I laughed, and we chatted a bit more until he put Nora on.

“How’s this V chick doing? I hope she’s ready for questions, because I want to know all about the girl that Lion Boy is bringing home. Frankly, I’m shocked you’d even bring her back to BA and around all those crazy people we went to high school—”

“About that. I’m not sure if she’s coming.” We hadn’t talked in the three days, not since the camping trip. I cleared my throat. “She’s—I don’t know—it’s weird right now.”

She got quiet and I could imagine her standing in her new house, narrowed eyes, trying to suss me out from two thousand miles away. A notorious people watcher, she had a big brain, and her favorite pastime was figuring out what made people tick.

She said, “I’m hearing some uncertainty in your voice. What’s going on? Do I need to come to LA and kick some girl’s ass? Or are you the one with the problem? Hmmm, come on, you can tell your stepmom.”

I groaned. “Just because you’re married to the man who raised me does not make me your stepson. Just ewwww.” I paused. “But back to V—we got physical and things are off.”

“Which is code for you had sex, and now you don’t know how to handle it,” she said. “Typical.”

I didn’t want to get into this. “Just put Gabby on, will you?”

She laughed. “Fine, avoid the issue—just like your brother—although I have trained him in the past few years to talk about his feelings …” she trailed off and I heard muffled laughter and then silence.

“Nora?”

I could hear rustling sounds—and then sighs.

“Are you getting busy with Leo while I’m on the phone with you?” I called out.

From next to me, Spider did a lewd gesture with his hands and Vilma’s eyebrows went up. Meh. It was Leo and Nora and they were known to be lusty.

“Nora, I’m hanging up if you don’t say anything.”

Her disembodied voice came through. “Okay. Enough. Stop kissing me there, Leo.” She giggled.

I shook my head. “Get a damn room and put Gabby on.”

“Okay, okay, here she is,” Nora said, and I heard Gabby breathing into the phone. I went into crazy uncle mode, as Spider called it, and started in with some baby talk and then sang the “Superman” song for her. It was our thing. We passed people on the street who stared, but it didn’t slow me down. I pictured her in Nora’s arms, clutching the phone to her head, her blue eyes—which were just like mine and Leo’s—as big as saucers as she hung on to my every word.

I said my goodbyes when we were led to our table at the Rio. We settled in and ordered drinks. I got a beer and Spider ordered a double shot of Jack.

Vilma began her interview as we ate. A pretty Latino with long dark hair and nice curves, Spider’s eyes kept drifting over her assets. Thinking of Mila, I barely resisted the urge to kick him under the table,

“Our tag line for the cover is going to be The Best in Indie.” Vilma said. “It’s quite an honor for the Vital Rejects to be on the list, and I just wanted to say that when this story came across my desk, I got giddy. Your music is one of my personal favorites. Can you tell me what’s in store for the band next? Is it true there’s a movie in the works?” she asked us.

Uh, no.

I cleared my throat. “We’re working in the studio on a new album. We don’t have definite tour dates yet, but they are coming. As far as movie rumors, we’ve not signed any deals.” In fact, I’d been toying with the idea of ditching Harry and looking for other representation.

She scribbled in her notebook and then looked back up. “And the question everyone wants to know is are you still dating Blair Storm? You haven’t been seen in public since the Hollywood Insider ran photos of you with a dark-haired girl. Can you tell me more about who this girl is and is she someone special?”

My mouth dried. I knew the tough questions were coming, and I could handle reporters, especially ones who tended to blush every time I looked at them, but this time I froze. I realized I wanted to be seen with V in public—even if we were just friends.

I must have waited too long to answer. Spider jumped in. “Blair is such an incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out, and one of our dearest friends, especially mine. She is an inspiration to me.” He leaned in. “In fact, she’s donating fifty thousand dollars to the Lyons Place Orphanage here in LA. You must ask her about it. Her fans would love to hear how Miss Storm supports the needy.” Yeah, Spider had a vindictive streak.

Vilma wrote in her book furiously while I just shook my head.

“So you and Blair are just friends?” she asked.

She wasn’t going to let it go. I licked my lips. “Blair’s a very special person in my life.” Special like a lunatic. “And that’s all you need to know.”

“What about the Mystery Girl, Sebastian? You’ve never come out and talked about her. Why all the secrecy?”

I stiffened in my seat, setting my beer down carefully as I eyed Vilma. No one was going to harass V.

Vilma picked up on my body cues. “Does that question upset you?”

I smiled tightly. “Of course not. The so-called Mystery Girl is not anyone we know. She happened to get sick at the restaurant and I helped her. That’s all.”

“He’s a fucking hero. That’s what you need to publish.” Spider waggled his eyes at her and ran a finger down her arm. “Now, when are you and I going to have drinks—alone? I need some advice on this new tattoo I want to get—maybe a brown recluse on my arse. What do you think? Would you be scared of that?”