Crashing East (The Save Me Series Book 4)

by Aly Stiles

  She grins and pulls in a deep breath. “Popcorn?”

  “Extra butter and legit big-ass portions of it.”

  She laughs and starts the engine.

  Over the next few weeks we finally settle into some semblance of normalcy for our little family. The band continues to make progress with writing and recording, and I’m happy with the development of our sound. We’re meshing beautifully, playing like a band that’s been together for years, not weeks. In just over a month we’ve put together a solid five songs ready to launch—as soon as we find a name.

  They’re starting to get frustrated with me for shooting down every idea, but nothing feels right. We need to find our way after Eastern Crush. This isn’t just about music; this is redemption. And not just for me and Max. Viv has plenty to prove as well with her new career, so I know deep down she feels that same pressure to transcend.

  Naomi settles into a routine as well. Her grades improve and her teachers notice a marked difference in her attitude from the previous months. She even brought a friend over to study and do whatever it is preteen girls do behind closed doors. I don’t know what it is but it involves a lot of giggling and the word “ew.”

  But my favorite moments are when it’s just the two of us and our guitars. She’s getting pretty good for only playing a month. Her showcase song is spot on, though I can tell she’s nervous about the prospect of performing on a stage. I try to reassure her as much as possible, giving her as many tips as I can from my own experience. Besides, I’ll be right there, cheering her on along with Viv and Hadley.

  Hadley.

  It’s getting harder and harder to pretend there’s nothing serious going on there. I think about her whenever she’s not around, obsess over her when she is. She’s become the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Seriously, her parents are idiotic for not being able to see how amazing she is. But the fatal blow to my resistance has been the way she’s opened her heart and arms to Naomi. There’s no defense when the two of them team up and share some girl bond I will never understand. I love that I don’t have to with Hadley around. I’m falling hard and fast, even though I do my best to play it cool.

  The problem is, things are just starting to smooth out for Naomi for the first time since Ashley’s death. I can’t bring myself to disrupt our balance by introducing a girlfriend to the mix—even if it is the one person she seems to like more than me. Maybe it’s because of that. I don’t want to mess with their connection either.

  “What time is that party tonight?” Naomi asks, sucking on a popsicle. That’s her new thing. Cherry popsicles. I’ve had to limit it to two a day because that amount of sugar and synthetic dyes can’t be good for anyone.

  “We’ll leave in an hour.”

  “Cool. What’s the dress code?”

  I look up from my laptop screen where I’ve been working on the finances, which have gotten much easier since the insurance check came in. “Um…”

  Her bright red popsicle lips press together. “Please tell me you know the dress code.”

  I shrug with a lopsided grin. “I mean, I’ll be wearing jeans and a button-down shirt.”

  “You always wear jeans and a button-down!”

  “Not true. I wear jeans and t-shirts a lot too. Also jeans and a hoodie on occasion.”

  I don’t like the way she’s directing that popsicle at me. The frozen sugar water has been filed down to a point that looks like it could do some serious damage.

  “You need to know these things, Uncle J! It’s different for girls. I mean, do I wear a dress? Or jeans? A sweater or a crop top?”

  “Um, okay, well you’re not wearing a crop top so... And do you even own a dress?”

  “Ugh. So not the point!” She throws up her arms.

  I bite back a smile and focus on my screen. “Text Hadley then. Maybe she knows.”

  She’s quiet for a second, and I think maybe she’s doing that until she says, “Actually, about that. When are you going to finally put on your big boy pants and ask her out?”

  I cough through the water I just swallowed. “What?”

  She rests her fist on her hip. “Come on, Uncle J. I’m not stupid. It’s sooo obvious you two are into each other. And she’s, like, so far out of your league too. You need to lock that shit down while you can.”

  “Language,” I say, still choking on her words.

  She shakes her head, the popsicle dagger in my face again. “What do you tell me all the time?”

  I blink at her, a smile creeping over my lips at the miniature Ashley in front of me. “Any dream worth having will take a piece of your soul.”

