Epilogue
Mal
Six weeks later
Another day, another drummer audition.
It was starting to feel like we were never going to find our guy.
Maybe we were expecting too much from the guys.
Maybe there was simply no replacing Gio.
“I’m telling you, this one is the one.” Danny was uncharacteristically excited. He was all but bouncing in place as he tapped at his cell phone’s screen. Which was definitely out of character for our usually staid manager.
“Who are we seeing today, again?” Ryker asked from his sprawled spot on the couch next to me.
“Hunter Adkins,” Danny replied.
“Never heard of him,” Leif huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I told you he was the drummer of a band I had my eye on. Shady Vortex,” Danny muttered, his eyes still on his screen.
“Never heard of them,” Leif repeated.
Ryker and I chuckled at his deadpan delivery. Someone was in a mood.
“You wouldn’t,” Danny replied. “Like I said, I had my eye on them. They broke up a few weeks ago. Creative differences.”
“Let me guess.” I threw Leif a derisive look. “The lead singer slept with the guitarist’s wife’s best friend then ghosted her like an immature asshole?”
Ryker clucked and shook his head like a disappointed papa, then ruined it by fake coughing while muttering, “douchebag,” into his fist.
“You two are so immature,” Leif grumbled. “But for the record, we never slept together. Just kissed and—”
“I don’t need the fucking details, dude!” I protested. “I happen to see Paige on a regular basis. Which is what I told you when you came over. Please don’t shit where I eat.”
“Hey, I never touched your wife!” Leif shouted.
“That wasn’t my point! Don’t touch her friends. Don’t touch her classmates.” I gestured frustratingly. “This wife is the one. This is it. So please, please stop making my life harder, asshole.”
“You’re dating a schoolgirl.” Ryker choked with laughter while he rolled on the sofa and accidentally kicked me with his boot.
“Fucking pervert!” Leif flicked a guitar pick at my head.
“I’m surrounded by children.” Danny groaned, rubbing at his temple.
“Speaking of, where’s Beau?” Lief asked, turning to Danny.
I frowned. “What does Beau have to do with children?”
“Didn’t you hear?” Ryker sat up and straightened his shirt. “The missus is preggo.”
“Oh.” My eyes widened. I had a hard time picturing Phoebe with a baby. She was so selfish and honestly, kinda mean.
“Yeah.” Ryker sighed.
The door ripped open and Beau stomped into the room, his long hair hanging wildly. “I got a call on the way over. I can’t stay. I have a family emergency.”
“Is Phoebe okay?” I asked in concern.
“What? Yeah, no. Phoebe’s fine. It’s, it’s…shit. I have a kid.”
“What the hell? How’d you go from pregnant to a kid already? I just found out about the pregnancy.” And last I saw there was no way Phoebe had been that far along.
“What? We’re not pregnant.” Beau frowned.
Ryker sat up. “But you said—”
“I said we were thinking about starting a family. But we haven’t.
We’re not even really trying—I just found out I have a full-grown daughter.
She’s twenty-two. Lives in Seattle. And her mom just died.
I gotta get to Seattle ASAP.” Beau turned to Danny.
“Can your assistant arrange a flight for me? Whatever will get me there today.”
“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Danny gestured to the door.
After the door closed behind them, Leif smirked at me. “Dude, his daughter is the same age as your wife!” He cackled, wiping his eyes. “Fucking epic.”
I scowled at the asshole. Unlike Leif and Ryker—who were also laughing at me—I didn’t see the humor.
With impeccable timing as always, his assistant, Ethan, popped his head in. “Hunter Adkins is here for his audition.”
I groaned. Like always with the Long Licks, the second everything started to look up, it all fell apart again.
* * *
That afternoon, after a surprisingly promising audition and jam session with Hunter, minus Beau, I stepped into my house and took in the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.
“Honey, I’m hoooome,” I called out.
“In here!” she answered. “I’ll be right out with your slippers and pipe.”
I grinned and all but ran into the kitchen, so fucking eager to see my wife.
I wrapped my arms around her from behind as she stood in front of the stove, stirring a huge pot of bubbling marinara sauce.
She leaned back into my embrace with a hum. “How was your day, dear?”
“Really good. Well, first really weird, then good.”
She turned in my arms, wound her arms around my shoulders, and gave me a smacking kiss. “What was the weird part?”
“Turns out Beau has a secret daughter he just heard about. He took off to Seattle to meet her.”
“Wow,” Saylor whispered. “That’s, that’s intense.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” I might’ve spent some time today wondering if I could ever be in a similar boat. I hadn’t exactly been a Boy Scout, but I did however always wrap it up, so the odds were small—but never zero.
I shuddered at the thought.
“And the good?”
“Aside from coming home to all this—” I pressed a kiss on the tip of her nose.
She huffed in feigned annoyance and rolled her eyes. But the small little smile told me everything I needed to know. That and the way she snuggled even closer to me.
“Aside from that. That’s a day that ends in y around here.”
“And I fucking love every single one.”
“We’re so disgustingly cute.” She grinned at me.
I kissed her again. “I know. The guys were telling me all about it earlier today. But the other good part is that we might’ve finally found our new drummer.”
“That’s fantastic!” Saylor did a little excited wiggle in my arms that made all parts of me sit up and notice. “I have exciting news too.”
I drug my eyes away from the hypnotic sway of her tits. “Hmm?”
“I loved my tour of FDIM. Stella and her daughter, Amber, were great. The campus was amazing, and talking to Amber made me so excited. I want to apply there next term.”
“Fucking fantastic, baby. And I know the perfect way to celebrate.”
“What’s that?”
“By taking all our clothes off and rolling around our huge bed.” I nudged Saylor, encouraging her to walk backwards toward our bed.
“Mal! But dinner is—”
“Will be fucking awesome an hour from now.” Fuck it. I ducked down, tossed her over my shoulder, and took off down the hallway.
She squealed before her laughter echoed through the house.
I slapped her ass and she moaned. “Make that two hours.”
The End