Page 61 of The Heartbreakers
Oliver scratched the back of his neck. “Come on, dude,” he started to say, but JJ spun around and stormed off down the hall. “Just give me a second to—” A door slammed down the hall, cutting Oliver off. “God dammit, JJ!”
After working with the Heartbreakers for weeks, I’d been starting to think the breakup rumors were just that, rumors. Sure, I’d seen some tiffs between them, but that was expected since they were together twenty-four seven. But this was something different.
JJ had made sharp, subtle comments about the band’s music before, most of which Oliver shrugged off, but this was the first time the subject had materialized into a full-blown argument. Still, I had no clue what was going on, and I knew I was missing some important piece of the puzzle. I turned to Oliver for an explanation, but he rushed off after JJ, and I was left sitting on the couch wondering what the hell had just happened.
Chapter 17
The next morning when I asked Oliver about the fight, he shrugged the whole thing off and claimed it was nothing. I knew he was only dodging my questions, and I would have pushed for a better answer, but JJ was humming and acting like everything was fine. Maybe he wasn’t the type of person to stay mad for long, but I had a hunch he was setting the matter aside for a different time.
That was because today was special—the Heartbreakers were performing in Portland, and it turned out to be the best show I’d seen by far. Playing in their hometown fired the boys up like I’d never seen, and by the end of the show, I caught myself singing along with the rest of the crowd. When it was over, we all went over to JJ’s house for dinner. And by dinner I mean a block party.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t actually a block party, but there were so many children playing in the street when we arrived at JJ’s that we had to get out of the car on the corner and walk down to the large, two-story house with blue shutters.
“Who are all these kids?” I asked as we crossed the driveway. The smell of barbecue was drifting toward us from the backyard, along with the sound of a Mellencamp song.
“The Morrises run an orphanage,” Oliver joked.
JJ rolled his eyes. “I have a big family.”
To me, a big family meant four siblings at most, which JJ found comical. He was the oldest of eight—three boys and five girls. And then there was everyone else who’d shown up to celebrate the band’s homecoming: aunt, uncles, cousins, second cousins, neighbors.
There were so many people at the party that I quickly lost track of the boys. Xander was the first to disappear, rushing off to find his family as soon as we stepped inside. Not long after, JJ’s younger brothers dragged him and Oliver off to play football. Alec kept me company the longest—since he was from California he didn’t have any family at the party—but he got caught up in a conversation with one of JJ’s cousins, and I excused myself after ten minutes of listening to them talk about some band I didn’t know.
The kitchen seemed to be the center of the party. A huge spread of food was laid out on the table, and people swarmed around it like bugs, snatching up the easy-to-eat finger food. My camera quickly found its way into my hands, and I stood off to the side of the room, snapping pictures of strangers.
A bulky figure stepped in front of me, blocking my view. “Stella, what are you doing?”
I looked up from my camera and found JJ standing over me. A little girl was clinging to his back, an adorable bundle of dark curls and green saucer eyes who couldn’t have been more than two.
“I’m not working, I swear,” I said, as I adjust the lens and focused in on her. She was too cute to ignore. “Who’s this princess?”
“My youngest sister, Audrella.” JJ twisted his neck to look at her. “Aud, can you say hi to Stella?” She shook her head and buried her face in her brother’s shoulder. “No? Okay then.”
We both laughed.
An older girl who had the same dark curls as Audrella looked up from ransacking the candy bowl. Chocolate was smeared around the corners of her mouth. “Is Stella your girlfriend?” She said “girlfriend” like it was something funny.
“Jenny!” JJ said, gaping at who I assumed was another one of his little sisters.
“What?” Jenny said, all attitude as she propped a hand on her hip. “It’s just a question.”
“No,” he told her, gritting his teeth. “Stella is not my girlfriend. Stop being so nosy.”
She sighed, her face falling slightly. “Figures,” she mumbled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ignoring her brother’s question, Jenny turned her green gaze on me, a new smile already on her face. “Do you think my brother is cute?” she asked, and JJ’s scowl was replaced with a look of horror.
Swallowing my laughter, I grinned down at Jenny. “Oh, I think your brother is super cute,” I told her.
“Good,” she said. “You should marry him. Then we’d be sisters.”
This time, I couldn’t hold back my laugh. “I’m a bit too young to get married.”
Jenny nodded her head in understanding. “My mom says I’m too young to get married too,” she told me as she reached for more candy, “but I already have my wedding planned out. Do you know Oliver Perry? He’s the cutest boy in the whole world. When I’m older, I’m going to marry him.”
“Are you now?” I said as a slight blush dusted my cheeks. I secretly agreed with her—Oliver was cute. Annoyingly cute.
