Handing over his bags to Sheri, Phil came up to us. “Where are you goin’?”

“To work, like I do every day when there’s a festival,” I replied.

“Can I walk with you?”

Lili snorted back a snicker.

“I got a chaperone already. Thanks,” I replied tartly.

“What? Pygmy? What’s she gonna do?”

“How are your shins?” she asked sweetly.

“Still bruised. Thanks for asking,” he replied just as sweetly. “Can I hold your hand while I walk with you?”

“No,” I retorted, fighting a case of twitchy lip.

“How about a finger? Come on. Just the little one?” He hooked his pinkie with mine. “See? Can I do this?”

My threatening grin broke loose, and his dimples responded in full force.

“Sweet,” he stated happily. “Are you guys gonna be gone for long?”

Lili shrugged.

“Long enough to do our jobs,” I replied.

“You’ll be back to have dinner with us?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Just wonderin’. Will you sit next to me?”

“No.”

“Across from me?”

Halting my stride, I turned to face him, and his smiling face had me cracking up.

“What are you up to?”

“I just wanna be with my Baby Girl as much as I can. How is that so wrong?”

Lili laughed outright and moved off toward the checkpoint.

“You know why,” I said.

“I can’t have you forgettin’ that I absolutely adore you, Kenna, or that I love you more than anythin’ else in the whole world. Just because you won’t let me shag you into a good mood doesn’t mean I’m givin’ up on makin’ you happy.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. It seems I’ll need all the luck I can get. You’re a stubborn little shit when you wanna be, you know that?”

Rolling my eyes, I moved on toward the checkpoint, and he snatched my pinkie again.

“So…” he said.

“So?”

“Will you sit across from me at dinner?”

Smiling, I replied, “I’ll think about it.”

Showing my pass to security, I headed into the fairgrounds where Lili was patiently waiting for me.

“Have a good time, Baby Girl!” Phil’s voice bellowed.

Stunned, Lili and I turned to see him standing by the ten-foot-high chain-link fence. He grabbed on to it and rattled it loudly.

“I love you, Kenna MacGregor!” he roared.

“Oh my God!” gasped Lili. “He’s fucking lost it!”

“‘You light up my life!’” he continued, drawing way too much attention from both sides of the fence, which he was still rattling like a head case.

“Dude, is Phil fucking Deveraux bellowing Debby Boone?” I asked Lili.

She nodded vigorously. Phil continued to belt out the lyrics at the top of his mighty lungs.

“Phil!” I hissed, waving at him to stop.

Civilians were gathering. Phil wasn’t the least bit fazed, and he continued to croon the cheesy lyrics at full lung capacity.

“You’re a fucking madman!” I shouted.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, he roared, “Good! I wondered if you got my love letter!”

Rolling my eyes again, I waved, letting him know we were leaving. As I turned around to leave, he rattled the fence again.

“Kenna!”

“What!”

“I love you! I love you, Baby Girl!”

Spinning around, I marched back up to him. People were seriously gathering now, and a mob could be forming.

“What do you want, Phil?” I hissed.

“I want a kiss.” He pouted.

“I’m not coming back around.”

He mashed his face through the fence and puckered up. Heaving a sigh, I pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Another one? Come on, I won’t get to see you all damn day.”

This time, his fingers caressed my cheek through the chain links as my lips made contact once more.

“Thanks, Baby Girl,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, quit being an ass.”

“Your ass,” he stated with a grin. Then, his face grew serious. “Kenna, I—”

Lili came up and grabbed my hand. “Knock it off! You’re about to incite a fucking riot!”

Phil looked surprised when he glanced over my head. People were starting to come over, and before the situation could get hairy, Lili dragged me off as the mob descended on Phil, asking him to sign autographs through the fence. Security personnel gathered, too, trying to get a handle on the situation.

“He’s insane!” huffed Lili. “Let’s have a beer. I need one after that little demonstration!”

“Yeah, you and me both.”

After a couple of hours, Lili headed back to the bus to hang out with Lewis while I went looking through a few stalls for some band T-shirts. The sight of a five-member NOLA’s Junk shirt made me feel so happy that I bought one, admiring my brother’s sultry good looks, as he and Phil stood in the background of the photo plastered on the front.

Poking around for a bit, I returned to the checkpoint in the late afternoon, thinking it’d be nice to have a spliff and hang out with friends before dinnertime. My mood was pretty fucking good, so much so that I was considering sitting in Phil’s lap at dinner. His antics earlier had given me a warm glow that only grew brighter as the hours separated us.

That was no doubt why the gods had decided to have Brigid ambush me as I walked through the checkpoint.

“Hey, Kenna! Would you mind autographing this for me? I had no idea you were a bit of a legend on this side of the Atlantic!”

Brigid was sporting some bruises and a fat scabbed lip as she smiled an evil, spiteful smile. Thrusting an open magazine onto my clipboard, she shoved a black Sharpie on top.

The photo and title on the page sent a bolt of nausea rolling through my gut. I really wished I’d had something more in it because I’d have loved nothing more than to vomit all over her busted face and the page.

IS THIS THE REAL BABY GIRL?

Rumors are flying that Phil Deveraux is fighting once again with Devon GianFranco over the love of his life, Brigid Von Deitrich, Swiss bombshell, and the true inspiration of his Baby Girl.

Beneath the text screamed a photo of Phil and Brigid at the Burger Shed, showing Phil’s head thrown back in laughter while Brigid gave a slight smile. I had to admit, they did look stunning together.

Yanking the cap off the Sharpie, I scribbled a note.

Note of Prescription for Brigid Von Douche Bitch: Lithium, 1000mg, 10 x daily.

Dr. Kenna MacGregor, MD

“Here you go,” I replied in the sickliest sweet voice I could manage, handing the magazine back to her.

“You do realize that the little stunt he pulled today was to keep the public in confusion, right? It’s all publicity.” She smirked at me for a moment and then glanced down at the magazine.

Taking this opportunity, I turned around and walked away.

“Lithium?”

“It’s an anti-psychotic, Ms. Douche Bitch,” I called over my shoulder. “Make of that what you will.”

Good mood shattered and scattered to the four fucking winds, I stomped onto the bus with the force of a small hurricane, yanking off my bag and tossing it onto the couch.

“Are you okay?” came Phil’s voice from behind me.

So enraged was I that I hadn’t even seen him sitting at one of the tables, playing cards with Flipper and X.

“I’m fine!” I yelled, attempting to blast holes in the floor with my feet as I stomped toward my foxhole.

Phil’s hand clasped gently around my upper arm. “Baby Girl—”

Twirling around to face him, I punched him over his chest tattoo. “Don’t ever fucking call me that again!” I screamed.

Pain and shock twisted his features. “What?”

“Fucking Baby Girl! Brigid now holds that fucking title! That name is forever warped and polluted by that foul piece-of-shit excuse for a human being!” Rage was consuming me, shivering meanly through my veins, making my whole body convulse. Shit, even my eye was twitching.

“What are you talking about?” asked Phil.