Love is a Lyric (Rockstars Anonymous)

by Michelle MacQueen

  “Ignore her.” Drew lifted her suitcase. “We just got in on a flight this morning and were on our way back from Tampa. She’s tired.”

  “I’m sorry I’m asking you to go back.” She wouldn’t have if she didn’t need to get to Ben.

  He shrugged. “No big.” He opened the trunk and shoved her suitcase in next to both of theirs. “Hop in.”

  Climbing into the back seat of the SUV, she avoided Jo’s gaze. Something about the famous drummer set her on edge.

  Drew shut his door and issued a little wave. Piper followed his gaze to where Quinn watched them out the window.

  As they drove away, Drew started talking. “Look, Joey, you need to be nice to Piper if we’re all going to be on the same tour.”

  That surprised Piper. She didn’t know Noah Clarke and Jo Jackson were coming.

  As if reading her mind, Drew laughed. “Last minute addition. Our feud is playing well in the press right now, and the label thinks it’ll help us sell out the arenas faster.”

  She sank back against the seat, not ready to think about the tour she had to leave on soon where she’d no longer be working for Fate, instead standing at Drew Stone’s side—and that was a whole other beast of a job.

  Right now, in that moment, the only thing she wanted to think about was Ben and fixing this for him, making him see this was a Quinn problem and not a Ben problem. He deserved so much better than her sister.

  And she was determined to prove it to him.

  10

  Ben

  Waking up in the twin bed of your childhood home wasn’t the kind of morning routine fit for a rockstar who played in front of thousands of screaming fans. A rockstar who had girls begging for just a bit of his attention, just a glance their way.

  A rockstar with a penthouse apartment in L.A.

  Yet, he’d come home. When everything started falling apart, he just wanted his mom.

  Yep, take away his rockstar card. If only the others in Rockstars Anonymous could see him now with his toes hanging off the end of the bed.

  As a teenager, he’d begged his mom for a bigger bed and gotten one, but they’d put this one in the attic. After he moved out, they switched them again to make room for his dad’s treadmill.

  He rolled over, having to catch himself before falling out of bed. The flowered comforter twisted in his legs.

  “What time is it?” he groaned as he fumbled for his phone on the floor where it was plugged into the charger. He didn’t know what time he’d gone to bed, but the sun had already made an appearance by then. Chase dropped him off before his parents were even awake. Did they know he was there?

  His brother stayed for a little while, but Ben wasn’t in the mood for talking, so he’d slept in his old room, wishing the sports posters still lined the walls to remind him of the kid he once was.

  The one who thought his dream of being a rockstar would mean a life free of normal problems.

  Like a best friend’s betrayal.

  And a broken heart.

  Sunlight streamed through the small window, casting shapes along the ground as he turned his phone on to see a plethora of texts from Drew. What did the guy want now? He swiped the notifications away, not wanting to deal with anything or anyone from that world.

  One in the afternoon. He shot up in bed. Crap. Had Chase told his parents he was there yet?

  The smell of something cooking wafted under his door, and his stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since before everything happened.

  Rolling out of bed, he ran a hand through his hair and peeked out the window. An uncharacteristic blue sky welcomed him home. He’d almost hoped to let Columbus’ normal gray skies dampen his mood even further.

  Bacon. That was what he smelled. He kicked aside the shirt he’d discarded on the floor before crawling into bed and looked down at his bare chest, having no motivation to slip anything on except a soft pair of sweatpants.

  Out in the hall, the wood floors were warm underneath his bare feet. He padded down the stairs and rounded the corner into the wide kitchen, expecting to find his mom cooking on the stove.

  Instead, the sight stopped him. Piper flipped bacon in a skillet as she chatted with Chase and swatted him away from the plate of finished bacon.

  Chase saw him first, his smile growing sad. It told Ben one thing. He knew, probably from Piper. Ben couldn’t stand the pity in Chase’s eyes, and his voice came out gruffer than he’d intended. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Piper turned at his voice, her smile hesitant. “Morning… or should I say afternoon?”

