Chapter 2

Em POV

"...that bitch ass motherfucker—"

"Watch your fucking mouth," I spat.

Jimmy rolled his eyes at me, still glaring down at his phone. I took two steps across the small kitchen, snatched the phone from his hands, and turned off the ridiculously-fast twanging of some metal song before it made my nerves snap. Pepper whined from beneath the table, his tail thumping against the chair leg.

"Hey!"

"I don't want to hear this crap right now."

"This crap is how I make my fucking living, Em."

"It won't be for long if you keep acting like you did today."

"That was—"

"—bullshit, it was absolute fucking bullshit." I peered down the hallway, where a mostly off-key rendition of The Birthday Song floated out from Leia's bedroom, and lowered my voice to a hiss. "You embarrassed the shit out of me."

"I embarrassed you? You were supposed to be directing my goddamn photo shoot and you took off!"

"You threw a tantrum! An actual tantrum, Jimmy! In front of Leia!"

"That old dude—"

"—was teaching Leia how to play the guitar, because all she's talked about for the past six months is how Uncle Jimmy says he's gonna teach her to play the guitar and Uncle Jimmy's going to come this weekend and show her how to play the guitar and Uncle Jimmy promised that next weekend—"

"I've been a bit busy, if you hadn't noticed," he said icily.

"Maybe if you put down the booze once in a damn while—"

"Who the hell are you to talk? You were just as—"

"Don't even go there with me." I turned towards him, and whatever look was across my face made him shut up. "Yeah, I did stupid shit when I was twenty, too. But I didn't have the kind of money you do, and that severely limited the stupid shit I could do. And hey, it worked out for me, because I got Leia out of it and you damn well know I wouldn't trade her for anything in the entire universe, but you know what she didn't get out of it?"

"A father. I fucking know, you've told me—"

"Then why do I have to tell you again?"

He folded his arms across his chest, looking far more like a pouty, emo pre-teen than a man of twenty with a music career. I took a breath and ran a hand through my hair.

"Jimmy, I get growing up wasn't easy—"

"Oh, and here we go with the traumatic childhood bullshit—"

"Fuck off, are you serious?"

He fell silent as I glared at him.

"I'm sorry I left you at home when I took off. You were ten. I was eighteen. I clearly couldn't even take care of myself, let alone my kid brother, as proven by the fact that I got knocked up like, two years later."

He put his hand on his hip in an insultingly exaggerated effeminate pose. "'And I could have let you just live on the streets when you got kicked out, Jimmy, but out of the goodness of my heart I took you in and for the past five years I've done nothing but love you and support you.'"

His high-pitched mocking of my voice hurt me more than it irritated me, though it was incredibly irritating. Taking another deep, shaky breath, I swallowed the hurt and put my hand on the counter.

"I will be taking Leia to get guitar lessons from someone else."

"I can do it for free. Someone else is gonna cost you—"

"I don't care. I don't want you teaching her right now."

Jimmy fell silent, pain and confusion furrowed into his brow. His mouth opened but for once, he didn't speak.

"We've had this conversation a million times. You're drinking too much. You're partying too much. You want to live the rock star lifestyle, fine. But you will not be exposing my daughter to that kind of toxicity while you do."

"I'm not—"

"It's not up for discussion." I folded my arms and leaned against the counter as Jimmy stared at me. "You are drunk. Like, literally right now. You're drunk, and you have been for hours. I'm sorry I wasn't the perfect role model for you, I'm sorry we had shit parents, but you can't keep throwing that in my face. I'm trying to do better for her. And right now, you aren't better."

"You can't." The words were slurred, but beneath the layers of bourbon-scented breath was a pleading desperation. "She's my niece, you can't stop me from seeing her."

"I can, actually, but I won't. That would hurt her more than it would hurt you. But you're not going to be teaching her to play guitar, and as long as you keep acting like you did today or showing up drunk or high or whatever, you're not going to be allowed around her."

Jimmy wasn't used to being told "no" anymore. Part of it was the amount of ass-kissing thrust upon him by his manager and fans, but a larger part of it was the intense anger he could muster up in a single stare. His magazine covers all featured that seething scowl, a trademark of his that he had been using to intimidate people for years.

It didn't intimidate me, however. Not only had its effect on me worn off after years of seeing it, but it was also hard to feel intimidated by someone whose dirty diapers I had changed and who I'd had to mother in place of our actual mother.

