In Your Heart

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “What the hell, Ezra?” I chewed and swallowed.

  He grinned, rocking back on his heels. “You were drooling. I was trying to clean up.”

  “I was not drooling,” I defended, squaring my shoulders. “I was merely…appreciating the view.”

  “Mhmm,” he smiled, biting his lip. He glanced away and pointed, “Let’s go over there.”

  “To the games?” I questioned. “You know those things are rigged, right? They only want your money.”

  “I think I can afford to lose a few bucks.” He winked.

  “True,” I agreed.

  He stopped in front of a booth, one where you had to throw baseballs at different targets.

  “What do I get if I win?” Ezra asked the guy manning the booth.

  “A goldfish,” the guy replied, pointing to where several goldfish swam in mason jars.

  “Sweet,” Ezra rubbed his hands together, “Sadie, why don’t you think of a name for our future pet.”

  I raised a brow, taking another bite of cotton candy. “Our pet? Do you really think I could manage to keep that thing alive for more than a day?” I pointed at one of the happily swimming fish. “I can’t even remember to feed myself.”

  He laughed, ducking his head. “Fine, I’ll take care of it.”

  He laid some money on the counter and the guy handed over several baseballs. “You get three tries on each target and you have to knock down all three targets to win.”

  “Easy enough.” He smiled, rolling his shoulders.

  He blew out a breath and I laughed. “You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?”

  “I always take my balls seriously.”

  I rolled my eyes and poked him in the ribs.

  “Hey, you gave me the perfect opening. I had to take it.”

  I shook my head, smiling even though he was ridiculous. I’d missed our banter though. It felt like it had been missing the last month, but with everything that had been going on and the months we went without speaking to each other it was reasonable for us to be a little wary around one another.

  But now we were back to the old Sadie and Ezra.

  Only we were sleeping together.

  But that wouldn’t change our relationship.

  Nope.

  Definitely not.

  I forced myself to pay attention to the silly game. He’d already knocked down one of the targets and had moved on to the second. That one fell too and he stepped over to line up with the third target. He missed, and then missed again. When he raised the final ball I couldn’t stop myself from lightly kicking the back of his knee. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt him, but it messed up his aim.

  “Sadie,” he groaned, but then began to laugh. “You really don’t want me to bring that goldfish home, do you?”

  I shrugged innocently. “I just thought you should work harder for Toby. You know, show him that you really want him.”

  “Toby?” He raised a brow.

  I feigned a gasp. “You said I could pick a name.”

  “And you said you didn’t want a pet.”

  “Well, I mean, I do already have a puppy.” I reached up, ruffling his hair.

  He laughed and ducked away.

  Around us strangers took photos and videos on their phones. I did my best to ignore them.

  “You want the fish or not?” He asked, already pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

  I shrugged again, fighting a smile. “Only if you think your balls have what it takes.”

  “You’re baiting me and it’s working.” He chuckled, smacking a twenty-dollar bill on the booth counter.

  “That’s what I’m here for.”

  The guy handed him his change and some more baseballs.

  “You’ve got this, Ez.” I gave him a thumb’s up while making a silly face.

  He batted me away and mumbled, “You’re distracting me.”

  “Come on, you’ve gotta show Toby that you’re serious about this life-changing adoption. Work for it.”

  “Shhhh,” he covered my mouth with his hand, “I can’t concentrate with you babbling.”

  I licked his hand.

  He lowered his head and muttered, “I should’ve known you’d do that.”

  “I’ll be on my best behavior now.” I raised my hands and took a step back. I bumped into the solid steel wall of Kenny and stumbled. The large ogre of a man grabbed my elbow and immediately steadied me. Thank God for that, the last thing I wanted to do was fall and show the world my Britney. Granted, I was wearing underwear, but accidents happen.

  Ezra successfully knocked down all the targets this time since I didn’t distract him. He gladly accepted his new pet goldfish with a boyish grin. As we left the booth a crowd of people rushed it, all of them now wanting to win one of Toby’s brothers or sisters.

