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“Yeah, haunted is the word I’m looking for.” Mia waved her fork in my direction. “What’s wrong?” I pressed my lips into a firm line, not wanting to discuss it, but at the same time, desperate to talk to someone.
I’d avoided Cannon’s calls almost as much as I had Shaw’s all week long. The only time I’d answered when my best friend called, I’d told him I was busy working on new songs, and he’d accepted that excuse for why I’d been scarce.
But if I told Mia about Shaw, I wasn’t sure how she would react. She’d always dropped hints that she thought Shaw was the perfect girl for me. Even before I’d seen Shaw as something other than another sister, Mia had urged me to take a chance. And every time, I would tell her the same thing.
I couldn’t because Shaw was Cannon’s sister.
To which my sister would roll those big green eyes of hers and remind me that Cannon wasn’t worth losing the chance at the ultimate happiness. Whatever the hell that meant.
“So there’s this girl…” I started, because I wanted to tell her something about what was going on with me, but not anything that could get her pissed and kick my ass—or worse, her have Ma kick it.
Mia sighed and dropped her fork onto her half-full plate. “Gods. Okay. A girl. There usually is where you’re concerned.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin before replacing it on her lap. “Let’s hear it, Jags. Tell big sister all about it, and she will make the dirty skank go away.”
“It’s not like that,” I tried to tell her, but she gave me a roll of her pretty eyes and snorted.
“Yeah, okay.”
Pushing my own plate aside, I took a moment to figure out how much to tell her. “So this girl…she’s been calling me all week, and I need to find a way to make her realize it’s just not going to happen.”
“I have three options for you.”
I waved a hand when she paused, encouraging her to let me hear them.
She held up her index finger. “Number one, you tell Momma, and she makes this girl go away. But with this option, I can’t promise this girl won’t permanently disappear. You get me?”
I grimaced but nodded. We liked to joke that Ma had underworld connections. Fuck, I wouldn’t put it past her to actually be some mob boss and she was using being the badass manager of some of the world’s most famous music artists as a front.
Mia held up a second finger. “Number two, and my favorite option, by the way—you tell Shaw, and she can kick this chick’s ass. And then you can finally get your head out of your ass and make her your girlfriend like you should have already done.”
Mentally cursing, I gave a negative shake of my head. “I can’t, and you know it.”
“Because Cannon is so deserving of your loyalty?” Mia gave me a disgusted look.
“Why do you dislike him so much?” I couldn’t help but ask. “You’ve barely tolerated him for years now. Did he do something to you?”
“He’s an asshole, Jags,” she said exasperatedly. “Look, I get it. You have your best-friend blinders on, but trust me when I tell you that Cannon Cage isn’t worth your loyalty.”
“Mia…”
“Everything he’s ever wanted has come easy to him, but he’s turned into this entitled little dickhead who thinks the world should revolve around him and only him.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she continued. “If he doesn’t get what he wants, when he wants it, he becomes a little whiny toddler who sulks and pouts until he gets his way. Or if someone does anything he doesn’t happen to like, no matter how big or small, that person is suddenly his biggest enemy and his newest target for revenge. He’s nothing more than a bully to poor little Piper, who hasn’t done a damned thing to him other than be Gabriella Bryant’s daughter. And Aunt Dallas and Uncle Axton don’t put up with his bullshit. I’ve seen him get punished for being such a jerk, but nothing they’ve thrown at him has ever made him truly see that his entire personality is kind of toxic.”
“I don’t want to argue about this,” I told her when she was done. I knew she was right. I didn’t have blinders where Cannon was concerned. I knew how big of a prick he could be at times. But he still had my back, and I needed to have his.
“Look at it this way.” My sister leaned forward slightly and met my gaze. “Let’s say the roles were reversed. What if I was your younger sister and Cannon was interested in me—and I was just as much into him? Would you stand in our way if we wanted to be together? We could be happy and have a future together. Do you step in and try your damnedest to keep us apart, or do you give us the chance to explore what could be?”
I gave it a moment’s thought before answering honestly. “I wouldn’t be happy about it, because I know he doesn’t deserve you, but I would want you both to be happy.”
“Exactly. Even though you wouldn’t like the idea of us being together, you love us both enough to want us to be happy.” She waved her hand up and down in my direction. “And that, little brother, is the difference between you and Baby Cage. Your heart isn’t selfish. Whereas he can’t see past what he wants. In his eyes, the world revolves around him and only him, fuck everyone else.”
I didn’t want to think about that, so I got back to the third option. “One and two are out, so let’s hear this final idea of yours.”
Mia muttered a curse under her breath. “Yeah, okay. I get it. Number three, you show this girl plain and simple that it’s just not going to happen. Since you say she refuses to see that you two don’t stand a chance, you have to make her open her eyes to the truth.” Her eyes brightened once again, and she grinned. “I know what you could do. You should take Shaw to a party this weekend and make out with her in front of this girl. That will show the other girl, and if it doesn’t, Shaw can still beat her ass.”
I sat there thinking about the idea and realized Mia was right. It was the best idea. Only, I would have to find someone else to take to a party and still find a way to get Shaw there to see me with the other girl. “There is a party tomorrow night,” I mused aloud. “Maybe you could drop a hint to Shaw that I’ll be there?”
My sister was practically dancing in her seat with excitement, and I felt guilty for a moment for using her when the ultimate goal was to hurt the girl she wanted me to be with so much. “Absolutely. I was going to call her later anyway to see if she would do a few photos for me to put up around the studios.”
The rest of our dinner together passed without any more arguing over Shaw or Cannon. By ten, I was ready to head home. As my sister walked me out to my car, Barrick was pulling into the garage.
