“I’m doing something for you. When this is all out and people know, you’re going to get that damn party you deserve.” Her phone rings again and she groans as she looks at it. “It’s the café. Something must be up. I have to go.”

“Of course.”

She pulls me in for a quick hug and then throws her head back and laughs. “This is the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.” She turns and heads toward the door. “Absolutely bonkers and I love every single moment of it for you.”

I watch the door shut behind her, and for the first time, breathe what feels like a sigh of relief.

Josie was my first test if I could pull this off, and other than my mother, probably one of the hardest because she knows me so well.

And I did it.

She believed me.

So there’s that.

And she never once told me I was stupid. That, I appreciate, more than she could ever know.

Now it’s time to bake and ice some cookies.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Gizmo

“He’s late,” Vince says when I walk into the studio.

“Giz is never late,” Rocket says and looks at me. “You’re the most on time fucker of all of us and yet you’re late.”

“I got a haircut.”

Laughter rings out. “You’re so full of shit you stink, Giz. You have swagger,” Hawkin chimes in as he shifts behind the soundboard.

“You’re swaggering.” Rocket snickers.

“Yep. No doubt. Someone definitely got fucking laid last night,” Hawkin says.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I throw up a middle finger with one hand as I throw my keys and wallet on the console beside the drum set and go to the fridge. A glance at my watch says it’s eleven, which only spurs on the debate whether I should decide on the beer or water.

It’s a hard fucking choice.

Write drunk, play it back sober.

But we’re going to be here long enough that I opt for water.

And when I do the guys throw up their hands and cheer. “Again . . . what the fuck?”

“You’re hydrating. That means it was great sex,” Vince says.

“Phenomenal sex that you need to recoup,” Rocket adds.

“You sure you don’t need Gatorade to replenish those electrolytes you lost?” Hawkin completes the trio.

I shake my head and laugh. “You guys are assholes.”

“He’s not denying it,” Vince says. “There’s that.”

“I’m not confirming it either,” I say.

“Which is confirmation in and of itself if I’ve ever heard one,” Hawkin says.

“So . . . let’s hear it,” Rocket says, propping his boots up on the table like he owns the place. “Are you fucking her yet or what? If you’re gonna play house then why not reap the benefits of it, right?”