Page 123 of Composed
“The fuck is this?” Axel shrieks. “You said we were watching a love story.”
Cole chortles. “Blame Rixie. She said it, not me.”
“Itisa love story,” I mutter into my steamy mug.
“I told you all after she made us watch the entire Disney channel catalogue that she shouldn’t be allowed movie night picks,” Carter says, shoving Axel back down. “But no. Nobody ever listens to me.”
I hike a brow. “Pretty sure you lovedLemonade Mouth, actually.”
Carter gives me a deadpan look.
I shrink into the cushion and stifle my laugh with my hand.
His face doesn’t move, but there’s a slight crease at the corner of his eye.
I know I need to talk to him at some point—I need to talk to all of them. I’ve no idea what comes after Cole and I have finished their next album.
The road is murky, with no clear signs for which way it leads. But the least I can do before it’s all over is give them the closure I didn’t last time.
Just not tonight.
Tonight, I’m being selfish and revelling in a new version of a memory I’ve relived a thousand times over.
Cole’s thumb brushes my neck as he leans forward to grab his drink.
I shudder, goosebumps dancing over my skin in the wake of his warm touch.
Theo yips, tugging her blanket over her face as she sinks deeper into Saint’s lap. “I’m with Ax. This is terrifying. There is no way I’m sleeping tonight.”
“Who said anything about sleeping, Teddy?” Saint asks, his voice an octave lower than usual before he plants a kiss on her neck.
Cole groans, tipping his head back, as he scrubs a hand down his face. “Get the fuck out if you’re gonna start shagging.”
Saint clicks his tongue.
He winks at me, before turning to Cole with a smirk. “Feeling a bit frustrated over there, are we?”
I bury my face into my mug as fire sears my cheeks.
Cole flips him the finger.
“Ooh, are we finally gonna talk about the raging elephant in the room?” Axel asks, clapping his hands like a kid in a sweet shop.
“There is no elephant,” Cole mumbles.
There is definitely an elephant.
Axel ignores Cole. He clambers over our legs and snatches his phone from the coffee table. “Let me just video call Renaissance. She’s gonna want in on this conversation.”
“Good God,” Carter grunts. “It gets worse with every name.”
“Shh, Daddy, it’s not about you, right now.” Axel is scrolling his phone when Theo jumps up and snatches it from him. “Hey!”
“Stop being a child,” she says.
He scowls at her. “Yes, Miss.”
“That’s Mrs Parker to you,” she deadpans.