  “I repeat, what are you doing here?” If Quinn sent her, he’d blow a fuse.

  Her smile fell, and one shoulder lifted in a shrug.

  Chase’s glare cut through him. “I’m here because my best friend and my brother have come home for the first time in a year.” He pointed to Piper. “She’s here because Piper Hayes is a freaking saint who somehow cares about you.”

  Piper’s face flushed. “I couldn’t stay there.”

  Those words made him feel like the biggest jerk in the world. Of course she couldn’t. There were sides to this rift, a line drawn through the band, and Piper had stepped onto his side.

  “I’m sorry.” He sidled up to her and dropped a kiss on the side of her head.

  “I know.”

  Before he could say anything else, his parents walked through the back door. “Lunch is served.” His dad balanced a plate of burgers on one hand.

  Ben looked from the burgers to the bacon. Once again, this girl knew him too well.

  “Hi, honey.” His mom wrapped solid arms around him. “Imagine my surprise when these two,” she pointed to Chase and Piper, “show up at the door an hour ago and claim my eldest son is asleep in his old room.” She swatted his shoulder. “You should have woken us up when you got in.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you.”

  She patted his cheek. “You, my boy, are never a bother. Come. Let’s eat.”

  His dad wrapped him in a one-armed hug on the way to the table. “We missed you, kid.”

  Ben couldn’t force the words out to tell them how much he’d missed them. Living in L.A., going on tour, nothing ever felt normal. Sometimes, it seemed like a dream he couldn’t wake from and other times a nightmare. But being home where he’d once only been Benji, the oldest Evans kid, he was able to forget about the press who’d show up the moment they learned the band was in trouble.

  He sat in the chair he’d always occupied as a kid, right across from Chase. Piper sat to his left as if she’d always belonged at this table. He supposed she did. He might have been away in college, but she’d joined the family at ten years old and never left it.

  The only person missing was Quinn, but she’d chosen her path. His jaw clenched as he thought of her and Conner.

  Piper nudged him. “Hey.” He looked sideways at her. “I think we’re going to be okay.”

  He wanted to believe her, wanted to believe everything he’d worked for, every dream wasn’t shattering into a million pieces. But not even his family could fix this. No amount of bacon burgers would erase the pain inside him.

  He ate silently, letting Piper and Chase carry the conversation, bantering between them as they’d always done.

  “Piper,” his mom started. “Your old room is exactly how you left it.”

  “Hey.” Ben looked up. “Why was mine the only one turned into a gym?”

  “Because, son, you never come home.” His dad said it like he was just stating a fact, but Ben knew it hurt his parents. Piper returned to Columbus whenever the band gave her time off, but Ben stayed in L.A., living his life on beaches and in fancy restaurants, leaving his Ohio roots behind.

  Piper shrugged. “We can switch if you want. That bed can’t be comfortable for you.”

  “No, it’s your room.” He sighed. “There’s just so much changing right now, and the room was a shock.” He couldn’t believe he admitted that out loud.

 
His mom reached toward him to take his hand. “I don’t know what’s going on or why you’ve come home, Benji, but this will never change. Your room might change, but your family will always welcome you home.”

  He used to call his mom the cheese queen when he was a teenager because she was the master of emotional lines and went out of her way to let her kids know how much she loved them. Now, with older eyes, he knew she wasn’t cheesy. Every bit of her was genuine, and that was what he needed.

  Piper offered him a smile, her eyes echoing the sentiment.

  Chase pretended to cough. “Cheese.”

  His parents laughed, and even Ben found himself smiling. He’d been wrong. His entire world wasn’t falling apart, only a small piece of it.

  11

  Piper

  “You’re where?” Melanie’s skepticism came through the phone.

  “The mall.” Piper sifted through shirts in the men’s section of Macy’s to find the right size.

