this head on. “So you didn’t think telling me your brother is among the most famous rock stars in the world was important?” I ask Brian. I go for a light tone, but it comes out more accusatory than I mean it to.
Brian laughs. “I tend not to lead with that information.”
“Why?”
“Because ten times out of ten, I’m passed over for my brother.”
My heart squeezes for Brian and the bitter hurt in his voice. This is all so confusing.
“I like to get to know a woman before I drag my brother into it,” he continues.
“But his last name’s Ashton.”
“That’s his middle name, my mom’s maiden name.”
“What’s your middle name?” I ask dumbly. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change things. It’s filler conversation because I’m fucking lost. I have no idea what I’m doing.
It dawns on me just then that the tattoo of the F enclosed in a circle stands for Fox. His last name.
“Joseph.”
“What’s it like being the brother of a rock star?”
“It has its perks, but it also has its downsides.”
“What are the perks?”
He glances around. “All this,” he says, gesturing widely with his arms. It’s only then I realize that surely the whole money is not an object line stems back to this. “Access to all this without the paparazzi following me around everywhere I go because I’m nobody.”
“And the downsides?”
His eyes burn into mine. “Like I told you before. He always seems to want what’s mine, and he always gets what he wants.”
I want to reassure him, want to tell him he doesn’t have to worry about that with me. But right this very second, I’m not sure that’s a promise I can keep.
Chapter Eighteen
I’m having a hard time acting like everything’s normal at this party—mostly because it’s not.
Mark is avoiding me, or at least it feels like it. We caught each other’s gaze across the room that one time, but that’s it. Every time I’ve looked over at him since, he’s been talking to someone else. To my heart’s relief, mostly he’s been talking to men I recognize as members of Vail. He hangs out with Ethan, the drummer, the most. I think back to the reality show they were on together. They did seem like best friends, and I loved watching that show and getting a peek into their real relationship. Though after my conversation with Mark in the car on the way back to his place, I wonder how much of it was a look at their real personalities. I guess it’s possible the producers tweaked their scenes to make them appear a certain way.
I think back to his confession about his overdose. It was Ethan who had given him something that night, and I feel my claws come out a little as my hackles rise. I don’t know if I trust Ethan after finding that out. I don’t believe for a second that he had sinister intentions, but he might not be the best influence on Mark.
I have the urge to go over and talk to him, if nothing else to get him away from Ethan for a few minutes. I don’t know why that urge completely overtakes me in the moment. Mark’s a big boy who can handle himself around his best friend.
The vodka is helping, I think. I’m riding the line between tipsy and drunk, but luckily so far the alcohol hasn’t acted as truth serum. Yet.
We’ve only been here for a half hour, though. The night is young, and who knows what sort of drama lies ahead of me?
I’ve basically been following Brian around like a lost puppy dog because what the fuck else am I supposed to do? “You want me to show you around?” Brian asks after he’s introduced me to people whose names I’ll never remember.
“Sure,” I say, as if I’ve never been here before—though, to be fair, I didn’t exactly get the grand tour the last time.
Am I lying? I’m split on whether omission of facts is still a lie. I’m not physically lying. I haven’t done anything wrong.
So why do I feel guilty?
Brian leads me through the kitchen toward the hallway in the opposite direction of Mark’s bedroom. There are several doors down this hallway, and he leads me into the one in the far corner. He points to doors as we go. “This is where Becker’s staying,” he says, pointing. He points next to the door that has a line forming outside of it. “This is a bathroom. Here’s Jason’s room. This is Mark’s