  “Exactly. Don’t be a wuss. Get on that.” With an emphatic shake of the popsicle, she shoves it back in her mouth with a smug look.

  I grin and shake my head as she marches down the hall, totally oblivious. I can’t freaking wait for tonight, and not just because I’ll get to see Hadley. What Naomi doesn’t know is that this party has nothing to do with a Turner Artist Management client meet-and-greet as she’s been told. No, this is a good old fashioned surprise birthday party for a little girl who missed her last one.

  Everyone’s here. Bring her in whenever you’re ready.

  I read the text from Hadley after we pull into a parking space at the theater. My heart is racing but I can’t tell if it’s from the anticipation of the surprise, or just my standard reaction every time I get a message from Hadley. Naomi’s right. Now that I have her blessing, I do need to get on that because continuing on without Hadley in my life isn’t an option I’m interested in. A problem for later, though. For now, we have a soon-to-be twelve-year-old to celebrate. Her real birthday is tomorrow and she thinks we’ll be doing an intimate get-together with just a few of us at our place.

  “You sure I look okay?” she asks for the tenth time since we left the apartment.

  “You look awesome,” I say.

  She does too. Her pink sweater goes perfectly with her wavy blond hair that’s resembling her natural color more and more. It’s taken a couple more (expensive) trips to the salon to get there, but you almost can’t tell where her roots meet up with the colored portion. Or so I’m told by the girls. Her hair wasn’t blond and now it is. That was pretty much the extent of my observation on the subject.

  We’re coming in, I type back to Hadley.

  “You look good too, Uncle J,” she says, tugging my sleeve as we start toward the building. “Hadley’s gonna like this shirt on you.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. She told me she thinks you’re hot.”

  I swallow a chuckle. “Did she now?”

  She shrugs. “Gross, but whatever.” Her gaze narrows at the entrance to the small theater. “Are you sure we’re at the right place? It doesn’t look open.”

  “Hmm… pretty sure. Let me check.” I pull out my phone and pretend to look it up. “I mean, this is what the invitation said.”

  “Yeah, but... maybe you should call someone.”

  “Let’s try the door at least.” I pull on the handle, and we exchange a look when it opens. “Maybe they’re in another part of the building?”

  We enter the dark foyer and scan the empty space.

  “This doesn’t look right. They’d at least have a light on, right?” Naomi says, squinting around.

  I scratch my chin. “Oh wait, look.” I point to the double doors to the auditorium where a sliver of light escapes through a crack.

  She seems to relax, and we head toward it. I grip the handle and pull on the door. “After you, my lady,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. Inside I’m jumping up and down like a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

  She steps past and—

  “Surprise!”

  Naomi freezes in the aisle, staring at the crowd of faces with a stunned expression. “Wha… I don’t…”

  I wrap my arm around her shoulders and squeeze her to my side. “Happy birthday, kiddo,” I say softly.

  She looks up at me, her eyes glossy
and wide. “This is for me?”

  I nod, blinking back emotion of my own. So annoying how easy it is for this girl to make me choke up. “It is.”

  She turns and throws her arms around my waist, and I tighten her to me. I lean down and kiss the top of her head before she releases me to face her guests again.

  “Happy birthday, Naomi,” Hadley says, approaching with a wrapped gift and a giant grin.

  Naomi returns it, still in shock as she takes the package with trembling hands. Everyone is here. Viv and Oliver, the rest of the band, the few friends of Naomi’s that I knew enough about to invite. Even Mason showed up with his daughter Brooklyn. Maybe that invite was a stretch, but Mason helped us through that first brutal month together, so whether Naomi knows it or not, he’s a big reason we got this far. Plus, Brooklyn was the only other kid I knew in our circles.

  Hadley leans down to give Naomi a hug, and my heart explodes at the image of them locked in an embrace. Tonight is the night. Tonight I tell Hadley I want more than steamy secret hookups and flirty texts.

  My nerves go haywire again at the thought. What if she doesn’t want that? What if I mess up what we do have? I’m the king of messes after all. What if she decides I’m not worth fixing?

