Keep (Seaside Pictures 2)

“Don’t call her pretty,” I shot back.

Lincoln held up his hands. “Why do I suddenly feel the need to cover my junk? Am I seriously not allowed to notice that she’s pretty?”

“Gorgeous eyes.” Demetri nodded.

“Really cute body too.” Jay spread his arms wide and grinned.

“You guys are complete assholes,” I muttered.

Lincoln shrugged. “All I’m saying is that, what’s the pretty girl going to do when she finds out you’ve been using her to get your musical orgasm on? You gonna leave her high and dry and return to your marshmallow-addicted lifestyle? Is that how this works?”

I groaned. “You make it sound worse than it is. It’s not like I’m sleeping with her.”

“But you’ve kissed her,” Jay pointed out.

“How do you even KNOW that?” I yelled.

“AH HAH!” Demetri raised his hand for a high-five from Jay. “Good one, brother, good one.”

“Hell,” I declared as my shoulders slumped. “I walked right into that one.”

“Kissing…” Lincoln peeled back some of the paper on his water bottle. “Is sometimes a lot more intimate than sex.”

Jay gave him a face. “Please don’t use that word in my presence. I’m fully aware of what goes on behind closed doors between you and my little sister.”

Lincoln grinned shamelessly. He’s lucky Jay hasn’t run him over with his car yet.

“I highly doubt there will be any more kissing in the future,” I admitted, talking over them. “Since I yelled at her after she rescued me.”

“Aw, you’re like the damsel in distress.” Demetri winked.

“Please don’t use the word damsel and then wink at me ever again.” I wagged my finger at him. “Ever. Again.”

He held up his hands in innocence, still smirking.

I looked around the living room. “Wait, you said you were all here, where’s Alec?”

Demetri yawned.

Jaymeson stared at his hands.

And Lincoln took a giant swig of water.

“Guys…”

“Oh.” Demetri pointed back at the door. “He texted about five minutes ago that he found Fallon crying in her car. It wouldn’t start, so he drove her home.”

Air whooshed out of my lungs like someone had just sucker punched me in the gut. “She was crying?”

“Well, look at it this way, she just had two of the biggest celebrities on the planet yell at her, while one threatened to sue her, yeah, I’d probably cry too.” Demetri said in a low voice. “But only if birds are involved.”

“Huh?” I blinked. “What is with you and avian creatures?”

“Give them a fancy name all you want.” Demetri shuddered. “A bird is still a bird. And a bird will always be the spawn of Satan.”

“Alright then.” Lincoln jumped to his feet. “Not to change the subject, but we need to go over soundtrack songs, and now that Zane has eaten his weight in marshmallows…”

“But,” I said, frowning. “I should talk to Fallon.”

The guys all started laughing in unison.

“Hah!” Demetri slapped his leg then sobered. “Oh hell guys, he’s serious.”

“Of course I’m serious!” I roared.

“Sit.” Lincoln shoved me onto the couch. “Texting her isn’t enough, calls will be sent to voice mail. Let Alec talk to her first, go visit her after she’s cooled off.”

I didn’t want to wait.

I wanted to run after her and apologize.

But the guys, all of them, were either married or in committed relationships, and I’d never had that, never done that.

Which begged the question—when did I start thinking of her as more than a friend?

Chapter Seventeen

Fallon

IF TWO WEEKS AGO anyone would have told me that lead singer of AD2, Alec Daniels, was going to be driving me to my house. I would have laughed in their face then stuttered out a jumble of words that made no sense.

But I was too angry to even speak.

So I stared at the really nice dashboard and wondered how many cows had to die to make all that leather.

The seats were comfortable.

And I was immediately set at ease when my feet kicked at a pack of size two diapers.

He may be a rockstar, but he wasn’t a bachelor, as if I needed further proof, a huge car seat took up half of the space in the back, complete with one of those mommy mirrors and enough toys hanging from the handle that the poor child probably experienced sensory overload every single car ride.

“So,” Alec tapped his lean fingers against the steering wheel, the beat in the background was unmistakable, Gabe Hyde, another huge music name who’d gone on tour with AD2. I needed to blot that out of my memory if I was ever going to find my voice.

Last summer I’d gone to their concert, mainly because Mags wouldn’t let me say no.

But still.

I had been at their sold-out concert in Portland.

And now, I was in his car.

What was this life?

“Fallon?” Alec’s voice was deep, with a touch of rasp that was ever present in every perfect lyric that fell from his mouth. “You’re going to have to use words, sweetheart.”

“S-sorry.” I whispered. “I’m…pr-processing.”

“I bet.” His smile was tight. We pulled up to the stoplight, he turned down the music and glanced at me out of the corner of his blue eyes. “He didn’t mean it you know, all the yelling.”