  It was getting close to the start time for their set so we didn’t have time to do anything else.

  Jon and Kenny ushered us both into the talent tent.

  “Dude,” we heard almost immediately, “why the hell are you carrying a goldfish?” Hayes strode forward, holding a bag of chips.

  “I won him,” Ezra said, setting the jar down on a table.

  Hayes merely shook his head. “How are you?” He asked, nodding at me.

  “Uh, good.” I smiled awkwardly. Hayes was a nice guy and I felt bad about how things had gone on our date, but the way he acted he didn’t seem to have any hard feelings.

  “Has Ezzie-poo taken you on a date yet?” He grinned, looking between the two of us with a knowing smile.

  “No,” I said adamantly.

  Ezra changed the subject by asking where his bass was. Hayes told him and he hurried off, leaving me alone with his band mate.

  “So,” Hayes started, chewing on a mouthful of chips, “you two haven’t banged each other’s brains out yet?”

  I rolled my eyes and took a seat on one of the plastic chairs dotting the tent.

  “Why does everyone think there’s something going on with us?”

  “Um…” Hayes looked at me like I was crazy. “Number one, we’re not blind. Two, the sexual chemistry stemming off the two of you is about to smother all of us. Just do it already so things can go back to normal.” He leaned his hip against a table covered in food, waiting for my reply.

  I simply laughed. “You’re crazy.”

  “Maybe,” he agreed, and tipped a finger in my direction, “but I’m not stupid.”

  “Touché.”

  Behind me the tent opened again and Mathias walked in. Immediately Hayes groaned, waving his hand dramatically at the lead singer.

  “Duuuude,” he drew out the word, “you cannot wear a fucking nerdigan on stage. Plus, it’s like ninety degrees. Aren’t you dying?”

  “What did you call my cardigan?” Mathias stopped in his tracks, glaring at Hayes.

  “A nerdigan. It’s the proper name for it. Seriously, take it off. You look ridiculous.”

  Mathias smirked. “If you wanted me naked all you had to do was ask.” His hands went to the belt on his jeans.

  Hayes sputtered. “No dude, just the fucking nerdigan.”

  Mathias shook his head and took it off. Hayes smiled in glee. “I’m only taking this off because it’s fucking hot out there and I don’t want to pass out on stage. So stop gloating.”

  “I’m not gloating.” Hayes defended.

  “You’re smiling,” Mathias’ glare was icy, “it’s the same thing.”

  “Where’s Remy?” I asked.

  Mathias turned his attention to me. His lips turned down into a deeper frown. “She doesn’t like dealing with the crowds now that she’s pregnant. It makes her nervous.”

  “Her or you?” I countered.

  His lips twitched. “Mostly me.”

  “That’s what I thought.” I smiled. Mathias was crazily overprotective of Remy, but even pregnant the chick was a definite bad ass.

  At that moment a woman working for the festival entered the tent, wheeli
ng a cart with audio equipment to wire the guys.

  Maddox and Emma entered right behind her.

  “I need you guys back here.” The woman pointed to the back of the tent.

  “See you soon.” Maddox leaned down and kissed Emma quickly.

  He waved at me and then playfully shoved his twin before the three disappeared behind a curtain.

  “Have you been here a while?” Emma asked, plopping down in one of the other plastic chairs. She wore a black crop top and pale yellow skirt that came up higher in the front and was long in the back and sides. Her favorite floppy black hat sat on her head with her wild blonde hair curling beneath it. I was slightly envious of her effortless, almost hippy, style. I knew Emma spent hardly any time picking out her clothes, and yet she still managed to look gorgeous. Although, she’d argue the fact that she looked like she’d just rolled out of bed.

  “Uh, yeah. I guess.” I replied. “Why?”

  “You look a little sun burnt.”

  I turned my head to look at my shoulders and discovered that they were slightly red in color. “I forgot to wear sunscreen.”

  “Yours?” She nodded at the fish swimming lazily in the jar.

  “Ezra’s. He won it in one of those stupid games.” I waved my hand to encompass the festival.

