“It’s beautiful. Please tell her I said thank you.”
“You can tell her yourself. She’s putting the baby down for a nap, but she’ll be in here soon to check on you. I’m sure you want some time alone, but she won’t be able to resist. Brax is worried about you. We all are.”
I sigh as I sink onto the foot of the bed. “I’m fine, Lo.”
“Uh-huh.” When I glower at him, he begins to fidget in agitation like he’s torn between his chivalry and curiosity. “Look, Houston is right. I shouldn’t push, and I won’t, but if you need me—if you needanyof us—know that we’re here for you.”
“The stories I have to tell would probably give you nightmares, Loren. I don’t want to burst the happy bubble you have here.”
“Try us,” he says as he leans against one of the arched windows with a shrug. “I think you’ll find ourbubbleis made of stronger stuff than you think.”
I feel a flare of hope in my chest that I extinguish immediately before it can get out of hand. Bound might have survived the worst, but that doesn’t mean we will. Not after what I’ve done.
I left them, and even though I believed them when they said I could walk away anytime, I left them when they needed me most.
It’s…unforgivable.
“So, speaking of bubbles, did I read the room right?” I ask. “You and Rich? When did that happen?”
“Ithappeneda long time ago,” Loren answers with a smirk. “And then it happened again a few years ago after we met Brax, only this time, we didn’t stop.” He shrugs.
“Wow,” I say, feeling jealous for a different reason now. I brought the possibility up with my guys once, but all three shut that ever happening down immediately. “Braxton is a lucky girl.”
“We’re the lucky ones.”
On cue, there’s a knock on the door and Loren saunters over to it like he’s on a runway. When he opens it, Braxton is standing there with the baby. “What’s up?”
“Coda. He won’t go to sleep until you do the thing.”
“What thing?” I blurt. I’m not even bothering to pretend I’m not eavesdropping.
“No, don’t—” Loren says when Braxton’s full lips part to answer.
“He pretends to be a dolphin, and Coda laughs so hard that it tuckers him out and he falls right asleep after.”
“Aww! Does it come with sound effects?”
Braxton’s eyes light up, and Loren groans. “Itabsolutelycomes with sound effects.”
Coda whines and holds his arms out for Loren. I feel my fingers flex toward my stomach, but I ball them into a tight fist.No.
“And on that note,” Loren says, sounding like Oni. Loren takes Coda from his mom, and they both disappear down the hall while Braxton ducks inside the room to join me at the foot of the bed.
“You should know,” Braxton says, breaking the silence first, “I’m trying really hard not to ask how you’re doing. I’m sureyou’re tired of hearing it, but I may slip up a time or two. Is that cool?”
“I’ll survive,” I reply with a dramatic sigh, and she snorts.
“I missed you.” Braxton nudges me with an elbow.
“Missed you too.”
My friendship with Bound wasn’t well-known to the world. In fact, it was no better than a dirty little secret to keep it hidden from my uncle who didn’t like me involved with anyone he couldn’t control or buy. There wasn’t a whole lot I knew about the band outside of the profession, and we only communicated through infrequent texts, but I’ve felt a strong kinship with all of them from the moment we met backstage at an award show three years ago.
It wasn’t a habit of Bound’s to frequent them, but Braxton had won her first Grammy for Best New Artist and her guys had all but dragged her there for her chance to shine. I was the one who got to present the award to her, and I still remember being in awe of the way all three of them beamed at her with pride. She’d been glowing, and I had the strong feeling even then that Houston, Loren, and Jericho were secretly responsible.
“So… Whose is he?”
Braxton’s smile is coy when she retorts, “Who?”
