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When he got called to speak to the dean, I accompanied him. After all, I was a witness and I didn’t see anything except Jonas trying to help a guy tripping. His face catching on Jonas’ fist must have been an unfortunate accident.
Since it was our word against dipshit’s, Jonas got a warning and I got a dirty look.
“Still not talking to me?” I asked when he stalked away as soon as we were outside.
He didn’t even bother to lift a middle finger.
“Ouch, baby brother, that hurts.”
Still nothing.
My phone rang and I checked it. Mom had been persistent as fuck for days. I don’t think we’d heard from her this much in a two-week period since we started at Blue Ivy. It was too hard for her to talk to us on the phone. She missed us too much.
Not Mom.
Dad.
“Hey,” I said as I answered. “Everything good?” We didn’t talk that much during the week. Most often, I got a call on Sunday nights or we scheduled one. He tended to be busy on the day to day, and if he had a court case? Yeah. He was doing well to remember my name.
“It’s fine. I wanted to talk to you about this girl in the news…”
“Ace?” I glanced around the hall, then ducked outside. If I was going to have a conversation about her, I didn’t need anyone listening. I didn’t give a shit what they said about me, but I preferred to not be weaponized.
“The lead singer of… Torched,” Dad said with a question mark at the end. “Is that an actual band name?”
“Yes, Dad,” I said, chuckling. “A little too pop for your tastes though.”
“Huh,” he grunted and the wheels on his chair squeaked as he sat back. I could picture him in his office. He’d been doing legal work for labels for years. But it wasn’t for their music, he just enjoyed the work. He preferred a harder, grittier rock. He was one of Gibs’ biggest fans. “Regardless, I think you need to think about this before you get too involved.”
Get too involved? I paused and glanced up at the gray clouds moving in. It smelled like snow out here. One of my favorite seasons, here or Tahoe. Anywhere that involved the cold.
“Dad, are you calling to give me dating advice?” Because that was just not us.
“Fuck no,” he said with a laugh. “I’d be a terrible source. Clearly.”
No comment.
“That said, you have plans. A sports career you’re planning on building. You wanted to get into the pros and then coach, maybe train… getting involved with someone like—KC—Kaitlin Crosse, is she Gibs’ girl?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She is. Seeing her has nothing to do with my career choices.” Except I was here instead of Stanford.
“That’s what you think now. Nevertheless, that notoriety doesn’t stop at the concerts or the new albums. It’s always there. So is the reputation…” Dad sighed. “I just want you to think about it. This girl already generates a lot of negative press. The fact she’s seeing your brothers as well makes her seem a little…”
“Don’t say it.”
“You have to know how it looks.”
“I don’t care how it looks,” I snapped back. “Don’t call her names. You don’t even know her.”
“Do you?” He didn’t challenge me often. “Gossip is cheap. But this many stories? There’s truth there. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re the guy who is going to change her.”
“I’m not falling into anything,” I said, even as I caught a flash of blue and turned to track it. Ace was walking with her bandmate and a couple of other girls. They were all laughing as they walked together. Whatever the one blonde was saying, she had KC’s total attention. “She’s just a girl.”
“Yeah,” Dad said. “So was your mom. Well, I have to go into a meeting. Be careful, Lachlan.”
I didn’t really respond but he wasn’t waiting for me to answer. The line went dead and I snagged Ace’s gaze as she started to go into the dining hall. From this distance, I couldn’t really make out her eyes, but I wasn’t imagining the question on her face.
It was nice to see her smiling. I didn’t get a lot of that. When she paused at the door and raised her eyebrows, I chuckled. Did I want to see her? Of course, I did. But I could wait.