  “Honey, Ben Evans doesn’t wear clothes from the mall.”

  “He does now.” She held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she lifted a shirt to examine the color. “He looks good in blue, right?”

  “He looks good in every color.”

  “Right.” She folded the shirt over her arm. “Look, Mel, all Ben has with him is beach wear, and in case you forgot, we’re in Ohio now.” She’d driven into the city from the Evans’ property outside Columbus. Polaris might not have the shops the L.A. fashion district had, but Ben always hated those clothes anyway. When he didn’t have to go in public, he preferred graphic t-shirts with his expensive designer jeans.

  She picked a pair of jeans from the shelf. He’d survive. “I don’t think it’s Ben who will care where the clothes come from, only you, Mel.”

  “Because that’s my job. I called you in hopes you’d tell me Drew was a big fat liar when he said Fate was on the rocks.”

  Drew. Of course. He shared Melanie as publicist with Fate. “I’m not really worried about the band right now.”

  “Okay, then tell me about Ben.”

  Piper shifted the phone to her other ear. How much of this should she tell Melanie? Probably all of it. It was her job to deal with scandals, after all. “Quinn and Conner were doing the hoobidydoobidy behind Ben’s back.”

  “The what?”

  “Sex, Mel. Naked bodies, cheating girlfriends. That kind of sex.”

  “Wait, am I supposed to be surprised?”

  “I was.”

  Melanie sighed. “That’s because you are a dear good person who wants to see the best in everyone. Me, on the other hand, I’m paid to see the worst. And your sister… she never deserved Ben.”

  “He loved her.”

  “So? You think love erases a person’s flaws?”

  How did Piper not see this coming? It seemed she was the only one other than Ben himself. Melanie, Chase, even Drew knew the real Quinn more than her own sister.

  “What happens now?” She set the clothes on the checkout counter and let the cashier start removing security tags.

  “Now, we figure out a way to save Ben’s career.”

  “Gotta admit, Mel, his career isn’t what I’m worried about.”

  “That’s because his career is no longer your job. Drew told me he’d hired you—something I’ve been pushing him for—but we’ll circle back to that. Ben means a lot to you, right?”

  “Of course. He’s family.”

  “Then, make sure he doesn’t let this destroy everything. That boy needs his music.”

  “I know.”

  “I can hold off the label for a little while, but they want new songs for a Fate album. They need to work this out.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Just make sure he stays out of the media. We don’t want them knowing he’s in Columbus and not with the rest of the band. I’ll make Quinn and Conner agree to silence for the time being. But this band… they’re not complete without each other. Quinn needs Ben’s music and Ben needs her lyrics.”

  Piper’s gut twisted as Melanie continued to talk. The cashier gave her the total, and Piper handed over Quinn’s credit card that she’d been given for incidentals. Paying for this mess was the least her sister could do.

  As she took the bags and walked to the exit, she fumbled for Julia’s car keys she’d borrowed. “Mel, I’ve got to go. You take care of things on your end, and I’ve got things here.” She hung up despite Mel’s insistence they had more to go over. Keeping Fate together wasn’t Piper’s job, not anymore. She looked down at the bags that proved she didn’t know how to let go of her position and shook her head. This was for Ben, her friend, a guy who’d treated her like a sister for most of her life, always protecting her.

  Now, it was her turn.

  She’d protect him from the world if she had to.

  Pressing her thumb against the key fob, she let the beep remind her where she’d parked Julia’s Honda, a sensible car for the most sensible woman Piper knew. She slid in and set the bags on the passenger seat.

  As she drove down the familiar streets of Columbus memories rushed in at her, some good, others… not so good. She passed the I-270 exit for Hilliard and pressed her foot harder to the gas to get by it, knowing if she switched lanes, she’d head into the town that held so much pain.

  The one where she’d spent the first ten years of her life in blissful ignorance of what was coming for her.

