“That’s great!” Harold exclaimed. His tone never truly changed much, even when I was doing my best to either annoy him or embarrass him. It was like he was always in a great mood, no matter what was happening. I think I could have told him I was contemplating ending it all over the holidays and he would have answered me the same way. He reminded me of Jenny, but in an unrealistic way, like he silently cursed me the second he hung up the phone. Whatever. So long as he made me famous, I didn’t care what he thought about me.

“Good news, Mr. Hancock, everything is ready and we’re all set to film the pilot episode on Monday. Pack your bags, it’s time to come to L.A.”

“Great…I’ll be there.” Somehow.

“Perfect!” He gave me some pointers on where to go and how to get there, and then said, “Everything about this show is top-notch. I can’t wait for you to see the set. See you Monday, Mr. Hancock.”

“Yep, see you then.” Frowning, I tucked my hair behind my ears. It was nearly to my shoulders now, and I could easily pull it back into a ponytail if I wanted. I loved having it loose and free though. What should I tell the guys? Would they be fine with the same thing I’d told Anna? Probably not, they’d bitch that they weren’t included. I ignored the annoying section of my brain that was shouting that I would bitch too if I were them and focused instead on my storytelling skills. Fuck, I was a horrible liar. Hmm, it had to be somewhat realistic to be believable. I’d just say I was visiting family for a while. Yeah, that would totally work.

I let the guys know I was leaving when we met up that night at Kellan’s recording studio. “Hey, so…I’m gonna be heading out of town for a while…I’m leaving tomorrow night actually.” Matt, Evan, and Kellan all twisted to look at me. We’d just finished the final pass on the last song, and everyone was putting away their instruments. I was still playing with mine, while a strange emotion ripped my belly apart. Fear? Nerves? Guilt? Nah, couldn’t be that. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I deserved this.

Matt furrowed his brow. “We just finished the album. We’ve got to get it to label so they can start production. We’ll have interviews starting soon, promotional tours, late-night TV gigs…you can’t disappear right now, Griffin. We’ve got work to do.”

I held up my hand to stop his rambling. “I know. Chill…I was just thinking of visiting my parents for a few days. Maybe check up on Chelsey. Her husband is still overseas, and she’s raising those girls alone, you know?”

Mentioning my sister softened Matt. “Oh, well, yeah, that’s fine. Just…don’t vanish or anything.”

A small smile played across my lips. Vanishing was the last thing I intended on doing.

Chapter 10

Awesometopia

The following night, I was on my way to Los Angeles to film the pilot for my sure-to-be-a-hit TV show. Anna had offered to come with me to keep me company and to check out the set of the commercial she thought I was filming. Having her there would bust apart my lie though, so I’d had no choice but to weave another half truth, something that would make her want to stay home. “It’s just a few days, babe, and I’m gonna stay with my family while I’m there. Mom wants to do a late Thanksgiving/early Christmas mega-holiday, so everyone is going to be there. It’s gonna be crazy loud.”

For a minute, I thought I’d miscalculated Anna’s desire to join in the festivities, but once I mentioned that it would be loud, she grimaced. “Yeah, okay. If it’s just a few days, I guess I’ll stay here. I am sad that I won’t get to see the set though…which reminds me, what is the commercial for anyway? You never did tell me…”

She tilted her head as she stared at me, like she was just now realizing it was odd that I’d never gone into detail about it. And it was odd. And hard. Resisting the urge to tell her every aspect of the show was slowly giving me an ulcer. Keeping secrets sucked. The truth would come out soon enough though, and hopefully when it did, she wouldn’t be too steamed at me to listen—I was dying to tell her.

“Oh, well it’s…” I looked around the bedroom for inspiration. What would I be good at selling to the world? Condoms? Aftershave? Baby-making juice? Seeing something delicious on my dresser, I told her, “Whiskey. It’s a commercial for whiskey.” Even as a jolt of guilt knotted my stomach, I couldn’t contain my smile. That had been a well-crafted lie. Me being a whiskey spokesman was totally believable. And actually, that would be pretty awesome. If this opportunity led to that one, it would complete the circle of my epicness.

Anna gave me a bright grin that made my dick throb. If she hadn’t been holding Onnika, I would have tossed her down on the bed and given her some of my superspecial baby-making juice before I left. “That is perfect for you, babe. You’re gonna nail this! I can’t wait to tell everyone.”

Knowing she couldn’t do that yet, I firmly reminded her of something I’d said right after I told her I took the job. “Remember our plan, Anna. I need to be the one to break it to the guys, or else they’re gonna be whiny little prisses about me doing something outside of the band. They’d probably try and compare it to Kellan almost taking that solo gig last month, but it’s nothing like that. For one, this is acting, not music, so it doesn’t count…but those asses won’t see it that way, so until it’s said and done, I need you to respect the sacred pact of husband and wife, the My secrets die with you bond, and not say a word. Not even to Kiera.” I’d said that with a stern finger raised to her face. I couldn’t risk her sisterly bond trumping our marriage bond. I needed her to support me on this, even if she didn’t understand why.