Bend (A Stepbrother Romance) (16 page)

Mom returned, and I managed to play nice for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe there was hope that things could be better between us. There’d always be a strain there. But as Glenn had said, the idea of ignoring each other forever was just too sad to think about.

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

I spent the night at the estate. How could I resist using such a luxurious room? The four-poster bed, private bathroom, the white vanity with the adorable little stool—it made my cramped bedroom back at my apartment look like a hovel.

Not to mention that Glenn’s kitchen, full of professional equipment, would have sent my roommate Alisa into orgasmic paroxysms of glee. There were lots of reasons to hope that things would last between my mother and Glenn, and selfishly, the estate was one of them.

I even texted Zach photos of the bedroom. He replied right away.

Girl, you’ve got to invite me over!! [Sat 10:11]

He followed up a moment later with.

Snoop! Don’t forget you’re on Sonder dirt duty! [Sat 10:12]

Yeah, right
. I was a guest in Glenn’s home. There was no way I was going to start poking around in his office to seek out dirty details in his life. He seemed like such a stand-up guy, too. I doubted there was anything to find.

Something kept nagging at my brain about the news about Keir’s mother, though. I did a quick search for her, but as Glenn said, she was unfindable. There wasn’t anyone on social media with her name within her age range that resembled Keir at all. She was like a ghost.

But then I tried something else, just based on a hunch. I did a search on Keir Holt—if his parents hadn’t been married, there was a possibility that Keir carried his mother’s last name, at least for a time.

What I found made me laugh out loud.

I felt bad about it immediately, but I still couldn’t stop giggling. There on my screen was eighteen-year-old Keir’s mugshot.

It was before he’d started performing as Jackal’s Reign. He’d had a mohawk then. And, I noticed if I squinted, an eyebrow ring. A quick search revealed that it hadn’t been posted on any gossip sites yet, ever. Maybe no one had through to search for him using his mother’s last name. Or maybe they hadn’t even known the name.
Oh, man. Wendi would love this
.

But how would Keir feel about it? He could claim he was invincible and untouchable all he liked, but would he want it out there that he’d been arrested for disorderly conduct?
Probably
, I chuckled to myself.

I picked up my phone and tapped on his number, anyway. His father didn’t want any more headlines, I knew that for certain, but this one wouldn’t be stepsibling-related. Maybe it would be okay?

I found myself oddly nervous while I waited for him to pick up. We didn’t have the type of relationship where we would call each other just to chat.
This isn’t a relationship at all
, I had to remind myself.
It can’t be
.

He picked up on the third ring. “Cadence? What’s up?”

“I’m looking at a very old picture of you,” I said. “You’ve got a mohawk and you’re curling your lip at the camera like Elvis.”

He was silent for a moment. When he spoke up, his voice was flat. “My mugshot?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you find it?”

Uh-oh
. “I did a search using your, uh, other last name.”

“So you were talking to my dad?”

“Yeah.” I blew out a breath. “I’m at his place, now.” My stomach sank as I went on. “He set up a room for me in the house so I can stay once in a while. He’s very into family.”

“Okay. Let me get this straight,
sis
.” I cringed. “You’re squatting in my father’s house, asking him probing questions about my mother and stalking my past online?”

Squatting?
“I only asked because I care about—”

“Stop. I want you to do something for me.”

“What is it?” I asked quietly, my heart racing in my chest.

“Two things.” He was angry. His voice grew dangerously quiet and low when he was angry. I was glad I couldn’t see his face. “I want you to go ahead and bring that mugshot to your boss. Lick your boss’s ass, since you seem so into her.”

“No, I won’t show her. It was silly of me to—”

“Do it before I leak it myself. That thing’s overdue for some attention.”

“Okay…” I hesitated. “And? The second thing?”

“I want you to get the fuck out of our lives.”

Then the line went dead.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Keir

“Jackass’ Reign is in a mood,” Adam whispered to Javier as we gathered onstage for the sound check. I wasn’t meant to overhear it and I could have let it go—but fuck that.

“You’d be in a mood too, if someone was butchering your music.”

“Butchering how?” he asked, exasperated. His shoulders slumped and he had dark circles under his eyes. “Coming in slow at the beginning of rehearsal isn’t fucking ‘butchering’ it.” Then he mumbled under his breath, “Temperamental son of a bitch. No wonder you can’t hang onto a damn guitarist for more than a year.”

I was riding them way too hard all week. I knew it. When I was so worn down myself, I just became more and more of an obsessive perfectionist, as if I could make up for my own exhaustion by driving past it even harder.

Javier scowled at me over his shoulder. “He’s just pissed that
Hot Ears
said he sang like two squirrels mating.” He had a point. Lorna Hills’ review of our live show had been absolutely scathing, as usual. I tried to brush it off as irrelevant, but she somehow knew how to strike right where it hurt—my songs, my lyrics. I didn’t know whether I should feel personally persecuted or if I should rethink my entire career choice.

The tour’s almost over
, I reminded myself.
Four more cities. Five more shows. Then maybe I’ll go into hiding for a while
. Even my publicist would like the break—Sloane had taken to giving me a wide berth since just after the first headline with Cadence made the news. What was it she had said? “Too busy and too important for this shit. I’ve got better artists to look after.”

And my face had been in the papers again,
twice
since I’d last spoken to Cadence over a week ago. First it was the mugshot. Not a big deal. Even Frank Sinatra had a mugshot. Mine looked pretty damn good, too, and its appearance made me nostalgic for my mohawk.

