July. NYC

Jay, Fin, Nick, and I sat on the couches in my hotel suite. Half-empty water bottles littered the low table in front of us, and Jay had the set list in his hands. 

"Riveted right after Fire and Rain?" he asked, rubbing his chin.

I gulped down the rest of my water and put the empty bottle on the table. "Our two biggest hits together. Last time, we closed with Riveted, so why not try something different?"

"I think it'll work." Nick leaned in to peer at the page in Jay's hands. 

Jay swatted him away. "You're smothering me, Nicholas. Don't you think it's hot enough without you?"

The temperature in the suite was pleasant thanks to the air con set on full blast. Since we met in my room to talk before going to the arena to get ready for tonight's show, Jay'd been in quest of stuff to dislike, so his grumpiness didn't surprise me one bit.

Come to think of it, it'd been going on for way longer. Weird, but what did I know? We were close, but we didn't share every detail of our private lives.

"I'll be back." Jay shoved the set list in Nick's hands and hopped off the beige couch. 

Fin drummed his fingers on his knee. "Will he be okay to play?"

"Don't worry.” Nick chuckled. “He'll chill once we're at the arena. Must be the stage jitters.”

Tonight's show would be big — sixty thousand spectators at one of the most important arenas. It’d be the second time I'd spend my birthday playing —or a small part of it, since I'd turn twenty-four at midnight, but what upset me was not having Ava with me to celebrate once the concert was over. 

Asking her to come on tour with us wasn't practical. The schedule was so tight we had no time between shows. Plus, she had to work and attend several events in July on top of editing her book. Although I'd gladly keep her glued to my side, I tried to keep my overbearing tendencies in check.

Nick’s phone came alive on the table. He snatched it up and unlocked the screen, smiling as if he’d got good news. Slumping against the back of the couch, he went on to type the reply, so engrossed in the task he missed Jay’s return.

Fin snickered into his fist. Nick was the perfect target for a prank, aka Jay scaring him shitless.

“Fire!” Jay yelled, flopping on the couch by Nick’s side. The impact sent the phone flying out of Nick’s hands. Luckily, it landed on the carpet and not something hard that’d crack the screen.

Nick swore under his breath and reached for his cell, but Jay picked it up first.

“Here, don't cry.” He extended the gadget to Nick, smirking. 

Nick’s face flushed. I’d blame it on the July heat, but there was an overt tremor in his hand. Something was definitely up, and Jay sensed it.

He took a step back and lifted his arm, putting the phone out of Nick’s reach.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Give it back.”

Jay wiggled his brows. “Not so fast, Casanova. Who's the girl?” Not getting a reply, he glanced at the screen, and his expression fell into a frown. “Romy? What the fuck?”

Fin sent a confused glance my way, while I wished the recently-vacuumed carpet swallowed me and Nick both. There was only one Romy we knew. Romy Ashford. A cute kid who brought us lemonade while we rehearsed in Jay’s garage and listened to us play. Except that was years back, and she sure wasn't a kid now. 

Jason tossed the cell onto the couch and jammed a finger into Nick’s chest. “Are you fucking my little sister? Answer!”

Nick gulped. “Calm down, and let's talk.”

“Talk.” Jay gave him a lip-curling snarl. “Because you couldn't be honest before, right? Let me guess, you were hoping I'd never find out.”

“There’s nothing to find out,” Nick said through clenched teeth. “We're friends. And if you were less of a self-centered jerk, you'd realize your sister needed you.”

Jay lunged forward and fisted the front of Nick’s tee. His free hand curled into a fist, and Finlay and I jumped off the couch.

I wrapped an arm around Jay from behind and pulled him into me to haul him off Nick. “Jay. It's not the fucking time. We have a show in six hours.”

“I'll leave.” Nick gave me a remorseful glance, picked up his phone, and scurried out of the suite.

“Me too,” Finlay said with an apologetic smile, hurrying to the door.

Jay panted, shrugging my hands off him. “Let me go.” 

I sighed. “Sure.”

As we sat on the couch side by side, I handed Jay a bottle of water, and he downed half of it, even though it did nothing to make him look less agitated. 

“Did you know?” he asked after a few beats of silence, wiping the condensation from the side of the bottle with his fingertips.

“That Nick and Romy were friends? I had no idea.”

“Like you had no idea Ivy had a kid? I thought you were my friend, O'Brien.” 

I should've seen it coming. Jay’s bitterness wasn’t random. Things never were.

“It wasn’t my place to tell,” I said. “Ivy asked Ava to keep quiet, and that’s what we did. When did you find out?”

“Before the tour. I ran into the two of them.”

“Did you talk?”

Jay huffed. “If only. That I stared at the baby like a dumbass didn’t help my case, man. She looked embarrassed. I wish I’d known. And I wish Nick weren’t a moron. How many times did I tell you Romy was off-limits?”

If I had a younger sister, I’d be protective too. I couldn’t really blame Jay for that, but he was being unreasonable.  We both knew Nick well enough to be sure he wouldn’t take advantage of any girl, Jay’s sister or not.

I stood and gathered the empty bottles to toss them in the trash. “You need to talk to Nick, preferably before the show. We can’t afford to screw it up. And I don’t want bad vibes at the final rehearsal. That’d be shitty.”

“I’ll break his fucking nose if I see him now.” Jay groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. “Romy’s still a kid with her head in the clouds, O’Brien. What can they possibly have in common?”

I shrugged, lingering by the desk. “He said they were friends.”

A snort flew out of Jay’s mouth. “Right. What else would he say after I'd cornered him?”

“Romy’s not underage, Jay.” I braced my hands on the desk behind me. “Go talk to Nick.”

“I'll text you when we're done,” he said, his mouth set in a flat line. “Pray I don't kill the fucker, Jimmy Boy.”

When the door behind Jay clicked shut, I threw my head back, closing my eyes. The black bracelet vibrated on my wrist, and I smiled into the empty room, counting.

One.

A pause. 

And three more.

We decided on the code before I left, as soon as we unpacked the matching touch bands. One tap meant I miss you. Three meant I love you.

I tapped the tiny screen three times. 

Still far, but at the same time, closer than ever.

Hi guys! Jim is back, and I hope the chapter was okay. So, the mystery of Nick’s girl is solved. I've wanted to write a brother's best friend for a while, so that's what Nick&Romy's book will be about. Ava's POV is the next one. Maybe with some steam😇 Do you have any questions or suggestions? Drop them here! And please, remember to vote.