Page 130 of The Rogues

The guys all laugh at the wince on my face. “They would love you. If you want to go, we can, but I have to warn you. The town is a little bit… eccentric.”

“It sounds like an amazing place,” she says, not picking up on my discomfort. “And if it’s where you grew up, I want to see it.”

“Oh, this is going to be great,” Malaki snickers.

I turn a glare on him.

“What?” He puts his hands up in surrender before leaning down and kissing my head quickly like you would a skittish animal. “I can’t wait for her to meet your mother’s side of the family. They’re so nice.”

Lennon laughs. “He just doesn’t want his mom to call him Sweet Jam in front of Josie.”

They all crack up and my neck gets hot. “She hasn’t called me that in years.”

But it’s not true, she just called me that last night on the phone.

“I want it all, even if it’s embarrassing. As long as they love you, I don’t care.” Josie’s smile falters. “If you guys wanted to see where I grew up in New York, we could do that, too. I have to say, I’m not speaking to my parents anymore, so it wouldn’t be a very fun trip.”

Before any of us can say anything, Cyrus bends down and looks her in the eyes. “I’m not speaking to mine either, so we don’t have to go to New York or my family’s estate. Luckily, these lads here have really overbearing but loving families that can keep us preoccupied.”

That makes her smile wide. “That is lucky.”

“The luckiest.”

The moment is interrupted when Josie’s phone buzzes several times, and her brows scrunch as she unlocks it.

Then all of our phones start buzzing, and my stomach sinks.

First, I look at Cyrus, then the rest of the guys as their faces all display an equal amount of confusion.

“Oh, fuck,” Josie says first, her hands going to her mouth.

There’s an echoed gasp from Lennon as he looks at his own, then the rest of the guys follow suit. My own phone is across the room, so I’m promptly in the dark.

“What happened?” I ask.

Cyrus moves to turn the television on, and the air gets sucked from my lungs.

On Punk Tune TV is a series of pictures, all including me and Cyrus. Some of them are innocent, us walking arm in arm, others holding hands, but there are a few that show us doing more than that. Kissing, staring into each other’s eyes.

I look at our outfits and the surroundings. All of the images were from this past tour. They all seem to be taken in the corridors of the venues.

The reality of what’s happening sets over me. All these moments where we thought we were alone were caught on camera, and we had no fucking clue.

I look to Cyrus to see if he’s okay, but he’s already looking back at me, his concern bleeding through the bond.

“Are you worrying about me?” I ask, exasperated. “What about you? You’re the one that just got outed!”

“What’s happening?” Josie asks, looking between us.

“This guy thinks that I’m going to freak out over this!” I yell. “When his sexuality is the one that our label wanted to keep under wraps.”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t give a shit about that,” Cyrus responds. “If anything, I’m kind of relieved.”

My heart stutters. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean… God, people are probably losing their minds, but look. They don’t have to be told, they can see how much I love you just by looking at these.”

Something pricks behind my eyes, so I stretch them wider to keep whatever emotion I’m feeling at bay.