“Hey, don’t give me that look; otherwise I might start kissing you and we know where that leads.” She points her finger at the open door. “And as much as I want things to lead in that direction, both of our parents are downstairs.” She grins. “However, if you want, I can totally get some alone time later.”

Just thinking about being alone with her causes my pulse to throb. “I definitely want that.”

“Good.” She leans in and brushes her lips against mine. “Now, do you want to read my song?”

I steal another kiss. “Of course.”

Grinning from ear to ear, she flips open her notebook and sets it on my lap, pointing at which page to read.

Our bodies wind

Creating the perfect song

As your lips fuse to mine.

I could do this all night long.

Lie here

Tangled up with you.

So closely

No one will know

Where you start

And where I end.

My heart is pounding

With every stolen kiss

My mind is racing

Longing for a wish

That we could stay like this.

Always.

So closely

No one will know

Where you start

And where I end.

This moment with you,

God it’s branded in my mind.

I want to keep it forever

Trap it inside

So it’ll always be mine.

Forever.

So closely

No one will know

Where you start

And where I end.

“I want to sing it one day during a concert,” she announces after I’m done reading it. “I won’t do it, though, unless you promise to sing it with me.”

I think she might be secretly asking a question without actually having to say it aloud. But I can’t promise her I’ll go on the tour yet. Not until I find out what’s going to happen with Sadie. As of now, I have no clue what kind of condition she’s in, and she doesn’t even have a place to live. And I need to be here for her while all that is out.

“Maybe one day we can sing it,” I say, shutting the notebook.

“Okay. Just as long as it definitely happens.” She tries not to frown. “Tonight we’re playing at my dad’s club with a guy that Sage wants to be our new guitarist. You should come so you can see how bad we suck. Maybe you can give him a few pointers.”

I can’t contain my laughter.

“Hey, I’m not trying to be funny.” She playfully pinches my side.

“I know you’re not.” My laughter dies down. “It’s just the first time I’ve seen you be so pessimistic about something.”

“Music is my life, and so is the band,” she tells me. “And this guy makes us look like amateurs. We’re going to be booed off the stage.”

“I’m sure that won’t happen.”

“At least promise you’ll be there tonight in case it does, so I can have a shoulder to cry on.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.” I don’t believe for a second that they’ll be booed off stage, but if she needs me to be there then I will.

“Now kiss me, before you have to leave,” Lyric demands, leaning in.

We steal a few more kisses before Lila shouts up the stairs that it’s time to go.

“See you tonight,” I tell Lyric as I collect my stuff and climb off the bed.

She nods, her lips swollen from my kisses. “Text me if you need anything. Even if it’s just to talk.”

I promise her I will, then I meet Lila and Ethan downstairs and we head out to the car.

On the way to the hospital, Lila asks me at least ten times how I’m doing. Like always, I tell her that I’m okay, but this time, I actually am. Yeah, I still have nightmares sometimes and there are moments when I cry, mostly when I think about my brother’s death and Sadie in the hospital. Even my mother’s death gets to me. But for the first time in my life, I actually feel free from the past now that it’s behind bars. There are tons of charges against the people who tortured my siblings and me; charges ranging from murder to kidnapping. Detective Rannali assures me they have a solid case, which should keep my father and his followers there for a very long time.

“Ayden, we wanted to talk to you about something before we go in,” Lila says to me after she parks the car in the hospital parking lot.

It’s midday and the sun shines through the windows, heating up the car the moment she turns off the engine.

“What’s up?” I ask, confused by how nervous she seems.

She trades a look with Ethan, and he twists around in the passenger seat to look at me,