Page 10 of Love You Like This

“Hell yeah, what?” Stone asks as he walks into the room.

“We’re just excited to go out surfing later this week,” I tell him. “I’m surprised you aren’t out there running in your favorite weather.”

He smirks. “I got a good couple of rounds of cardio in earlier. I’m just here for the weights now.”

I’m not jealous that he has Hazel, but I am jealous that he has his person. I know who mine is. I know where she is. I see her nearly every day. But I can’t have her, in fact, I don’t deserve her. So now every day just feels like more punishment than the last.

“What’s Hazel up to today?” I ask Stone as he comes beside me and grabs a couple free weights of his own.

“Writing. She’s trying to finish this draft of her manuscript before we get down to LA.” He starts doing a set of curls. “I hope she can, that way I can show her around the city some before we have to move on.”

We’re getting a mini break for our three LA shows and the two down in San Diego. The drive between the cities is a bitch, but nothing beats sleeping in our beds, so we’re sleeping at home instead of hotels. Stone definitely needs it since he wasn’t able to relax much on our break between legs of the North American tour. He spent most of his time with Hazel in New York helping her and her mom get her grandma’s estate settled.

“Which place are you staying at?” I ask.

“Probably the beach house.” He trades one set of weights for another. “Which of yours are you going to be at?”

“I was actually thinking Malibu, too.” He and I live a few houses away from each other, which was just a coincidence. Right after we changed labels, he bought his home, and then shortly afterward my dad gifted me his when he tried to retire and failed for the second time. The homes just happened to be close to each other.

The biggest reason for Malibu, though, is to be close to Jade. She scrimped and saved all her money for nearly ten years to buy her cozy beach cottage. It’s several miles from our beach houses, but she has a great view and the garden she always dreamed of.

She stayed close to my dad after the divorce, and he’s really become the male figure in her life. He put her through college and, as a graduation gift, gave her a condo in downtown LA, which she still has and uses as rental property for passive income. For the years when she wouldn’t speak to me, I was always glad to know she had him.

Jade deserves the world. She always has. If I can’t be the one to give it to her, at least I can watch from the sidelines, cheering her on in silence.

Five

XANDER

Fifteen years earlier

Even with my eyes closed, I feel her watching me. My fingers dance over the keys of the grand piano in the music room while late afternoon sun filters through the gauzy curtains. The golden glow of the hour burns bright behind my eyelids. Dad’s at work, and Suzette is on location in Georgia for the week, so once again we find ourselves alone for dinner.

“I was going to heat up one of the meals that Chef Meri left for us,” she says once the song comes to an end. I love how she does that, waits for me to finish before saying anything. “Do you have a preference?”

I turn on the bench and groan internally when I see what she’s wearing. The shortest cutoffs and a cropped Ramones concert tee. Why did I end up with a stepsister who loves dressing like a little alt goddess? Her hair is piled on top of her head, and I can’t stop myself from imagining pulling it free and watching as it cascades down her back and shoulders or the way the scent of her shampoo would waft over me in waves. She is a sensory dessert bar for my starving body.

“I’ll come help you.”

“Oh, okay.” She tilts her head back to look up at me as I walk past her into the hall. “Probably better for you to see all the options anyway.”

“Anything Meri makes I’ll be fine eating. I just want to make sure you don’t set the kitchen on fire again,” I tease.

She groans and pushes my arm. “It was one time!”

“Only one?” I smile and arch a brow.

“The other time doesn’t count. It was contained in the oven.”

“It actually does count because there were flames and I had to get the fire extinguisher.”

“Fine, whatever. You heat up dinner, then.” She hops onto a barstool at the island.

“I will.” After listing off the options, we both settle on herb-crusted salmon and risotto with roasted vegetables. I put everything into the oven to warm up and then grab us both a soda. “It’s a good thing you’ll be in the dorms next year, so you don’t have to cook for yourself.”

“Ha ha.” She takes the Diet Coke from my hand and pops the top. “What were you playing upstairs?”

“Just a song I’ve been messing around with.” I bite back a smile at the adorable little shimmy she does at the first taste of her drink. I’m too obsessed with her.