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“I have to think about Reese, too,” I add quietly, draining my beer, and sitting back in the chair. Benji snorts, and shakes his head. “Brother, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you ever stopped thinking about Reese.”

My mouth tilts up on one side. “No,” I relent. “I guess not.”

Question is, can I get her to trust me again?

Reese allows me to hold her for a whole five minutes before she starts struggling in my arms and pushes me away. Her gaze flits around me, and when I turn, Jessica is watching us with her brainless drones flanking her. She scowls, and I know she’s going to rip me a new asshole when we have English Lit. First class of the day, yippee. And Reese is in the same class.

“Don’t worry about her,” I tell Reese, taking her hand. Her eyes meet mine, and I notice how pale she looks, how lifeless her blue eyes are. They’re missing the vibrancy I’m used to, and while I want to kick her parents’ asses for stealing that verve, I know I’m partly responsible for its absence.

“Have lunch with me today,” I tell her, hoping to coax something from inside her, anything resembling the old Reese. My Reese.

She looks away, and starts grabbing books from her locker. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Thorin. I’d rather not poke the Hornet’s nest if I can help it. I have enough to deal with.”

“She won’t do anything—”

Reese snorts, and shakes her head. “You clearly don’t know your girlfriend very well.” She slams her locker shut, and the sound has a few people in the hallway glancing at us. “Look,” she slips her messenger bag over her shoulder, “I appreciate the concern, but I don’t need you to protect me. I haven’t needed you for a long time now, Thorin.” I hate that she says it with so much conviction, as if she believes it. I don’t. At least, I don’t want to. “I’ll manage without you.”

I want to say something, but before the words can even string themselves together in my head to form a response, she pushes past me, and walks to class. Jessica makes a grab for Reese’s messenger bag, and I snap.

“Don’t touch her!” I shout. Jessica’s eyes widen, as does her sneer. I cross the hallway to her, having had enough of the distance between me and Reese. I want my best friend back, and if I have to earn her trust again, I’ll do what it takes. “Your games end here, Jess. Enough.”

With her hands on her hips, she glares up at me with no regard for our audience at all. “You choosing Peppa Pig over your girlfriend, Thorin?”

The nickname grates me, but I keep my cool, and level Jessica with a steely glower. “Keep calling her that, keep pulling your pathetic fucking pranks, and I swear to God, I will end you. I will make sure the tables are turned real fast, and you and your girls will no longer be welcome in our circles.”

“You don’t have that kind of power,” she snarls. I’ve got her, and she knows it. If there’s one thing Jessica thrives on more than picking on Reese, it’s the popularity she has. She would never do anything to put that at risk.

“Let’s not test that theory, yeah?”

We stare a minute longer, and when she realizes I’m not fucking around, her posture relaxes, and she plasters on her signature fake-ass smile. “Very well, babe. I’ll behave, no more games. I swear.”

She bats her eyelashes, and only part of me believes her; the other part knows I’ve just made things a whole lot worse for Reese.

Chapter Seven

Reese

“All I’m saying is, you have reason to be nervous around them, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they’re a world famous rock band,” my assistant and best friend, Mya, tells me. I’m on my knees, scrubbing the floors with my wireless earphones in, and the baby monitor clipped to my yoga pants. “They bring back a lot of bad memories for you, Reese.”

“I still feel like a crazy person for running out the house. I was around all of them for no longer than five minutes, and I had the urge to flee. Like a crazy person.”

Mya sighs, and I know she’s exasperated with me. Unfortunately for her, she’s paid to put up with my bullshit, irrational behavior included. “Honestly, Reese, you’re overreacting.”

“I”m overreacting about my overreaction?” Well, when you put it that way, I really do sound like a crazy person, but I can’t help that being around the band had me reverting to old behavior. They might not have gone out of their way to make my life hell in high school, but they were bystanders, nonetheless. Carson and Fletch laughed when Jessica did or said something, just like everyone else did, while Benji and Thorin stood on the sidelines and did nothing. I don’t know what’s worse, now that I think about it.

Snap out of it, Reese. It’s ancient history.

“Look,” Mya says, “for all you know, they’ll be gone in a few days, and then it’s just you and Thorin.”

I scrunch my nose. “You know, now that I think about it, maybe having the band around won’t be such a bad thing.” As if. “If they’re keeping Thorin busy when he’s not looking after Eli, then I have even less reason to see him.”

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous. You can’t avoid him. Besides,” she adds, “you have to get back to work soon. I know you’re still reeling from losing Mel and Ryan, but I know you. If you don’t stay busy, you’ll really be on the fast track to Cuckoo Town.”

“I know.” I perch my hands on my knees and blow an errant strand of hair from my face. “But I just need a few more days, Mya. I’m still adjusting to becoming an insta-mom, and having to be around Thorin after all these years is really doing my head in.”

“Well, you still need to work, Reese, and I think it’ll be good to at least start interacting with your followers again. I’ve been keeping your social media up-to-date, but I’ve also been getting emails and messages about when you’re going to start posting videos again. A few sponsors have contacted me too, including the clothing company.”

“Jesus,” I swear, going back to scrubbing the already spotless floor. “What part of ‘my best friends just fucking died’ is so difficult to grasp? I need time. I have a newborn who’s relying on me and—”