Chapter 19
lilah
By the time Tino pulled up the house, the sun had long gone down and the stars were bright in the night sky.
We pulled up to the gate at the driveway and when he lowered the window to press the intercom, I shivered at the cold breeze coming from outside.
I’d taken off my jacket while we were in the car, but clearly I’d need it once we got out again.
The intercom buzzed and then the gates slowly pushed inward on their own.
For a moment, I was surprised by how nonchalant Tino was about it as he pulled forward until I remembered that his brothers’ house was probably just like this too.
Before either of us could open our doors, someone knocked sharply on my window. I startled on instinct—my heart leaping straight into my throat—then laughed when I saw Luca leaning down to look in the window, laughing his head off.
I should have guessed.
“Wow,” he said, straightening as I opened the door. “You actually made it without crashing.”
“Hi to you too,” I said, stepping out and immediately getting pulled into a hug.
He squeezed tight, the way he always did, like he was making sure I was really there.
I hugged him back the exact same way. Even after years of living apart, every time I saw him again, I was reminded of how much I wished we didn’t have to be so far apart.
I hoped that the next time he went on tour, I wouldn’t be in school and could follow them for at least part of the trip.
“You’re late,” he said into my hair.
“We’re not,” I said. “You’re just dramatic.”
He snorted but didn’t argue, pulling back at last. His eyes were already flicking past me toward Tino, curiosity sharpening his grin into something more familiar, more mischievous.
“Michael.”
Tino stepped around the car, smiling easily. Relaxed. Like this didn’t faze him at all. “Luca.”
There was a beat—one of those unspoken moments where two people sized each other up, not as strangers, but as acquaintances circling familiar territory.
“Did you bring her in one piece?” Luca asked.
“Barely,” Tino said. “She threatened to haunt me if I crashed.”
“As she should,” Luca said solemnly, nodding like this was entirely reasonable. Then, to me, “You hungry? We already had dinner but Megan and Hudson brought so much takeout for us that you’d think we had no food in the house at all.”
“Good, because I’m starving. Tino tried to starve me by only giving me these weird chips from a gas station,” I said, joking about the one snack Tino had bought that wasn’t one of my favorites.
They were black pepper and lime chips, which he’d insisted were the best flavor in the world and I’d pretended I didn’t like to annoy him.
“You said you liked them!” Tino argued. Except he wasn’t standing next to me like I thought—he’d already moved to the trunk of the car and was pulling out both of our bags.
I stepped forward to help him, but Luca held me back with a hand on my arm and went forward instead.
They seemed to size each other up. Luca came up to him, but Tino finally conceded in handing over my bag, though he didn’t look especially happy about it.
I turned my face away so he wouldn’t see my grin.
Luca clapped his hands together once, already turning toward the house. “Come on. Everyone’s out back already. Or… mostly out back. You know how it is.”
There was never a moment here where everyone was in the same place at the same time. Someone was always grabbing drinks, someone else was arguing over music, someone was probably barefoot despite the cold.
As if summoned by his words, the front door swung open and my sister Nina stepped out, pulling a blanket tighter around her shoulders. Her hair was loose, her cheeks pink from the chill, and when she saw me, her entire face lit up.
“You made it!” she said, breaking into a smile when she saw me. She came down the steps and hugged me hard, the blanket tangling around both of us. “I was starting to think you’d bail.”
“Never,” I said.
She leaned back, still holding onto my arm, eyes flicking to Tino with an easy curiosity. “Hey. You must be Michael.”
Luca snorted and I punched him lightly in the arm. He knew that Tino preferred to go by his nickname, so naturally he must have told Nina to call him Michael just for this. But Tino just took it in stride as he started making small talk with her.
Finn Parker, one of Luca’s bandmates and Nina’s boyfriend, appeared in the doorway next.
I realized after a moment that he and Nina were in matching black sweat sets that read “The Next Great Boy Band” on the sweater and the pants, and I grinned to myself.
Until a few months ago, Nina would never have been caught dead in old merch from the reality show, but I guess things really did change when you got into a relationship.
“I told you they’d be here before the fire was actually usable,” Finn said, sounding amused.
Luca scoffed loudly. “It’s usable.”
