Page 92 of Lies and Lullabies
“Idid, Jonas. But you were too busy to come to the phone.”
His eyes widened. “I’m never too busy for you, unless I’m onstage. When was this?”
I shrugged, miserable. I really didn’t want to get into it, especially not here. “We can talk about it later.”
“We can talk about itnow, Kira. I didn’t get any calls from you.”
“It was Wednesday night. A woman answered your phone, and she said you…” I swallowed. “Look, I’m not talking about this. Not now. Not with Adam looped on drugs and Vivi at a friend’s house.”
“A woman answered my phone. On Wednesday night?”
“Just… drop it, okay?”
“What did shesay, sweetness?”
“Don’t…”call me that, I wanted to say. But I only shook my head, horrified to find that my throat felt hot just remembering that call.
Jonas pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped at the screen. “I’m sorry to doubt you. Idosee a call from you at 10:28. It lasted thirty-two seconds.”
Thirty-two seconds of utter humiliation. That sounded about right.
He tapped the screen again and held the phone to his ear. Apparently nobody was picking up, because after a few moments, he tried a different number. I wondered when the nurses would finally let me into Adam’s room.
“Ethan. Yeah, I made it here. Please tell me that it’s pouring in Nashville.Good. Listen—is Quinn there? She’s not answering my call. I need her, like, right this second.” He shifted the stuffed horse to the other arm. “Hey, Quinn. Tell me this—did you answer a call from Kira on Wednesday night?” He made a grunt of irritation. “Girl, it’s a yes or no question.”
I winced.
“You letwhoanswer my phone?Some woman.What woman? Fuck—it doesn’t matter.Whydid you let some stranger fuck with Kira when I was out eating barbecue with a bunch of DJs with body odor? And what exactly did that rando tell her I was doing?”
Oh dear. I may have jumped to a few conclusions. But in my defense, that’s exactly what the other voice on the phone had wanted.
“She wasvague, huh. In what way?” He turned to face the wall and proceeded to knock his forehead into it. Twice. “Quinn, seriously, that is some next level bullshit. It’s the kind of bullshit you can’t stand, and I honestly don’t know how you could do this to me.”
As he listened to Quinn talk, he pinched his eyes shut in an expression of anger.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Here’s what I need from you. I’m going to hand the phone to Kira. And you’re going to tell her the truth.Allthe truth, Quinn. If you’re entirely honest, I won’t tellUs Weeklythat you cried during your nose-piercing. And when I get back to the tour, you can try to explain why you’d do such a thing.”
He held out the phone to me. “Jonas, I…”
“Please. Just listen to her. We need to clear this up.”
I took the phone and put it to my ear. “Hello?”Please, Lord, make this conversation last five seconds or less.
“Look,” Quinn’s voice was softer than I thought possible. “I don’t know why I let that happen. It was a dumbass thing to do. And I’m sorry. You both deserve better, and your kid is seriously cute.”
“Thank you,” I said curtly.
“Wait—” Quinn said, anticipating the handoff of the phone that I was about to do. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”
“What?”
“Jonas is so sweet and lonely that I worry about him. And he never stops talking about you. So please be good to him. He’s the best there is.”
That stopped me cold for a moment. Was Quinn in love with him? “Okay,” I said eventually. “Point taken.” Then I offered the phone to Jonas again.
He put it to his ear. “I know you’re sorry. Yeah, okay. Just don’teverdo that again.” He signed off and put his phone back in his pocket. Then he set the stuffed horse down, where it stood in the hallway like a dog at attention. Putting one hand on either side of my shoulders, he trapped me against the wall. “I need you to talk to me if you have a question. Don’t just hide.”
Well,ouch. “All right. Fine.”
