Page 58 of Wylder and the Almost Rockstar
“You’re right about that.” Logan nodded. “Bash and Luke are my brothers and my best friends. Nothing will ever change that. We’ve been through too much together.”
“Then keep your mind on that and your friends at school, and all the other crap will fall into place.” Wylder lifted her tea glass for a cheers. “And Steak Club will always be here too.”
16
Wylder’s dad dropped them off at the entrance to the school.
Logan was quiet as they showed their passes to the security guards along with their school IDs and then walked through the gate onto the quiet campus. They made it back an hour before curfew, and Wylder was quite proud of herself.
She hadn't been lying when she told Ms. Jones she was trying to make better decisions. Especially since some of her bad choices negatively affected the people around her.
Wylder dug her hands deep in the pockets of her coat and matched Logan's pace, waiting for him to say something, anything. Her parents had only been moderately embarrassing. But no matter how embarrassing they were, they still qualified as the best parents in the universe. It didn't matter if a kid was theirs, they could make them feel better.
A lot of Becks' friends had trouble with their own families growing up, so the Anderson house was where many of them spent their time. She'd wanted to give Logan a bit of that, a bit of normalcy.
He blew on his hands to warm them, and Wylder was done waiting for him to speak. She'd never been good at it. "What are you thinking about?"
He didn't answer her at first, but then his low voice rumbled out of him. "Your parents... They’re like real parents, right?"
"As opposed to..."
"Music industry parents. Becks is famous, but your family... It’s so..."
"Boring?"
"I was going to say nice."
She smiled at that. Her family was nice. "Becks becoming a country star kind of surprised us all. My parents never pushed him into music. They helped him when he needed it. Like when he wanted to buy his first guitar, he sat them down and explained all the benefits of having a guitar. So, they got it for him. But they made him work in the family store to pay for half of it. That was always their thing. They wanted us to have whatever would make us happy, but they also wanted us to work for it."
"They remind me of my parents." His voice was so quiet she almost missed the words.
"Do you remember much about them?"
He smiled and looked to his feet as they walked down the path to the dorms. "Some. It's been a while now, and after so many years, you're left more with flashes of memories, of feelings. On Sunday nights, they used to hold these dinners. They were small when I was younger, but they grew as more and more neighbors would come. Some of our friends and their parents rarely missed weeks. Everyone there was from different walks of life, different religions and affiliations. You could see my gay neighbor eating next to my friend’s staunchly conservative dad."
His shoulder brushed hers, and all she wanted was for him to keep talking, to hear more about his parents.
"My mom's rule was that no issues were welcome in her house. That Sunday was the day for us all to come together and realize we were one community. Your parents' steak club sort of reminded me of that." He scratched the back of his head. "I'd forgotten. I can't believe I'd forgotten."
"Hey." Without thinking, she reached for his hand. "You said it yourself. It's been a while."
He didn't pull away, instead wrapping his long fingers around hers and squeezing.
They made it to the dorms, and Wylder wasn't ready to go to her own room. She released Logan and stopped. "We still have some time before curfew. I promised Killer I'd bring him a doggy bag."
Logan looked down at her empty hands. "But you didn't bring anything."
"Yeah, well, I forgot. But I should still stop by and see him. They had a game tonight. I checked the score on my phone before we left my house, and the Knights got creamed. Killian let in five goals."
Logan nodded and led her up the stairs and into the boys’ wing. Wylder prepared the pep-talk she had to give Killian, but when they opened Logan's door, it wasn't only Killian who greeted them.
Sebastian sat on the common room couch, looking completely out of place in the dorms. He stood when he saw them.
"Something is wrong." Logan walked in and shut the door. "Bash, why are you here?"
Wylder stayed back, not wanting to interrupt the brother moment, but Logan was right. The look on Sebastian's face said there was something very wrong.
Killian sidled up next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "We should give them some privacy."
