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“Me?”

“You. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“You have to have thought about it.”

“I’ve thought about it, but I haven’t settled on anything.”

“Not even a maybe?”

I put the mug down and rub the back of my neck.

“All I know how to do is be in Hall of Fame. I don’t know if I want to make music outside of it, if I even could. I don’t know what any of this looks like if it’s not us. That’s… That’s the honest answer.”

Nikko is watching me again.

“You don’t have to keep doing music.”

“I don’t know what else I’d do.”

“Fox, you have money. You could do literally anything. You could run a rescue farm.”

“A rescue farm.”

“Take in retired horses. Or donkeys. Donkeys are having a comeback.”

“What?”

“You’d be great with donkeys. You have donkey energy.”

“Fuck you.”

“You do. You’re calm, patient, judgmental. Not to mention suspicious of new people and devoted to a select few.”

“I hate you.”

“Or you could open a bookstore. You could learn to make furniture and become weirdly famous on the internet for it. You could open a bakery. You made bread on your trip, remember? Maybe that’s a sign.”

“You want me to open a bakery.”

“I want you to consider that there is a version of your life that doesn’t involve you being the quiet one on a stage. That’s all.”

Nikko really is the best little brother I could have ever wished for. It’s no secret that the day my mom met my stepdad was the best day of my life, and it got better with Nina’s and Nikko’s arrivals.

Sometimes I wish I’d met my bio dad, and I’m sad for my mom for losing her first love, but I’m also so happy that she found the man who has been my dad since I can remember.

He drains the rest of his coffee and stands. “For the record, whatever you decide, I’m here for you.”

“I know.”

He heads out of the kitchen, and I hear the stairs creak as he goes back upstairs.

I meet Finn at Noëlle’s around ten.

He already has a table by the window when I get there, so I bypass the counter and sit across from him. “Hey.”

“Hey.”