Page 36 of Endless Anger
My gaze slides back to my phone. I might as well not even bother charging it at this point, although if my parents can’t get ahold of me, they’ll track me down and drag me home.
Not that it’d matter much. I’m Foxe’s glorified babysitter. Guess all the worry about my future plans takes a back seat when someone else turns out to be a bigger threat to themselves.
“Tatiana booked a private club for after tonight’s gig,” Foxe says, putting the bottle on the counter. “I heard the stars of some local reality TV show might be around. You in?”
“Do I have a choice?”
He rolls his eyes. “Obviously. I don’t want to drag you out if you’re going to be a fucking bummer the whole night. If I can’t drink, I’m going to need you to. As my proxy.”
“Not interested.”
“Oh, comeon. You can break your principlesonce. For me?”
“No.”
“Are you really gonna make me fly River out here? You don’t mind corrupting my baby brother like that?”
I roll my eyes as a knock sounds at the door. Aiden James, Foxe’s cousin, pokes his head in before entering, followed closely by his short, pink-haired wife.
“Getting River to do something other than junior champion orchestra would be the real challenge here,” Aiden says, crossing his tan arms over his chest. They’re covered in sleeves of tattoos from when he still toured back in the day. “And you’re not going out tonight, anyway. We have to be packed and on the bus by four.”
“Ugh, Riley, can you please explain the importance of R&R to your husband? I think retirement is warping his brain.”
Her blue eyes glitter, her pale cheeks flushing. “Sorry, Foxe, but I’m in agreement. We told your parents no parties.”
“So the adults who gave me my first joint as a teen have taken the side of my oppressor.” Foxe shakes his head, throwing his hands up. “It’s a sad day.”
He groans when no one refutes the assertion, then stomps into one of the two adjoining bedrooms, slamming the door shut with his heel.
“Speaking of parents,” Aiden says, taking a seat at the table in the corner. He runs a hand through his brown hair, his gray eyes finding mine. “You check in with your old man today?”
Though not related to me, Aiden and Riley have known my parents for decades, and they’re as much a part of the family as my other aunts and uncles. Mom likes to say Dad adopted pretty much every stray human he met after they got married, as if he was making up for the fact that he’d been alone most of his life.
In contrast, he’s made sure his kids have never known a moment of peace in theirs.
“I’m an adult, you know,” I tell Aiden, though I get up to grab my phone anyway.
“But a baby adult,” Riley says, walking over to perch on Aiden’s knee. She gives me a small grin. “The world is your oyster, but you’ve barely even begun to see it.”
“Which means you can still use the guidance of those older than you,” Aiden adds. “And, also, I don’t want your dad callingmeif he doesn’t hear from you. So get on it.”
Grunting, I get up and head for my bedroom, leaving them in the living area. Keats meows loudly as he traipses out from the darkness, rubbing against my shins. I sit on the bed and scratch behind his ears, sending Dad a quick text. While I wait for his reply, I open an old—long-dead—thread and stupidly pray to a god I don’t believe in for its revival.
Hope swims in my stomach when a notification flashes on the screen, but it’s dashed immediately when I note the caller.
Exhaling slowly, I lean back and close my eyes, bracing myself as I answer. “Noelle.”
My sister squeals at the sound of my voice, and I take the phone away with a wince, waiting for her to stop. It takes a full ten seconds, and then she’s babbling like we didn’t just speak last weekend.
“Asher! What are you doing right this second?”
“Sitting in my hotel room.”
“Oh good, so you’re not occupied.”
“I didn’t say that?—”
“Your boredom is implied!” she singsongs. “Luckily for you, I’m right outside the Carlyle, and I’ve got somewhere you’ll definitely want to go.”