This morning, the tabloids had jumped in a different direction.
SONDER STEPSISTER MOVING ON? Has The Scandal Come To An End?
And there was a photo of her outside a bar holding hands with a tall, dimpled surfer-dude.

An irrational, possessive rage came over me when I saw it. Who was he? What was she doing with him?
And why the hell do I care so much?

“You’re welcome to leave at any time,” I said to Adam as I tuned my guitar. Then I mumbled, “Any damn one of you.”

“Keir? You need to chill out, man.” Ian was the only one who was allowed to talk to me like that, but at that moment I wasn’t putting up with it even from him.

“I’ll chill out when you all get this fucking set right.”

“Dude.” Ian clapped a hand on my shoulder. “If this is about your stepsister—”

I shrugged him off. “She’s not my stepsister for fuck’s sake!”

“Whatever, man. If this is about Cadence, you should talk to her.” Adam and Javier nodded in agreement, but I didn’t need their opinions.

“Come on,” I said, leading Ian out of the room. Those two wouldn’t be returning next tour, but he would. He was the only one that wasn’t a total fuckup.

We stood in the backstage hallway with crew bustling past us in both directions. They knew better than to bother us, though. “You’ve got to talk to her, man,” Ian said again.

“About what?” I ran a hand through my hair. “She’s just like every other girl. After me for something.” I didn’t really believe that, no matter how much I tried to convince myself. “My family’s wealth, gossip for her stupid fucking career.”
Still lies
. “I just want to fuck her again, that’s all.”
Liar
.

“You care about her,” Ian said. When I didn’t reply, he asked, “Am I wrong?”

“You’re wrong.”

“I’m right.”

“You’re wrong!” I shoved him away, hard enough that he hit the opposite wall with a thud. “She’s just like everyone else!”

I left him there, silently hoping that I hadn’t just lost myself a drummer. Cursing, clenching my fists, I found myself a quiet room and made a quick phone call to one of my father’s assistants—the one in charge of travel.

It was a good thing there were no flights home until much later that night, otherwise I might have skipped my entire concert without a second thought.

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

It was morning when I finally arrive home, tired, disheveled, looking like a hungover mess. I hadn’t even showered after the show.

I found Cadence alone in the kitchen. “Keir!” She nearly dropped her mug as she jumped to her feet. “I didn’t hear you come in!”

She shifted on her feet and looked down at her coffee, like she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do. Like she was guilty.
Which she is
.

“Having a good morning?” I snapped. “Enjoying everything my father’s home can provide?”

“Yes, actually,” she snapped right back. “Your father’s been more than welcoming and has even made an effort to get to know me. Which is more than I can say about you,
bro
.”

“Oh, don’t worry,
sis
,” I snarled back. “I know enough.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I saw the photo of you with that guy. Moved on so soon?”

“There isn’t anything to move on from!” She slammed her mug to the table, sloshing coffee everywhere. “All you want to do is fuck me and insult me and yell at me! What are you even doing here?”

I came to see you
. I looked her up and down. She was dressed professionally again, in a navy skirt and white shirt—meant to be boring, but sexy anyway. I wondered if she even realized.

“What am I doing here?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t need a reason to come see my father.” But I wasn’t there to see him. I’d flown out in a whirlwind jealous rage just to see her. “Who’s the guy?” I asked.Cadence laughed as if it was some joke. “None of your business. Why? Jealous?” She placed her hands on her hips.

“Jealous?” I snorted. “Shocked, is more like it. Who the fuck would want you?”

I meant it as a light jab, but it struck way deeper than that—I knew it immediately. The words seemed to hang heavy in the air and a sinking feeling settled in my gut. Her jaw fell open for just a moment before clamping tight.
Mistake
. Her eyes glistened.
Big mistake
. She clapped her hands over her mouth and ran past me.“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that!”

I turned on my heel and followed after her.
That went way too far
. Cadence ran up the stairs and I scrambled after her.

“I meant ‘after fucking your stepbrother,’ I didn’t mean–” She slammed the door to the spare bedroom my father had given her to use, shutting me out.

“Cadence!” I thumped my fist on the door. “Come on, it came out wrong! I didn’t get any sleep and I’m not making any sense.”

“Go away!”
Great job, asshole. Now she’s crying
.

I sank to the floor and listened to her soft sobs. Every little sound and whimper was like a punch straight to my chest, knocking all of the air out of me. I’d never felt like that—never guilty for making a girl cry.
That’s because her tears are real
.

I closed my eyes.
She’s just like everybody else. She’s just after you for dirt. Don’t fall for this
. But I was falling. I was falling hard.

It was twenty minutes before she pulled open her door. Her eyes went wide as I jumped to my feet. “I thought you’d left,” she said, wiping her nose. She moved to close the door again but I jammed my foot in the way.

“Listen to me,” I demanded more harshly than I meant to. “What I said—”

She cut me off. “You know what, Keir? I was trying to figure out why the hell you came home in the first place. This is the second time you’ve traveled all the way back to LA in the middle of a tour to yell at me.”

“That’s not—”

“I thought at first you were just being protective of your father. You wanted to chase off the two leeches that were sucking away at your inheritance, maybe?”

“No…”

“Then I thought maybe something else set you off. Was it Lorna’s review this time? Or did you drive away another band member? Or was it honestly just the picture of me with that guy?”

“Cadence.”