  “Have you been having fun?” She asked, straightening her skirt and crossing her legs.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “We saw the aerial circus act and it was amazing.”

  “Oh!” Emma clapped her hands together and leaned forward. “So, Maddox found a great place for us to stay in the Florida Keys. Do you think you can be ready to leave in a week?”

  I nodded. “I can make it happen.”

  “Perfect!” She did a little dance. “This is going to be so much fun!”

  I smiled in agreement. I hadn’t been on board with this in the beginning, but the more I thought about it the more excited I became. I knew being around everyone for a week would make it hard for Ezra and I to get any alone time, and that sucked, but I needed this.

  Maddox returned, smacking his drumsticks against his legs and jumping up and down. “Are you guys ready to rock? Because I’m ready to rock.”

  I glanced at Emma. “Did he drink too many Diet Pepsi’s again?”

  She smiled and shrugged sheepishly. “Maybe.”

  “Dude, chillax.” Hayes appeared next, his bright blue guitar slung across his body. “You’re like a fucking monkey on crack. What’s with the jumping?”

  “We haven’t performed in a while and I’m really excited,” Maddox replied gleefully, still drumming his drumsticks against his leg.

  Hayes’ face crinkled in thought. “We just finished a six month tour a month ago.”

  “I know but it feels like forever.” Maddox went back to jumping.

  “He’s going to give me a headache,” Hayes pinched the bridge of his nose, “I never thought I’d say this, but someone get that guy his knitting bag.”

  “It’s in the car,” Emma said, digging through her clutch for car keys.

  “Hey, you.” Hayes grabbed one of the festival workers that was milling around the tent. “Go get Maddox his knitting supplies before he blacks out from excitement. He needs to calm the fuck down.”

  The worker’s eyes widened. “Uh…”

  “I’ll get it,” Emma stood, heading for the tent flap. “You,” she pointed at Maddox, “try not to break anything.”

  Maddox grinned, now tapping his drumsticks on the concession table. “No promises.”

  Emma sighed and left.

  Mathias returned, fiddling with his earpiece.

  He strode over to his twin and snatched the drumsticks.

  “Hey!” Maddox made a grab for his stolen drumsticks, but Mathias was faster and turned away. “Give those back!” Maddox demanded, jabbing at his brother.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Wade Brothers: forever twelve years old.” Ezra entered the room, carrying his bass.

  The twins continued to scuffle, completely oblivious to Ezra.

  “You want some water?” Ezra asked me, striding over to the small refrigerator in the corner.

  “I would love some, darling,” Maddox called, still trying to get his drumsticks back from Mathias.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Ezra chuckled.

  Maddox gasped, forgetting his drumsticks. “Lovebug, have you moved on? I thought what we had was real. I’m devastated.”

  Ezra rolled his eyes and grabbed a bottle of water, tossing it to Maddox.

  “You guys have the weirdest bromance ever.” Hayes shook his head.

  “Aw,” Maddox reached up to put his arm around Hayes’ shoulders, “Ez and I are open to making this twosome and threesome.” He winked.

  Hayes shrugged out of Maddox’s hold and his lips twitched with suppressed laughter. “Yeah, I don’t want in on this particular threesome.”

  “Such a shame,” Maddox shook his head, “Ezra and I are a lot of fun.”

  “I’ll live.” Hayes chuckled, leaning his hip against the concession table. He grabbed a handful of chips and started munching.

  “Here,” Emma grouched, shoving the tent flap open, “now chill out.” She held out a blue duffel bag to Maddox.

  “Ooh,” Hayes smiled, “sounds like someone’s in trouble. Will he be sleeping on the couch tonight?” He turned to Emma.

  She smiled, laughing under her breath. “Possibly.”

  “If I knit you a sweater will I redeem myself?” Maddox asked, his eyes round and his lower lip jutting out.

  “It’s ninety degrees outside. Do I look like I want you to knit me a sweater?” She tried to sound serious, but laughter soon infused her tone.

  “You look like you want to be wrapped in my arms.”