“Last week you tried to light it with a napkin,” Finn said calmly, taking a sip from his mug.
“That was my new strategy!”
“We’re having a fire?” I asked. I stuck my hands in my coat pockets, suddenly feeling the cold so much more. I did my best not to shiver.
“We always do on Fridays,” Luca said sassily, as if that was something I should know about them. Since we’d only had occasional bonfires when we were growing up, and only ever on warm summer evenings, I had to assume that was something they’d started as a band. “Now, come on! Before we miss it.”
Finn laughed. “You Turner siblings really are impatient.”
I might have argued that I shouldn’t be lumped in with that, except that I was practically shoving them aside to get to the warmth.
I was pretty sure our bags were dropped in the foyer and I heard Luca make some comment about the guest room upstairs, but I chose not to worry about it as I continued forward into the house.
I’d visited enough times not to get lost as I weaved my way through the mansion toward the backyard.
I could see the bonfire easily as I reached the glass doors, warm gold and orange against the dark blue of the evening sky. As I opened the door, I heard the popping and cracking of logs, sparks drifting upward before disappearing into the night, mixed with the dull sound of chatter.
I knew all the Take Five boys well enough to recognize them on sight, but it took me a moment to remember their girlfriends.
There was Ivy—Poppy’s older sister—laughing at something Zach was whispering in her ear.
A girl was perched on the arm of Neil’s chair, wrapped in an oversized scarf that I was sure must have belonged to him, and I assumed that was his girlfriend Grace.
That left only Megan and Sloane, Hudson and Luca’s girlfriends respectively, who were sitting beside each other holding steaming mugs and giggling.
Hudson was near them as well, but he was focused on toasting a marshmallow that was already turning black.
The others stepped out right behind me and Luca quickly pushed his way forward, then he clapped his hands loud enough to cut through the noise. “Alright, everyone—announcement.”
A collective groan rose up immediately.
“This better not be about fire safety again,” Hudson called.
Luca ignored him. “Lilah has arrived.” He stepped aside dramatically, waving a hand in my direction. Then, as a complete afterthought and in a much less excited voice, he added, “Also that Valentine brother she’s dating or whatever.”
“I think I’m growing on him,” Tino whispered in my ear. Goosebumps raised on my arms and I tried to tell myself it was from the cold even as tingles went down my spine. “He actually remembered my last name.”
I laughed, but the sound was quickly drowned out by multiple voices calling out welcomes.
Tino got pulled into introductions he technically didn’t need but was clearly being subjected to anyway.
Hands clapped his shoulder, people handed him drinks, Luca disappeared briefly and reappeared with a blanket that he promptly shoved at us.
“Sit,” he ordered, pointing to an open spot near the fire. “It’s cold and you two look like you’re pretending you’re not freezing.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Tino and I moved toward the fire, settling onto one of the low benches near the stone ring. The heat immediately soaked into my legs, my boots thawing out inch by inch. I hadn’t realized how tense my shoulders were until they dropped all at once.
Without really thinking about it—and without missing a beat—Tino draped the blanket over both of us. He shifted closer, his arm settling around my shoulders, pulling me gently against his side.
It felt… easy.
Like he was actually my boyfriend.
I rested my head lightly against his shoulder, just enough to sell it, just enough to feel the warmth radiating from him. The fire crackled in front of us, sparks dancing upward, and from the corner of my eye, I caught Luca watching us with a knowing smile.
The “relationship” on display.
Hudson finally gave up on his marshmallow and dropped into a chair across from us. “So,” he said, pointing the stick in Tino’s direction, “are you musically gifted like your brothers, or is that a genetic fluke?”
Tino opened his mouth, then paused. “Define gifted.”
Luca snorted. “That’s a no.”
“Hey,” Tino said, offended. “I can sing.”
Yeah, that was a total lie.
Sloane leaned forward, eyes lighting up. “Prove it.”
I felt Tino’s arm tighten around me slightly. “I don’t know if this is the right environment.”
Sloane laughed. “You’re sitting at a bonfire with five musicians. This is exactly the environment.”
Zach held the guitar out in offer.
“Oh no,” Tino said immediately.
“Yes,” Luca said, delighted. “Absolutely.”