“No, it’s cool.” I knew from past tours that Bleeding Moonlight rarely had downtime. Between shows, signings, and interviews, their schedules were planned to the minute. “How are you?”
“Honestly? Exhausted. I can’t wait to come home in a few weeks. It’s been amazing to play a nearly sold-out tour, and the fans have been awesome, but it’s just non-stop. I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” I said earnestly. “I wish I could give you a hug. I’ve been keeping up with the reviews though, and they’ve all been glowing.”
She laughed. “Have you really? I haven’t even read them. I think Abel is the only one who does.”
I grinned at the thought of the enigmatic singer. “I’m sure he’s loving the praise. How are the guys?”
“Currently? Sulking. They wanted to grab lunch together, but I told them I needed to call you. Say hi to Molly!”
A chorus of “Hey, Mol!” and “Miss you!” streamed into my ear.
“Tell them hi back. And I don’t want to interrupt your lunch. We can talk later.”
“What? No way. They’re just being needy. Enough about me, tell me how you’re doing.”
I gulped some water down and brought my glass back to the couch. “Actually, there was one thing that happened.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ade asked cautiously. “Good or bad?”
“Uh. Both? Trinity told me I could be getting promoted soon, but it’s contingent on me doing well on this new assignment.”
“Whatever it is, I know you’re going to crush it,” my sister said. “That sounds like great news.”
“Right, but the thing is, the assignment is to help out a new act she just signed. And guess who it is?”
“Who?”
“Last Rites. Do you know them?”
“Mason’s band? No fucking way!”
I took another sip of water and put the glass down. “You knew about it?”
“Yeah, we haven’t caught up in a long while, but I met him for a drink when he first got to LA, and we’ve also chatted a bit over the phone. They’re good, aren’t they?”
“They are.”
“Why am I sensing you’re not thrilled about it? Did something happen between you and Mason? I always thought he had a crush on you.”
“Yeah, so did I,” I admitted grumpily. “But that’s water under the bridge.” I hoped.
“What do you mean?” Adeline pressed.
“I don’t know. It’s just soon after we got to college, he started to pull away. I guess it felt like mixed signals. And when I found out he was dropping out, I might have gone off on him.”
My sister laughed. “Really? How did he take it?”
“I pissed him off, I think. I couldn’t believe he was throwing his education away like that, and to start a band with Kaz? I mean, the guy was a nightmare back then. Probably still is. But they’re obviously doing well now.”
“You think Mason’s still holding a grudge?”
I had no desire to tell my sister about how Mason had nearly kicked me off the team. She didn’t need to worry about my shit. “Probably not.”
“You sure? Do you want me to talk to him?”
“Don’t you dare. This is my problem to sort out. I’m just telling you because I thought you might still talk to him, and I didn’t want you to find out from him.”
