Page 148 of Finding Storm

It’s a lot.

A fuck of a lot.

I’m not a man to cry. Although I’ve been on the verge a few times this last week. But fuck if this doesn’t punch me right in the feels.

My throat starts to burn. And I swear, if I speak right now, I’ll cry like a fucking baby, and these bastards will never let me live it down.

“You think he’s gonna cry?” Levi says, pretending to whisper to Raze and Cash. “He’s got that weepy look in his eye.”

“Fuck off,” I say, and they all laugh. Assholes.

“See you in Arizona.” Levi pats me on the shoulder, heading for Cash’s car, who follows behind him.

Raze climbs on his motorbike, straddling it, and pulls on his helmet.

“Hey, any of you dickheads actually know where in Arizona you’re going?” I ask them, knowing full well they don’t.

Cash stops with his hand on his car door and stares over at me. “No.”

I laugh. “So, how the hell were you planning on getting there?”

He gives me a stupid look. “Figured we’d just follow your whiny ass there.”

“And if you lost me?”

“Then, we’d call you, dipshit,” Levi says, holding up his cell phone. “Power of technology.” He yanks open the passenger door of Cash’s car and climbs in.

Shaking my head, I rattle off the address and zip code for the B&B to them. “Stick that in your GPS, and I’ll see you cunts there.”

I walk over to Raze, who’s just stuck his key in the engine of his bike and kicked off the stand. “Look …” I say to him in a lowered voice. “You don’t have to do this, you know. Come with me to Arizona. I fucking appreciate it, man. I do. But I know you have shit going on here.” And by shit going on, I mean his dad. He’s a fucking useless excuse for a father.

He stares at me. “Remember when we first met?” he says.

“Yeah, course I do,” I answer, wondering where he’s going with this.

I was in one of the music rooms, messing around on a guitar. Raze came in, asked if he could hang. That was the day we started playing music together.

“My dad was trashed that day. Like usual. But that day, he was being even more of an unbearable cunt. I honestly don’t know how he kept his job at TMS Records for as long as he did. But that day, when I was walking around, staying out of his way, I heard someone playing, so I followed the sound, and there you were. I stood outside that room, thinking, Fuck, this kid can play, and when I found the courage, I came inside and asked if I could hang. We started playing together, and I felt … happy, man. Like I finally fucking belonged, you know.” He shrugs. “This band is my family. You’re my family. Where you dickheads go, I go.”

I stare at him, understanding everything he’s saying.

Raze has never had a family. Not a real family. Until me, Cash, and Levi.

And he’s not ready to walk away from that yet. If ever.

Cash’s car horn beeps, making me jump. “Are we going? Or you two gonna stand there all day, making fucking eyes at each other?” he yells.

“Fuck off.” I give him the middle finger. “See you in Arizona.” I pat Raze on the back and head for my car.

I hear Raze’s bike roar to life just as I start my car up.

And to the sound of Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home,” I put my car in drive, pull out onto the street, and head for the highway to take me back to my girl with my boys following behind me.

My cell starts to ring next to me on the bed.

My heart jumps. Like it does every time my phone has rung over the last five days, as I hope it’s him.

Storm.