Page 16 of Claim to Fame

“Any time. I love that little squirt.” She waved at the others. “See you all later.” Then, with a wink, she said to Ethan, “Bye, foxy.”

“Foxy?” Tessa asked once Jo had left. “Is something going on with you and Jo?”

“Definitely not.”

“’Cause I thought I might be picking up on a vibe,” Tessa said.

“No vibe. Not all of us like women young enough to be our kids.”

“I think I should be offended by that,” Gavin said.

“So the woman in Boston isn’t significantly younger than you,” Jamie said. He flipped a few tiles on his game board as if they were still playing.

Ethan scowled. “She’s in her thirties. I don’t—why are we still talking about this?” Ethan snapped, hating that he’d taken the bait and let any details about Hannah slip. He shouldn’t have said anything to Gavin at all.

Tessa scooped up Julie and snuggled her close, ignoring the pudgy toddler hands tugging at her hair. “Then let’s talk about something else. Did you ask him yet?” she asked Jamie.

“Ask me what?” Ethan glanced between his daughter and his friend suspiciously.

“No, I wanted to hear what he wanted first,” Jamie said.

“I didn’t want anything,” Ethan replied.

“Your invitation was pretty cryptic,” Gavin said.

“What’s cryptic about ‘come to game night’?” Ethan asked.

“It was the tone,” Baz replied.

“It was a text. There is no tone.”

“There was a tone,” Jamie said.

“Are you all trying to fuck with me today?” Ethan demanded, a headache gathering behind his eyes.

Tessa’s forehead scrunched and she sank into a seat next to Jamie, setting Julie down to explore the room again. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

Ethan scraped a hand over his face and glanced around at his friends, his family, the people he trusted most in the world. The people who were always there for them. What was he going to say?You’re all great but I’m jealous as hell you’ve found your partners and I haven’t and it’s starting to get to me?Not likely.

“Nothing’s wrong, T. What did you need to ask me?”

“You remember my brother Daemon,” Jamie said, pausing for Ethan to nod in agreement. “He and Liv have a friend, another Broadway actress, who needs a place to lay low for a few weeks. Apparently, her boyfriend is someone famous—”

“Jackson Hayes,” Tessa said to the women at the table, who each sucked in a breath, Kyla releasing a startled squeak.

“Who’s Jackson Hayes?” Ethan asked.

“He's a member of Midnight Storm,” Sabrina explained.

“I loved them!” Gavin said.

“I don’t know Midnight Storm,” Ethan said.

“Come on, yes, you do. Jackson and his brother—twins, right?—and a cousin. I don’t think the other two guys are related.” Gavin glanced around at his friends, but only the women seemed to know what he was talking about. “They were the biggest boy band for like a decade. Even Brodie used to listen to them. Do you guys really not know who they are?”

“Why do we care about Jackson Hayes?” Baz grumbled.

“Looks like he cheated on Daemon’s friend and the press are hounding her. Following her everywhere,” Jamie said.

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