anxious than I had been about opening up with them. “I mentioned it to him, but he’s so charming, he put me at ease. I mean, he was acting possessive, but in a way that felt safe and okay.” I grabbed my beer and took a long swallow. “Then today, he demanded I don’t go to the rehearsal Friday. He ordered me to stay away from you all.”
Eden arched one eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“That was my reaction exactly.”
“Well, obviously he’s wrong.”
I let myself fully relax for the first time in hours. “Oh, thank God.”
“You didn’t think you deserved that, did you?” Jo crossed her arms, and I was loving the girl power solidarity.
“No. That’s why I told him he couldn’t dictate my choices and grabbed my suitcase and left.”
Eden jumped to her feet. “Oh, hell no. This will not stand.”
“Where are you going?” I made to follow her, but Jo held up a hand.
“I’m going to have a little talk with my brother.” Eden tossed her hair defiantly and slipped into the townhouse.
Jo turned back to me. “So, have you considered starting a website for a photographer? She’d pay you. Asking for a friend.”
I choked on my beer, laughing.
Then her expression shifted to concerned. “You stay here as long as you need.”
A weight lifted.
Ten minutes later, Eden rejoined us, saying, “Okay. I’ve let Micah know what’s going on, and he’s going to talk some sense into Shane.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such friendship. I’m sorry to have brought this drama here.”
She sort of punched my shoulder. “I should apologize. I always meant to reach out to you on the forum and send you tickets or flowers or money. It always passed through my mind and then escaped me. Maybe I can make it up in the future.”
How could she not know that just the offer was better than anything she could have given me? Knowing that I’d made her and Adam proud of my site was worth more than any compensation they might give me. Then I had an idea.
“You know what would be huge?”
She cocked her head. “What?”
“If you could come on the site sometime and do a Q&A.”
“I don’t think your fans would want to talk to me.” She stuck out her tongue, like she’d eaten a bug, imitating the imagined fan disgust.
I chuckled that she’d called them my fans. “Oh, but they would. Really.”
She didn’t look convinced but said, “However, I think I could convince Adam to do it.” She laughed at my sudden shock. “He loves talking to fans. I think he might have volunteered if it wouldn’t have made him look like the attention-seeking fan whore he innocently pretends not to be.”
“God. The server might go down.”
“Why don’t we arrange something to coincide with whatever you get Friday. You can give Lars some video. Keep some as exclusive to your site. Then Adam will hang out on the forum for an hour.”
I was speechless. “That—” I couldn’t finish. I just grabbed her in the biggest bear hug I could, and for the first time, I heard her really laugh. It was a truly gorgeous sound.
“My boobs are gonna explode. Adam’s probably going insane alone with the baby.” She grabbed her purse and shot me another glance. “I still can’t believe you’re Pumpkin. How crazy is that?”
The Rock Paper
Fly on the wall: Walking Disaster
By Layla Beckett
I’m going to confess something right up front. I’m a huge dork for Walking Disaster. I’m not an overnight fan. I didn’t discover them after they hit the pop charts. I don’t forget about them between albums, and I never have something better to do when they pass through the town where I live. I love a lot of bands, but I obsess over Walking Disaster.
Proof?
I have every one of their albums plus recordings from back when they were called The Pickup Artists. I own a T-shirt from every single tour. My ultimate cred is that, as someone recently told me, I’m literally the president of the fan club. I run a fan forum called Talking Disaster, and it’s one of the most popular fan sites for Walking Disaster.
To say I was thrilled to sit in on their rehearsal in a quiet Brooklyn suburb would be a quantum understatement. Lucky for you, the band let me record everything, so you don’t have to take my word for how incredible they were.
To be honest, this wasn’t the first time I’ve met Adam. In fact, it was