More Than Maybe - Erin Hahn Page 0,67
a bad way.”
She sniffs. “I hate how grown up you sound about all this.”
I shrug. “Not your fault.”
A tear runs down her cheek, and she sniffs louder. “I can’t hate him because he gave me you, and I love you more than anything in the entire world, but sometimes I hate him.”
I stand up and wrap my arms around her from behind. We cry together, and it’s at once the saddest and happiest thing.
Finally, I straighten and swipe at my eyes. “I need to stop by the club. Is that okay? I want to congratulate him. You’re a prize, Mom.”
“I think he’d like that.”
“Wanna come?”
“Nah, I think this is between the two of you.”
* * *
I don’t cry this time. I walk right to the jukebox and put in a dollar, scroll to Brad Paisley’s biggest hits, and find the song I’ve waited my whole life to play. When “He Didn’t Have to Be” starts up, I meet Phil’s gaze from across the room, and even in the dim light of the bar, I can tell his eyes are misty. I blow him a big theatrical kiss and leave before I get carried away. He’s not going anywhere. I’ll see him later.
23
LUKE
I’m at work when Zack finds me. I should’ve known something was up since it was my best friend, alone. The place is deserted, being early Saturday afternoon, and it’s only Ben and me at the bar.
He sees Zack perch on a stool, and I wave him off. “Go to lunch. He’s not drinking.”
Ben grabs his coat and heads across the street, and I turn to Zack. I pass him a glass of Sprite with a cherry garnish.
“Classy,” he says, smirking. He picks out the tiny plastic sword and pulls all the cherries off with his teeth. I roll my eyes at his exhibition. “Sorry,” he says, still grinning. “Works on Cull.”
“Fuck off.”
Zack’s face grows serious, and he removes his messenger bag. He pulls out his laptop and opens it, turning it on the bar to face me.
“Whatever it is, I don’t want to see it.”
“You don’t, but you have to.”
It’s an article. People.com. I dry my hands on a clean rag and tap the scroll. My stomach churns at a picture of my family, taken four years ago in England. The caption reads, “Punk rock legend and entrepreneur Charlie Greenly with his wife, Iris, and twin sons, Cullen and Lukas (14), outside Marigold Theater on 5 August.”
“Okay…”
“Keep going,” Zack prompts, chewing on an ice cube.
Son of Former Punk Rocker Releases Viral Hit for a Mystery Girl
Chances are, you’ve heard the viral hit “Break for You” from Lukas Greenly, podcast star and son of legendary lead singer of the Bad Apples, Charlie Greenly. If you haven’t, comment below with the name of the rock you live under. After releasing the insta-hit online, thousands of fans, mostly but not all, of the female persuasion (twin Cullen is in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend, after all) are clamoring for a hint at just who is the lucky girl?
The interwebs have always championed a good love story, and this is no exception. Not long after Greenly released his song, polls cropped up all over, speculating as to the identity of the girl eighteen-year-old Luke is willing to break his heart over. The answers ranging from seventeen-year-old British child star Veronica Nelson, who is a rumored longtime love of Greenly’s—
“Who?” I yelp.
“Ah. I wondered about that. Keep going.”
“Is that a real person?”
“Keep reading.”
—to ex-girlfriend, Lindsay Turton—
“Well, she’ll be thrilled.”
“Keep. Going.”
—to his American coworker, an up-and-coming eighteen-year-old music blogger, Vada Carsewell.
My voice is strangled. “Holy shite.”
“There it is.”
“How did they even come across her name?”
“Journalists be nosy motherfuckers, man.”
“Oh my god. This is going to kill her. She doesn’t want this.”
“Hold on.” Zack closes the laptop with a click and sits back.
“I didn’t finish.”
“That’s all there was. Speculation. The point is, it’s not going away like you thought.”
“And now it’s affecting Vada.”
Zack narrows his eyes shrewdly. “I don’t know that it is. I mean, she might get more traffic on her blog, but that’s already been the case.”
I grab at my hair and then remove my glasses, wiping them frantically on the edge of my T-shirt. “But she didn’t ask for this.”
“True. But neither did you. And that’s not why I came here. I knew you’d be beating yourself up when you heard. And that’s bullshit, Luke.”
“How?”
“In every possible way. But think about it. The most recent photo they had permission to use