The Surprise (Single in Seattle 0.50)

“Me, too. And I guess I’m not as mad about you telling lies on the radio.”

He laughs at that, and it makes me grin.

His bruises have faded to green and yellow, telling me he’s healing nicely, which is a relief.

I trace a heart tattooed on his hand between his thumb and pointer finger.

“Oh, by the way, I think I’m going to Portland with Maddie in a couple of weeks. Just an overnight trip.”

“For anything fun?” he asks.

“A basketball game.”

That surprises him. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s her favorite thing. They’re playing that team Lebron is on, so she wants to see it.”

“They’re playing Los Angeles,” Brax says helpfully. “I didn’t know she was a big basketball fan.”

“She loves all the sports. She was torn because we’ll have to miss a home football game and she loves being in the box for those with the family, but basketball won out.”

“That’s cool. Do you have good seats?”

“How in the world should I know?” I ask with a laugh. “I’m going purely because I love her, and she doesn’t want to go alone.”

“You’re a good sister.”

“Man, don’t I know it?” I sip my wine. “I don’t mind, though. It’ll be fun.”

“Be careful. Portland has been a little shaky on the safety scale lately.”

“We will be,” I assure him. “You do know who our dad is, right?”

“Even the daughters of an ex-Navy SEAL can be at risk.”

“I’ve been trained on how to kill a man with just my hands since I was nine,” I remind him. “We’re well-equipped city girls. But we’ll still be careful.”

The woman above us spins and spins, and my heart stops when she pulls off a move that any mere mortal would have fallen from.

But she just smiles at the applause.

“Are you Brax Adler?”

A woman stands next to the table, nervously wringing her hands.

“I am,” Brax says. “What can I do for you?”

“Can I just have a photo? I know you’re here to eat, but I love your music. I go to most of the shows that I can, and—”

“No problem,” he says, cutting her off and standing to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“Can you take it?” she asks, shoving her phone at me.

“Uh, sure.”

I stand and take the photo for the fan. She’s all smiles as she hugs Brax and tries to start a conversation with him about his music, but the server brings our meals.

“Thanks for stopping by,” Brax says kindly, “but we’re going to eat now before it gets cold.”

“Oh, right. Of course. Thanks again.”

The woman hurries off, and Brax and I blink at each other.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Why? You’ve wanted that for as long as I’ve known you.”

“It’s kind of cool but also weird because I just want to enjoy my night with you.”

I shake my head and cut into my steak. “You can’t have it both ways, Brax. I’ve been a part of the Montgomery family long enough to know that if you’re famous in any capacity, you lose some of the anonymity. It’s just the way it is. And you’re seeing some success with My Girl, and I think that’s just the beginning.” I take a sip of wine.

“Things like that,”—I point in the direction where the woman walked—“don’t bother me.”

“You’re pretty cool.”

I chew my food and smile over at him. “Oh, I know. I’m the coolest.”

CHAPTER 7

~BRAX~

I can finally hold and play my guitar without my shoulder screaming bloody murder at me.

And it’s a damn good thing because I have a gig in a few days, and I have to play.

“Play that one Taylor Swift song,” Josie says. We’re on the couch, she’s wearing my old T-shirt, and she has her bare legs draped over my lap.

This is my idea of Heaven.

“You’re gonna need to narrow that down, babe. She has about ten million songs.”

“You know,” she says, waving her hand in the air, “the one that goes ‘I almost do.’”

“Sing it again.”

Her cheeks flame and she wrinkles her nose. “No. You sing it.”

I start to pick out the tune. “I bet…”

I sing the song, and as the lyrics take shape in my mind, I realize that Taylor could have written this song about me and my experiences over the past couple of years.

Longing for someone, wanting so badly to reach out to them but not being able to.

I can’t say hello to you and risk another goodbye.

Fuck, it’s just so sad.

And when I finish the song and look over at Josie, she has tears in her eyes.

“I forgot how sad that one is,” she admits and wipes away a tear. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Hey.” I set the guitar down and pull her into my lap, brushing her dark hair off her face. “I’m right here.”

“Yeah.” She cups my face and tips her forehead against mine. “I almost called you a million times.”

“Me, too.”

“God, we were dumb, Brax. We lost two whole years.”