“Why not?”
“Your family hates me. That look on your father’s face when he told me to leave that night—it’s seared into my brain for eternity.”
“My parents know we’re friends again.”
“Friends?”
“Yes. We’re not dating. You’re free to painfully flirt with whoever you please.”
“Painfully? That was some of my best work back there.”
“Ooh.” She flinched. “Good thing you’re in a popular band then. No wooing required. Look, Rory. We’re friends with texting benefits; it doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.”
There was no hiding my disappointment.
“Don’t give me that look,” she said. “That’s all we are, right?”
I winced.
“Right?” she repeated, eyeing me suspiciously. “Beats?”
“Tucker made me,” I blurted out, tattling like a two-year-old.
“He made you what?”
“He made me tell you I only wanted to be friends, in order to stay on the tour.”
Grace grabbed my arm and dragged me further back in the bus.
“He threatened to kick you off the tour?” she whispered.
“No, Grace, he threatened to kickyouoff the tour.”
Shit. It just slipped out, and I instantly regretted it. Grace went through all the stages of fury from disbelief to simmering hatred to full-on steam rising from her ears.
“Why me? Because I’m a girl?”
“No. I mean, maybe, but more likely because you weren’t in the band. He needed a drummer more than…” I let that thought trail right off after seeing her unhappy, to say the least, reaction.
“The nepo baby little sister who thinks she’s a skilled songwriter but nobody else does. I got it.”
“Grace.” I grabbed her shoulders. She shook me off.
“Does Quinn know?” She spat the words out, already convinced he did.
“No, I promise, he has no idea. Maybe I should have told you, but I’m the new kid on the block. When Tucker came to me, I was one day into practice. I was still trying to claw my way in. I knew how important it was for both of us. I thought we could have it all.”
“Right—but you’re wanted. I’m expendable.”
Grace paced back and forth like a wild animal locked in a cage.
“All right,” she said, coming to some agreement with herself. “Fine. If that’s how Tucker wants to play, game on.”
I cringed. Grace was known to be unpredictable when backed into a corner. “What are you going to do?”
No response. Instead, she turned and stalked out of the bus.
I didn’t question her; I just followed her down the stairs. The others were gathered just outside, waiting on their own transportation.
