Page 42 of Collide

I slump against the counter. “She’s gone.”

“What do you mean she’s gone? She went to the beach?” Tommy stands straighter, his arms falling to his sides in fists. We glare at one another a moment. Tommy reads in my expression what he already knows from our quick conversation. “Where could she have gone?”

“Home,” Jared says from behind me. I turn to find him sitting on the couch in the living room.

“What do you know?”

Jared sits forward and pushes his glasses up his nose. “I took her to the airport this morning.”

“What?” Tommy and I screech in unison. Petty enters the room in his boxer briefs, scratching the back of his neck.

“What’s all the yelling about?” he asks as he falls on the couch next to Jared. His leg falls on Jared’s, and Jared pushes Petty’s naked leg away from him.

“Jared,” I snap, refocusing his attention to the issue at hand.

“She was upset and wanted to go home.” He doesn’t look smug, which is good for him because I’d erase his smugness with my fist. Instead, he looks resolved.

“What did you do?” I snap, stepping toward one of my oldest friends as my irritation grows.

“Let’s start with what you did,” Jared says, too even keel for someone looking like he wants to punch me. He barks one name, “Adam.”

“Adam?” I question, my voice rising.

“Jared,” Petty warns. “We said we wouldn’t—”

But Jared cuts him off with, “Yeah, you’re pulling an Adam Levine, and I’m not going to sit by and watch it happen.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about and shake my head as I turn away from him. I don’t need this right now. I need Ivy.

“We’re a band, Gage. Us. The four of us,” he reminds me.

“The three of us,” Petty corrects, and we remain silent a moment.

Tommy speaks up instead. “Rule number one. You have to have each other’s backs. Be a unit. If you don’t, you’re nothing more than a handful of musicians, and fans won’t fall for that shit. In fact, they won’t stay fans.”

“Right,” Jared states, his voice shaky. “We aren’t Gage and Collision.”

I step forward, hands slipping into my hair. “Is this about last night?”

“You’re fucking catching on,” Jared bites.

“Well, excuse me for not being as smart as you, college boy.” The words spit like venom, implying the university he left behind and the rich-ass background he walked away from. He’s never made a comment about my upbringing, which was trailer park poor from a small hick town in the South, so my comparison is unfair. But I’m pissed.

“Gage,” Petty warns. He sits forward, resting his elbows on his bare knees with a weary expression.

“You’re not dumb, Gage, but that was a stupid move last night,” Jared states.

“He asked me to sing,” I blurt out, which sounds weak even to me. I should have stood up for the band and asked about including them on stage. We’re a unit. Family.

I sigh, staring back at my bandmates. I swipe two hands down my face. “I’m sorry,” I mutter, looking down at Jared’s stricken face. “I’m sorry.”

Jared and I hold eyes for a second, and he turns away. Petty looks back and forth between the two of us.

“She’s going to be family, too,” I tell them. This settles Petty’s gaze on me.

Tommy remains standing behind me, and I shift so he can hear my words as well. “She’s going to be family,” I repeat slower, emphasizing each word. “Whether it’s me or someone else, she’s carrying Cash’s baby, and he had no family but us. She’s ours now, all of ours, and we need to protect her.”

I turn to face Tommy, expecting the shock I see on his face. “All of ours.” My body shakes with my anger.