Controlled Chaos (Love and Lyrics 1)

“I have to get Felix from school and take him to his first dance class, but do you want to come over for dinner afterward?”

“Sounds good to me.” I give her a playful wink that has her lighting up. The past few days, while we waited to see how it would all pan out, were stressful for Layla. She wasn’t her usual bubbly, carefree self, so it’s good to see her smiling again.

“Actually, you should invite your parents too,” she adds. “I really want to thank your dad for calling the judge.”

“I’ll see what they’re up to.”

“Oh! And I should invite my mom. She’s been so worried.”

I laugh. “Layles, you realize you have a four-person table, right?”

She pouts adorably.

“How about we go out to dinner? Invite everyone.”

She gnaws on her lip for a second. “Should we be celebrating the fact that Felix won’t see his dad but once a week for only two hours?”

God, I love this woman. “I wouldn’t look at it like we’re celebrating the downfall of David, but more of the fact that you’ve made it through this shitty, dark part of your life. You deserve to feel safe and not have to worry about what he’ll do. This outcome doesn’t happen often enough for women in your shoes, so it’s okay for you to celebrate that you now feel safe once again.”

“I hate that,” she says. “That this happens to women and children every day, and they don’t get the same outcome. If I were rich, I would pay to help every one of them I could.”

Her words give me an idea… but I don’t mention it out loud.

“So dinner?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

After telling Layla I’ll pick them up later, I go by my parents’ place and tell them the outcome and invite them to dinner. Then I head to the hotel to get changed. The guys are there, hanging out and discussing their plans for the night. When I tell them about Layla, they take it as an invite and agree they want to see for themselves that she and Felix are okay.

“Can we discuss finding a place?” Declan asks. “I’m sick of living out of my suitcase. We’re finally off tour, and I feel like we’re still on the road.”

I roll my eyes at his dramatics. We’re currently residing in a hotel room that’s bigger than most people’s homes in New York, but I also get it.

“You guys are still good with living in New York?” If they’re not, I’ll figure it out, even if it means flying back and forth.

“I assumed this was a permanent decision,” Braxton says. “Is there any chance Layla would be willing to move to LA?”

“Willing? Maybe. But can she? No. David still has rights to Felix. She has to be here for him to see Felix every week.”

“Then it looks like we’ll need to find a place to live.” Braxton shrugs. “You still want to live together, or are you thinking about getting your own place since you’re now a family man and all?”

I hadn’t actually thought about that, but while we’re on the subject… “Your shit in LA had Layla asking if I’ve had threesomes.” Braxton barks out a laugh, but I don’t join in. “Maybe it would be for the best if I find my own place.”

“What?” Declan asks. “We’ve always lived together. We write together, make music together…”

“That won’t change. But Brax isn’t wrong. My endgame is Layla and Felix, and I don’t want to cramp everyone’s style by bringing them around. I guess I could go to her house, but…”

“We get it,” Braxton says. “That was her house with her ex. No man wants to fuck a woman in the same bed she was fucking another man.”

“I wasn’t thinking about that, but now I am. Thanks,” I say dryly.

Braxton shrugs.

“I’m getting ahead of myself. If Layla and I decide to one day live together, we can discuss the details then. For now, there’s no reason we can’t get a place together.”

“Whatever you want, man,” Braxton says. “You know we have your back.” Declan and Gage both nod in agreement.

“All right, then it’s settled. We need to find a place to live here.”

“It’ll have to be after we get back, though,” Declan points out. “We leave for Florida in two days.”

“What?” And then I remember. “Shit, we have the Disney parade. I completely forgot.” We were invited by Disney to be part of their yearly Christmas parade. Ride on the float and sing a mix of some of our kid-friendly songs and the few Christmas songs we put out last year. Since it’s recorded prior to Christmas, it’s taking place this coming weekend.

“You’ve been a little preoccupied, but yeah, Jill sent us the info this morning.”

While the guys are sitting around bullshitting, I call the real estate agent my family uses in New York to let her know what we’re looking for. She says she’ll get working on it and have places for us to see when we get back from Florida.