Page 19 of Wylder & the Rising Rockstar
“Excuse me? Aren’t you the one hiding out in Becks’ parents’ basement right now? Seems to me you don’t fall into the nemesis category anymore.”
The tension melted from him, and he collapsed onto the couch next to her. “Did you really call me bucko?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes I talk like an eighty-year-old grandpa. Get over it.”
“I like how you said grandpa and not grandma.”
“Eh… the truth is the truth.” Her words trailed off, and silence stretched between them before she pulled her legs under her and turned to face him. “What are you doing here, Luke? No more games. Just tell me.”
He pushed a hand through his unkempt hair. It was the first time she’d seen him less than put together, the first signs of the toll this was taking on him. Sympathy entered her gaze.
“Becks said I needed to get out of Nashville. After the label dropped me, it was best to go somewhere no reporters would ever anticipate. They probably all think I’m holed up in some remote cabin.”
That was what she had thought. “And the childhood home of your nemesis, Beckett Anderson is low on their list?”
He barked out a laugh. “It’s not even on their list.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Since the Sunday after Thanksgiving.” The day she went back to school. “Your parents…” He blew out a breath. “They’re kind of amazing.”
She smiled at that. “Yeah, some epic mothering from my mom and advice from my dad is all I’ve ever needed to feel better about anything.”
“When Becks offered, I was skeptical. I mean, who takes in someone they don’t know, let alone a media nightmare?”
“What you’ll come to know about this town, Luke, is that nothing in Twin Rivers is normal. The people here—my parents included—practice a special brand of compassion.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.” He leaned back against the cushions.
There was so much Wylder wanted to know from Luke, from her brother and her parents. About this arrangement, about Luke’s plans. Yet, the only thoughts popping into her head were about Logan.
It seemed Luke was on the same page. “You said you weren’t the one hurting him.” He met her gaze. “You meant me, didn’t you?”
She nodded, not taking her eyes from his. “He’s worried about you.”
Abruptly, he stood and started pacing in front of the couch. “I know that. Don’t you think I know that?”
His personality shifts were going to give her whiplash. She got to her feet and stepped into his path to block him. “Then why do it? Why don’t you at least text him and tell him you’re okay?”
“You’re not the person I owe any explanations to,” he practically growled. “I’m sorry for hurting your boyfriend, but I’m not ready to talk to him.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she mumbled.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “Whatever you say, Doll.”
“Don’t call me Doll.” She turned away from him, the anger dripping from her voice. “Don’t you get it, Luke? It’s not about ifyou’reready to talk to Logan. You screwed up, you hurt both you and him. It’s up to you to make it right, and the longer you hide away, the harder that will be. I understand what it’s like to regret choices you’ve made.”
“You don’t understand anything.” He darted past the drum kit she’d come to play to the stairs.
Wylder wasn’t letting him off that easy. She ran after him, reaching for his arm when they stepped into the living room. She pulled him to a stop. “Talk to me.”
“No.”
“Luke.”
“Leave it alone, Wylder.”
“But I want to help.”
