Page 7 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

Mia’s face came unbidden into my mind. I had no idea why I hadn’t noticed how gorgeous she was before. Without make-up too. I could still remember the way she’d looked up at me with her big, blue eyes as I had her pressed up against the wall, her waist length, black hair all damp and wavy. Her tanned skin so smooth and soft…

“I missed you last night,” Kacey crooned, rubbing her tits against my arm.

I stepped back a little, putting some space between us. “Yeah. Wild night huh? Can’t believe there was a fucking avalanche.”

Voices floated in from the living room, so I took the opportunity to get away from Kacey and headed in that direction. I saw Aiden first, throwing himself down on the lounge, feet over the armrest. “Hey, sunshine.”

Aiden flipped me the bird. “Fuck you, Wallace. Where’s my sister?”

The smile froze on my face. I tried to cover up my discomfort by taking another sip of coffee. “Don’t you know? I thought you had some twintuition thing or something.”

He lifted his head to glare at me. “It’s not a fucking GPS, man.”

I forced my legs to move over to one of the other lounges and sat down, resting my mug on the armrest. Kacey obviously took it as an open invitation because next thing I knew, she was sliding on in beside me and snuggling into my side. I tensed, wondering how I could push her away without causing a scene – or looking completely out of character.

“You get the twintuition thing too?” Ryan said looking at Aiden. “It’s fucking weird, huh? It can be damn annoying sometimes too…”

I looked at him with confusion before I remembered. Fuck, I kept forgetting he was a twin, and an identical one at that. His brother, Daniel, lived on the east coast with their dad.

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Ryan then nodded. “I still think it’s fucking weird your parents split you guys up like fucking dinner plates.”

Ryan scowled. “Yeah, they’re real treasures.”

“Why hasn’t your brother ever been over to visit?” Aiden asked, obviously curious.

His frown deepened and he shook his head a little. “Daniel was pretty angry with our parents after the divorce. He started acting out a lot at school, getting into trouble for stupid shit - I think he just wanted to piss Dad off, but Dad decided to one up him and sent him off to military school.”

“Fuck,” Aiden breathed. “That’s harsh.”

Ryan nodded, clearly not happy with his brother’s punishment. “Yeah, he definitely got the bad end of the deal.”

I eyed him skeptically. Daniel might have gotten a raw deal with their dad being so harsh, but I wasn’t sure their mom had done Ryan much of a favor either. She was too easy on him. He’d grown up getting everything he asked for, and from where I stood, he didn’t seem to have much of an appreciation for anything.

The girls started filing into the living room, drawing all our attention with their moans and yawns. They all looked less than happy. Lila climbed onto Dean’s lap, shooting Jessica a foul look as she passed. Jesus, bitch much? I glanced at Dean but he didn’t seem to have noticed. Then again, he never fucking did.

Amy went to sit by Ryan’s feet, leaning against his legs. Huh. Looked like someone else got it on last night as well. It didn’t really surprise me though. Ryan had been bragging he was going to get her for the last week.

“It’s a fucking pity Josh couldn’t make it,” Ryan said, yawning.

I nodded in agreement. Josh had been part of our group of friends since first grade, leaving halfway through our freshman year to go live in LA when he landed a starring role in a Disney movie. Since then, he’d grown massively in popularity and was now one of the most sort after actors in his age bracket. The transition from child actor to respected adult actor hadn’t been without its struggles, but he’d finally done it. He was now a big household name.

But fame hadn’t turned him like we thought it would. He’d never forgotten his roots. Every chance he got, he came back to hang out with his friends. It meant a lot.

“Yeah. He was hoping he’d get a break from the junkets so he could make it, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way,” I said.

“It’s probably a good thing he didn’t make it,” Matt said dryly. “None of us would’ve even remotely had a chance with the girls otherwise.”

Corey laughed. “Yeah, you missed the best fucking night, dude,” he said, eyeing me smugly.

I looked at him, trying to place a disappointed expression on my face while inside, I knew damned well my night was way fucking better than his. “Shut the fuck up.”

Dean laughed. “At least Mark’s truck is safe. I was shitting my pants that it got crushed by the avalanche.”

“Good to know you were more worried about the truck than me,” I said with a mock scowl.

Dean shook his head, but he was still laughing. I laughed too. I knew that’s not what he meant. As band mates, we cared about one another more than we’d ever admit. We were like brothers. All of us. Aiden was the only one who hadn’t grown up with us, but when he arrived at the beginning of our freshman year, we knew he belonged.

We decided within a few months of Aiden’s arrival to start a band, each choosing an instrument and begging our parents to get us lessons. None of us argued when Matt called dibs on the drums. He was always banging away on some shit. The rest of us took guitar.

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