Still, I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief when Jimmy stood up and stumbled from my kitchen to the front door. I watched as he got in the back of an expensive black car that looked completely out of place in my neighborhood.

I knew its departure also meant my doorbell would be ringing in approximately five minutes. When it did, I had already opened two beers and had a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"It's open!" I called over the sound of Pepper barking.

The pattering of two children running—one from her bedroom to the front door, the other from the front door to the bedroom—was immediate.

"Baylee, be polite! Say hi to Em."

"Hi, Em!" called a young voice.

"Baylee I got a guitar!" shrieked Leia.

With that, the girls were off, and Kelsie was wandering into my kitchen.

"So what's the latest?"

Kelsie was my best friend. We stuck together like flies on paper. Baylee and Leia had been in the same class since kindergarten and had thankfully been practically inseparable since. As far as I knew, Kelsie and I were the only two single moms in the girls' class, and that was reason enough to ostracize us. It didn't help that both of us looked... well, a little less clean-cut than most of the moms.

I had taken most of my piercings out after having Leia, but Kelsie kept all of hers: eyebrow, lip, nose, and tongue were the visible ones. She had a few tattoos, but not many; I would need to wear a floor-length turtleneck poncho with mittens to cover all of mine. She dyed her hair multiple colors; mine was naturally dark.

Together, we were clearly those moms. Other moms joked about drinking coffee until it was socially acceptable to drink wine. Kelsie and I had definitely shared a flask of whiskey more than once during a soccer game.

I told her the story of the day as we sat at the kitchen table, drinking beer and eating popcorn, throwing the occasional piece to the dog begging at our feet.

"So this guy, Alex, is showing Leia how to play guitar when Jimmy walks in and just tears him a new one. And like, he's clearly someone with the studio, because he just... gave Leia a guitar. Like, had one of his people give it to her. And I'd already started taking off because I was humiliated by Jimmy's tantrum, so I didn't even get to thank him."

"Hmm. Was he cute?"

I had to think about it for a moment. The short answer was yes, really. There had been something enticing about Alex, something almost familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like being reminded of someone, but not being able to pinpoint who.

"I mean, he was... I don't know. Sure. In that khakis-and-golf-shirt kind of way."

"Ah. Dad-bod?"

"No!" I laughed, shaking my head. "Just like, not my type. You know. Probably too clean-cut. He had some great tattoos though."

"We both know you love your tattoos."

"I do. He was also like, way older than me."

"Hmm. Too bad."

I took another sip of beer. "Anyway. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to pay for guitar lessons."

"Jimmy should be paying for them."

"I'm not asking Jimmy for money."

"If you would just get over your pride—"

"That's not it. I just... it's weird. He already spoils Leia. He paid off the house."

"He could have bought you a better house."

"I like this house." I shook my head before she could speak again. "It doesn't matter. I'm not asking Jimmy for money."

"Why don't you go back to the studio tomorrow? Ask this Alex for suggestions and thank him for the guitar?"

"Not a bad idea, actually." Finishing my beer, I grinned. "And hey, two birds, one stone. Leia still has to sell an entire case of Girl Scout cookies. Maybe she can charm some of the staff while she's there."

**

Alex POV

Big Mike and I each had our own office and shared a common office where we met with clients. We had no need to be in the center of the city and space was cheap, so we built for comfort. I'd dragged a decent chair into his office and we were going over monthly bookings. He sat on a metal folding chair behind his desk as we worked. It was a weird point of pride with him and he'd look at my ergonomic chair with disdain whenever he saw it.

For people outside the industry, musicians and singers were legends. In the industry, people like Mike were the legends. His basic uniform had been the same since the '80s; shorts to his knees, black socks, sneakers, and a Hawaiian shirt. A large man, he'd been terrifying back in the day. He'd managed some of the biggest bands in history and was as professional as anyone could hope for, unless he felt someone was messing with what he termed "my people."

If he felt you'd ripped off a band somehow, start running. And don't try to hide in hell, 'cause I was pretty sure that Satan was terrified of Big Mike and would give you up in a minute. Have a deal with a site manager and he didn't live up to his obligated percentage of concession sales during a concert? Mike paid him a visit and the situation was rectified immediately. The label playing games? He'd hire the biggest, scariest lawyers you'd ever seen and forensic accountants that would find Jimmy Hoffa just to rifle through his wallet.

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