchair like it’s a national holiday. Mikey gets there first. Of course he does, and he’s practically vibrating with excitement.
“Alright, princess,” he coos to Larkin, leaning down with both elbows on the tray like he’s lecturing royalty. “Today you turn ONE. Which means you are now legally allowed to have cake, chaos, and anything your uncle Mikey buys you on Amazon. Which, by the way, will be a lot.”
Lily laughs. “Too much.”
“Impossible,” Mikey replies, bopping Larkin’s nose. “My girl deserves everything.”
Larkin giggles and immediately grabs two fistfuls of his hair, yanking it hard enough to make him yelp. Everyone bursts out laughing as he bends down, letting her drool on him like he’s the world’s proudest jungle gym.
“Well, would you look at that?” Luc murmurs beside me, shaking his head, amused. “Sometimes he’s actually an okay little brother.”