  I shove my hands in my back pockets as I watch Naomi greet her guests. Each one gets a louder squeal than the last, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so happy. I was hesitant about this. A surprise party is the last thing the girl who came to my door a couple of months ago probably would have wanted. But that was before she knew she was loved. That she was important. That she has more than a family; she has a community that wants her to thrive.

  Emotion wells in me again as I watch that community swarm around her now, swallowing her up in a sea of warmth and love.

  “Good job, Uncle J,” a voice that’s definitely not my niece says beside me. I glance over, my heart racing at the sight of Hadley. Damn, she’s beautiful tonight. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, everything is a straight-up portrait of perfection. Or maybe it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with how I feel about her.

  “Thanks. I’m glad she seems to be enjoying it.”

  “She’s thrilled. Look at her.”

  Naomi laughs at something Oliver is saying to her, and Viv has her arm draped over her shoulders. She has to be on cloud nine right about now.

  “She deserves to be thrilled for a while,” I say quietly. I flinch when a hand slips into mine, warm sparks becoming hot when she entwines our fingers. With each passing second of silence, the nagging voice in my head gets louder and louder. Soon it’s Naomi yelling at me in an invisible kitchen. Don’t be a wuss, Uncle J!

  I clear my throat and tug our hands to get her attention. “So, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  Her gaze shifts to me, filling with what I’m hoping is anticipation and not dread. I look away, trying to gather the nerve. Shit, how do you do this? I didn’t even have these stupid conversations in high school.

  “Julian?” Hadley jiggles our knotted hands.

  “Yeah. Um.” My free fingers lock in my hair. I pull, struggling to sort through the tornado of emotions swirling around inside me right now. Maybe this was a bad idea. No, not maybe. This was a terrible idea. I should have done this over dinner or something. Sunsets and roses and all that shit. Not at my niece’s birthday party.

  I glance at her quickly, cringing at the expectant look on her face. Crap, it’s too late to back out now. Here goes nothing.

  “So Naomi mentioned something tonight that got me thinking.” I can’t look at Hadley as I search for the words. “She thinks we should, well, you know… be together… like for real?” It comes out as a question, and I lift my gaze to hers, my heart pounding.

  She’s biting back a smile. Great… that’s what every guy wants to see in this situation.

  “Naomi thinks that? So you’re speaking on behalf of Naomi?” she asks, clearly amused.

  I grunt, and clench my eyes shut for a second. “No, I mean, not just Naomi. Me. I do too. It’s just, Naomi brought it up and said I need to make a move and lock you in as my girlfriend before it’s too late.” Yeah. So that wasn’t the smoothest line of all time. Shit.

  Of course Hadley’s amused smile grows into a grin. She taps her chin, thinking. “Wait, I’m confused. Is Naomi asking me to be your girlfriend, or are you?”

  “Me,” I rush out. “Of course I want that too. Not just Naomi.”

  “Right. So…” Her eyebrows lift as she waits.

  I swallow, having no idea what she’s waiting for.

  “So…” she repeats, urging me with a look.

  Yeah, still nothing.

  She narrows her gaze and yanks our hands again. “How in the world can someone as attractive and experienced as you be so bad at this?”

  “You think I’m attractive?” I ask, a smile finally escaping.

  “Missing the point,” she mutters. “You still haven’t asked me a question, Julian.”

  I tense and stare at her in disbelief. “Wait, you actually want me to say it in literal terms? Do you want it on a piece of notebook paper with a ‘circle yes or no’ also?”

  She smacks my chest, and I grin back, capturing her hand against me. We’re now connected in two places, her face inches from mine. God, I love riling her up.

  “Fine.” I clear my throat, bat my eyes, and give her the most intense romance movie stare I can muster. “Hadley Crawford, would you do me the honor of officially being my girlfriend?”

  She keeps a straight face for all of two seconds before blowing out a snort laugh. “Okay. You were right. It was way better without the question.”

