non-daughter.
But she was innocent.
She was dealing with cancer for shit’s sake.
Ryan probably couldn’t even spell cancer if his life depended on it.
He let out a belch.
I gave a side scowl to Bronte, who caught it this time and put a hand over her mouth, her laughter turning into a cough.
At least we were on the same page.
NO RYANS!
A teen in black-rimmed glasses handed Amelia a Diet Coke and asked to sit next to her.
“Thanks, Alex.”
I nodded my head in approval.
We like Alex.
We hate Ryan.
Ryan seemed to hate Alex.
Which meant Alex just gained a billion points while I was already plotting where Ryan’s body would be buried.
So, I was officially picking sides.
That was different.
With a deep breath, I strummed my guitar and sang the lyrics of the requested song as smoothly as possible, even though I loathed the thing.
It was one of our older ones.
And sadly, one of the most beloved.
It had also become the one song that held all my shame, all my pain — the song I’d written about Angelica when we’d been close when Will was going semi-off the deep end.
It was our song.
It was our friendship.
And now the song was my ghost, possibly my demon.
Perfect.
I finished and looked up. Everyone had their phones out, which meant in about two-point-seven seconds, I would be trending on all social media… again.
And I’d probably get another call from Skye.
Which meant I had to change my number… again.
And then I’d probably get a text from Angelica later saying sorry.
Then a warning text from Will to stop singing the song.
And yeah, lots of super fun moments in my future.
Exhaustion suddenly took over.
“I know that look,” Bronte whispered. “Let’s pack up.”
“Noooo.” Could I sound more like a child? “This is our date. They can leave.”
She grinned. “I doubt they will, plus it’s still early. Tell you what…” She leaned in and whispered in my ear. “We can still have our outdoor adventure, just not on the beach.”
I frowned but exhaled in relief. I didn’t want our time to end, not when it was just beginning. “Then, where?”
“Just pack up the tent.” She winked.
“Fine, but I’m trusting you. Don’t let me down,” I teased, my voice even sounded tired like I’d done a three-hour concert with a thirty-minute encore.
The kids were still hanging out at our spot when we packed stuff up, said our goodbyes, then got in the car and drove home.
I was madly disappointed.
Devastated, actually, that we’d been interrupted.
I was about to apologize when Bronte grabbed our gear and, instead of going inside the house, went around back toward the grassy cliff that overlooked the ocean.
“Think you can build that tent again?”
I smiled in relief. “Yeah, I think I can manage.”
“Good.” She set up our blankets and disappeared, only to come back with one of the small fire pits that were set around the patio. She placed it next to the tent and lit it while I moved the blankets nearby so we could look at the stars.
Wordlessly, we lay down and looked up at the clear night sky.
“What was that?” she asked.
I tried not to move, not to sigh. “What?” I turned on my side to face her.
She mimicked my motion and frowned. “When you sang that song, not the first one, but the second, you sounded so sad, so wounded, so exhausted… I wanted to just yell at everyone and chase them away, and then I imagined them all getting pissed that Amelia’s mom lost her sh—cool in front of everyone.”
I grinned. “Were you going to say shit?”
She scrunched up her face in a grimace. “Maybe?”
“Say it.”
“I’m a—”
“Say mom, and I’m going to just agree with you. Yes, you’re a mom, but you’re also a damn beautiful woman. You’re a human. You have feelings, and sometimes shit is the only way to express them, so, what’s it going to be?”
She looked away and then back at me with a small smile. “Shit.”
“Shit.” I echoed. “I think you just gave me a semi with that aggression.”
She chucked a marshmallow at my face.
I caught it. “Fast reflexes, but that too was just as sexy. Do you even know how to go back into mom-mode now that you’ve gone to the dark side?”
“Dark side, huh?” She threw another marshmallow and then another until I was getting pelted by them. “I’ll show you dark; you spoiled rockstar.”
“Ouch!” I yelped when one hit me in the cheek, and then I dove behind a chair. “You’re a monster! Stop wasting food!”
She burst out laughing. “Then stop