Page 5 of Love You Like This

I look away from the window and meet my dad’s gaze. “Yeah.”

“I heard you practicing. It sounds good.”

“Thank you. It could be better though.”

“Auditions for the symphonic orchestra aren’t until August.” He smiles at me. “It’s May.”

“I know. Are you encouraging me not to practice?”

“No. I just don’t want you to spend all your time so focused on one goal that you forget to live a little. This is the last time you’ll be responsibility-free. Be a teenager. Rebel a bit.”

“Did you forget I punched Jade’s boyfriend?” I hold up my hand. “Is that not rebellious?”

“That was something,” he says with a slight pause. “But I was thinking more along the lines of skipping a day of rehearsal to go surf. Just live a little.”

“I guess I could do that. Should I skip school, too? Really live on the edge?” I smirk at him.

“As long as you ace your finals, I don’t care.” He checks his watch. “I need to go into the office for a bit. Suzette won’t be back from location until tomorrow morning.”

She does special effects makeup for one of the highest rated shows on television. It’s not weird for her to be gone for long periods, depending on the shooting schedule.

“Okay. I’ll make sure Jade doesn’t throw any ragers.”

He shakes his head and walks off with a wave. I put my violin into its case and set it beside my bass guitar. Part of me wants to sit down and play it for a bit, but the urge to go see what Jade’s doing tonight is too tempting.

By the time I go downstairs, Steph and Shan have left. Jade’s still floating in the pool, her fingertips skimming the surface of the water. I grab one of the pool basketballs from where it’s rolled on the patio and shoot it into the basket from the opposite side of the pool.

“Ugh.” Jade looks over at me. “It’s not fair that you’re also good at sports when you can play any instrument you pick up.”

“Not every sport.” I drop down to the side of the pool and dangle my feet in. “Dad just told me it’s only us for dinner tonight.”

She uses her arm to paddle over toward me. “Mom told me there’s a bunch of precooked meals in the fridge from the chef.”

“Are they all gluten- and dairy-free?” I don’t bother hiding my disdain.

“Probably,” she says with a laugh. Her mom has a litany of food sensitivities and allergies, so once they moved in, flavor moved out.

“We could go out.”

“Or we could order pizza and stay in.” She pushes her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “If you don’t have plans.”

“Nope. I’m down to stay in.”

Three

JADE

Present

My knuckles rap against the heavy hotel door as my phone goes off numerous times with alerts. Each chirp ratcheting up my nervous system. Darren, Blue Sunday’s manager, runs a hand through his hair and then bangs his fist hard against the same door.

“Xander open the fucking door,” I say louder than I should.

The door swings open right before Darren can knock again. My ex-stepbrother stands there with wild bedhead and navy sweatpants slung low on his hips. “What?” He rubs the heel of his palm over his eye. “It’s seven in the damn morning.”

I shoulder past him into the room. “Yeah, and in about ten minutes a story about you getting a woman pregnant last year is going live.”

“Did you know?” Darren asks.