That surprised me. Some of the girls I met backstage knew the band’s name, but most of them didn’t know my name. But maybe this girl had been to Seattle and had seen me play at Pete’s. I’d run into homegrown fans backstage before, although they usually didn’t ask my name, they just said it, like we were friends. Hey, Kellan, long time, no see…

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said, amusement curling my lip into a half-smile.

“John and Susan’s son?” she asked.

My smile instantly dropped. How the fuck did she know the name of my parents? “How do you…?” Leaning in, I examined her more closely. She was extremely attractive, but the features weren’t jumping out at me. I had no memory of her. “Do I know you?”

She suddenly looked really pale. “No, no…we’ve never met,” she said, repetitiously smoothing her honey-brown hair.

Okay, so I hadn’t slept with her. Did we go to school together or something? “How do you know my parents?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as I ransacked my memories. Who the hell is this girl?

“I don’t actually, I just know their names…” She sighed, then closed her eyes. “God, I wasn’t sure how to do this, and now I feel like I’m doing it all wrong…”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, totally and thoroughly confused. Had she stalked me? That was kind of…creepy.

The girl opened her eyes and searched my face a moment before she finally spoke. “Oh God…okay. Well, first things first, my name is Hailey. Hailey Carter.”

My jaw dropped as I stared at her, then my stomach followed suit. Carter. I know that name. That name was burned into my brain, though I never, ever spoke it out loud. Oh my God…no. She couldn’t…she couldn’t be…the world wasn’t that small…

“I was wondering…” she said, still looking extremely uncomfortable. “I really want to introduce you to someone.”

Oh my God…she is.

“No,” I instantly told her. Like a dam had burst, anger flooded through me. Never.

The girl, Hailey, held up her hands. “It’s not what you’re probably thinking. I want to introduce you to my dad.”

She reached into her bag and handed me a photo, a photo that confirmed my horrid suspicion…my terrifying fear. I know this photo. Mom had shown it to me before. Gavin Carter…the man who’d stolen his best friend’s wife, who’d knocked her up…with me. The man I resembled so much it was undeniable that we were related. The man who’d abandoned me, fed me to the monsters who’d raised me. The man who’d given me life and then ruined my life. Jesus. I can’t do this right now. Or ever.