  By the time she turned off the highway, her nerves were on high alert. Not even the sight of the Evans’ red brick house or the surrounding fields dotted with dandelions calmed her nerves.

  The property was beautiful, and she’d enjoyed exploring it with Chase when they were kids. As they got older, the woods at the edge of the property were more for parties than tree forts, and the swing set went unused. She pulled into the driveway next to Chase’s truck, wondering why he was still there.

  She’d been back for two days now, spending most of it with Julia and Chase—with very occasional Ben sightings—but Chase had a job. He worked for the Blue Jackets foundation. Even though hockey wasn’t in season, the charity never stopped.

  Julia had the summer off as an elementary teacher. At least someone had some sense around there. She didn’t see Jonathan’s car. He worked for an insurance company in the city.

  Ben would hate all these people hanging around for him. She pulled the bags out of the car and shouldered her way through the swinging screen door. A smell she’d recognize anywhere filtered through the house.

  A smile tilted her lips as she poked her head into the kitchen. “Apple crumb top?”

  Chase bent to remove a pie from the oven. “What else?”

  He’d always been a baker, making her try everything he made. But this was his signature. “Where’s everyone else?”

  “Mom is out in her garden. Ben…”

  “Ah. Still in bed.” She sidled up next to him to stare at her favorite dessert. “Did you stay just to make this?”

  “No.” He set the oven mitts on the counter and ran a hand through his curly hair. “I just…”

  “I’m worried too.”

  “Did he tell you? About the songs?” Chase leaned back against the counter. Piper hadn’t even told her best friend what she and Quinn had done.

  “What about the songs?” Julia walked in, a smear of dirt on her face and her hair falling loose from her ponytail.

  “The whole fate thing.” Chase grimaced.

  Piper looked from Chase to Julia. “You both knew? How long?”

  “Since he first told us he was in love with Quinn, dear.” Julia pulled the gardening gloves off her hands and stuck them in her back pocket, her eyes not leaving Piper. Just like days ago on the phone, Piper got the distinct impression this woman knew more than she let on.

  The phone rang, saving Piper from the confessions on the tip of her tongue. Julia gave her one last long look before retrieving her phone from the counter and walking away.

  Chase nudg
ed her. “What’s in the bags?”

  “Clothes for Ben. He won’t want to keep wearing his Florida things.” The stuff Quinn picked out for their vacation.

  Chase opened his mouth to say something but then shut it like he’d decided against whatever words had come to him. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope he appreciates you.” There it was again, the look she’d seen on Julia’s face. It now reflected in Chase’s eyes. He knew something, and she was too scared to ask what it was.

  Because if she was right, her secret had never been much of a secret.

  Leaving Chase in the kitchen, she climbed the stairs, wincing when they creaked underneath her. She hadn’t wanted to wake Ben, but she’d forgotten how loud this house was.

  Seemed she didn’t have to worry as she heard Ben talking to someone. “Don’t you dare come here.” He paused, probably listening to the person on the other end. “I don’t need a meeting or an intervention or whatever you want to do.” More silence. “Well, tell him tough. I don’t care if this is the kind of thing the group is for. Let me handle this on my own.” He sighed.

  The floorboard under Piper creaked, and she cursed the old house as Ben stopped talking.

  “Look, I’ve got to go.” He hung up. “You can come in, Piper.”

  She pushed open the door, almost laughing at the sight of him lounging on the small bed. “Erm, I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Well, Dax already did that.”

  “Dax…” Her eyes widened. “That was Dax Nelson on the phone.”

  Alarm flashed across his face like he hadn’t been allowed to say that. Piper ignored it and walked further into the room. “How did I not know you knew him? I mean, of course you do. He’s with your label, and Melanie works for him too, but you really should have told me so I could ask a million questions.”

  “Piper—”

  “I mean, his music is completely swoon-worthy. Is he swoony in person? I’ll bet he is. But why doesn’t he let anyone know what he looks like?” Her eyes widened as realization struck her.