  “Told you,” I say with a shrug. She makes a face, but I still win when she leans forward and rests her lips against mine in a long, soft kiss. It’s not enough, and I thread my hands in her hair to deepen it.

  “How about this?” I say, finally pulling back to see her eyes. “Hadley Crawford, would you be willing to stay around and be the fixer to my mess?”

  Something flickers in her face before she shakes her head. “Actually, no. I don’t think so.”

  I drop my hands, confused. Oh shit. How badly did I screw this up? My pulse pounds, shivers running through me. I swallow hard, my mouth going dry as she pulls her arms away as well. I don’t breathe again until she locks them around my neck instead.

  Her smile grows, betraying her words as she searches my eyes. “Thing is, I’m starting to really like your mess, Julian Campbell. I’m thinking maybe we should keep it.”

  After the main greeting at the entrance of the auditorium, the real party moves to the large backstage area where tables of food and seating have been arranged. If not for the balloons and decorations, it would’ve felt like a preshow green room experience. I’m half-expecting to trip over crates and cases piled around the tables, crewmembers milling around to grab a sandwich during their break. But not tonight. Tonight the buffet chafing dishes are filled with Naomi’s favorites, including a fully-loaded waffle bar. I caught her squeal on video when she saw it.

  She’s seated at a small table with Mason’s daughter Brooklyn who instantly latched onto her. I love how Naomi seems just as awed by the attention and treats the much younger girl with patience and interest. I’ll have to talk to Mason about getting these two together more often.

  “So this is my pony bracelet,” Brooklyn is saying as I approach and hover out of sight behind them. “It’s pink but not my favorite. Because this is my favorite.” She leans forward, tugging on a beaded necklace around her neck. Naomi slouches lower in her chair to inspect it.

  “Oh, that’s cute. It looks like it has diamonds.”

  “I know! Because it’s a princess necklace. Daddy gave it to me for Christmas. But they’re not real diamonds, though, because Daddy says I’ll lose them and they’re not good for sandboxes. Did you know I have a sandbox?”

  Naomi bites her lip through a smile and shakes her head. “No, that’s cool,
though. I don’t have one.”

  “What?!” Brooklyn cries. “You can use mine then. Do you want to come over tomorrow and go in my sandbox?”

  “Um…” Naomi looks ready to laugh but holds it in. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’d have to talk to my uncle.”

  A light slap on my arm grabs my attention, and I turn my head to find Mason standing beside me. He nods toward the two girls and grins. I nod back in a silent pact not to disturb them, even though we’re enjoying the show.

  “I like your sweater,” Brooklyn continues. “Do you want to know something?”

  Naomi smiles and leans close when Brooklyn takes her sleeve to pull her in. “You look like a princess.”

  Naomi startles a bit before her lips spread into a grin. “Really? Thanks, so do you.”

  Brooklyn beams and sits back in her chair. “Thank you very much. You know who else does? My mommy.”

  Mason shifts beside me, and I look over to find a wistful expression on his face. I don’t want to know what my own looks like right now. My heart sinks to my stomach as Naomi stares down at her lap and plays with the hem of her sweater.

  “That’s cool. I don’t have a mommy anymore.”

  Brooklyn sighs. “I don’t either. Except for Mama Lib but she’s just my new mommy. I had another one before her but she died when I was a baby.”

  Naomi’s head snaps up to the little girl. “Really?” she asks in a shaky tone.

  Brooklyn nods, eyes wide and earnest. “Yes. I didn’t bring my Mommy Book but I’ll show it to you when you come over to play in the sandbox. It’s how I ‘member her always. It’s got lots of pictures and remembories. Do you have a Mommy Book?”

  Naomi sucks in a breath and shakes her head. “N… no. Not really.”

  Brooklyn tilts her head. “You don’t? You should. Then you can ‘member your mommy too. You can put all your favorite remembories in it.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Naomi says quietly. My heart breaks at the tears in her voice. I instinctively take a step toward her, but Mason pulls me back. His eyes are warm and compassionate as he shakes his head and holds a finger to his lips.