Page 26 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

I stood up and walked over to give him a hug. “I know, but I’ve still got Mom and Kaeli. I’ll be fine. I promise. You guys deserve this. It’s such an awesome opportunity.” I smiled up at him, this time, meaning it. “It’s The Dark Hybrid, Aiden. The freaking Dark Hybrid!”

He laughed then. It was only a soft sound, but it was happy.

“The guys must be pretty excited,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Except for Jace maybe. He didn’t say anything, but he just didn’t look as excited as I thought he’d be.”

“You saw him this morning?”

“Yeah. We all got called around to Dean’s place about an hour ago.” His eyes narrowed in thought then he shrugged with a slight smirk. “But who knows…Jace did look like he had a rough night, so...”

My heart rate picked up a little. “What do you mean, he had a rough night?”

He laughed as he switched off the sandwich press and transferred the toasties to a plate. “I don’t know. He just looked like he didn’t get much sleep, that’s all. He was probably out fucking all night.”

Holy mother of god.

I didn’t realize my face had betrayed me and was now sporting a horrified look until Aiden started laughing. “I’m sorry, baby girl. Sometimes I forget how innocent you are.” He messed up my hair a little at my indignant look. “Come on. Movie time.”

Settling onto the lounge, we eventually agreed on an Adam Sandler marathon. It had been a while since we’d spent that kind of time together, and now that we were, I realized just how much I missed it. Missed him.

Knowing I wasn’t going to see him for months on end really hurt something inside me, but I also knew how important this opportunity was to him, so I couldn’t let him know how it made me feel. I would just take what I could now, and savor it while I had it.

It was just after seven when we finished up our third movie. Mom had already been home from work and left to go out with some friends. It was good to see her getting out more often.

I saw Aiden fiddling on his phone and knew he was probably being invited out somewhere. I didn’t know how far he was taking this whole bonding thing he’d planned for me, but I decided I needed to end it. I needed to start showing him I could do it on my own.

I got to my feet and stretched. “Yeah, I don’t think I can sit on my ass anymore. I might go call Kaeli and see if she wants to go out somewhere.”

He watched me for a little while as though trying to figure something out, before nodding. “Okay.”

“What are you guys up to tonight?”

“Jace’s babysitting Ruby, and Dean’s taking Lila out somewhere, probably to tell her about the tour.”

I thought about Jace with his little half-sister. I’d only seen her a couple of times before when he’d dropped over while he’d been watching her. I wondered how old she was now. Three? Four? She was the reason they didn’t have a sound room at his house. His mom didn’t want her disturbed by the loud music.

Aiden sighed and shook his head. “She’s going to tag along. I just know it.”

I was momentarily confused before I realized he was talking about Lila. I felt my hackles rising. “How can he not see how fake she is? I don’t get it. Is she that good in bed it makes him blind?”

He smiled with distaste. “I think it’s how good she is in every place other than bed. That girl fucks anywhere.”

I made a vomit face. “You know it’s only going to take one of

the guys from The Dark Hybrid to crook their finger and she’s gone?”

“That’s what I’m worried about. Not about her screwing around, but what’s going to happen to Dean if she does. If he loses it, that’s our chance. Gone.”

I nodded. It sucked royally that someone like her could have such an influence on their future. “I know this probably sounds mean, but I think in a way, he kind of needs to have his heart broken. He’s too vulnerable. He needs to toughen up a bit.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure if the band can afford it. Not at this point in time.”

“I know.” I started straightening up the lounge while Aiden put the DVD’s away. “So, what are you doing tonight?”

“Matt wants me to come to a party up in Roseville. Some chick he met last weekend invited him.”

“Cool.”

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