  She snorted and then laughed out right. “That’s quite possibly the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “Come on,” Maddox held his arms out, his t-shirt stretching to fit across his broad chest, “let’s hug it out. Hugs make the world a better place.”

  Hayes gagged. “I’m choking on the sweetness. I need to breathe normal air.” He set his guitar aside and headed for the back part of the tent. Bright sunlight streamed in for a moment when he exited and then the tent was plunged into its shaded state once more.

  Ezra appeared in front of me and handed me a bottle of water before sitting down in the chair. “There’s never a dull moment around here,” he commented.

  I nodded in agreement. I sipped at my water as Maddox and Emma pulled up another set of chairs.

  Mathias paced in the corner, talking on his phone. From the sounds of it he was checking in on Remy.

  Maddox sat the duffel bag on the ground and began rummaging through it. Small items fell out and I eyed them before reaching out and picking one up.

  It was a tiny sweater and I had no idea why he would make something so small. I fit it onto my hand and eyed him. “What did you make this for?”

  He looked at me like I was the crazy one. “For Sonic of course. He gets cold.”

  “Your hedgehog?”

  “Do you know any other Sonic’s?”

  “I guess not.” I tossed the small sweater back into his duffel bag.

  He began knitting and I couldn’t make out what it was. “What is that?” I asked, my brows wrinkling in confusion.

  He held it up. “It’s baby socks. For my future niece or nephew, since my asshole brother won’t tell me what his kid is.” He raised his voice and glared at his twin. Emma tried not to smile since we both knew the gender of Mathias and Remy’s child.

  Mathias ended his call and stuffed the phone in his back pocket. “It’s a fucking boy!” He lifted his arms at his sides. “Happy now?”

  “Immensely.” Maddox grinned, sitting the yellow yarn away and pulling out baby blue. “Now I can make my nephew a proper sock and blanket set.”

  Mathias closed my eyes. “How on Earth are we twins?”

  “Well, you see,” Maddox
started, “a sperm met an egg, and said, ‘Oh hello, Imma fertilize you.’ So then the fertilized egg split in utero—”

  “M’kay, I got it.” Mathias held up a hand for Maddox to shut up.

  “Does my nephew have a name?” Maddox returned to the previous conversation.

  Mathias scrubbed a hand over his lightly stubbled jaw. “It’s Liam.”

  “So…are you going to tell mom she’s having a grandson named Liam, because you know she’s pissed you guys haven’t revealed the gender.”

  “I might as well now.” Mathias tossed his hands in the air. “Can’t keep a fucking secret in this family. Everybody has to know everything.” He grumbled under his breath.

  “You guys are going on in five.” A guy appeared at the front of the tent, holding up five fingers and wiggling them around. “Are you going to be ready?”

  “Absolutely.” Maddox said, packing up his knitting supplies. “Although, we’re currently missing our guitar player. He’s probably getting a blowjob behind the tent. Would you mind fetching him for us? I’ve seen his dick one too many times.”

  “Maddox!” Emma hissed, smacking his arm.

  He chuckled and kissed her. She made a big show of wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand.

  The festival worker looked at Maddox in horror.

  “He’s messing with you,” Ezra put the poor guy out of his misery, “don’t worry, I’ll get Hayes.”

  “Uh…okay…thanks.” The guy ducked away.

  “You know that guy is probably going to blab what you said and it’ll end up on TMZ by tomorrow.” Ezra eyed Maddox.

  Maddox dismissed his words with a wave of his hand. “The media has said worse things about all of us before. This is nothing. Besides, Hayes has a sense of humor so he’ll think it’s funny. Unlike some people.” His gaze swiveled to his twin brother.

  “Two minutes!” Someone called.

  Hayes reappeared at this call and the guys headed to the back of the tent and out into the open air.

  Emma and I went in the opposite direction to join the spectators.

  The crowd was huge, but that was really no surprise.

  The stage was fairly large with a screen behind it, flashing the Willow Creek logo.

  Maddox’s drum kit already sat on the stage and I had to laugh. He’d had it custom painted with Sonic the Hedgehog—the video game hedgehog, not his pet.