“She’s fine,” I replied, parking it on a spare stool. “She was in the shower when I got there.”

“Mmm…” he said, looking through his sheet music.

“Mmm, what?” I asked.

“She was all alone?”

“Yeah. Why?” Who the fuck else would be in the shower with her—besides freaky alien space dick?

He shrugged. “Just wondering. I think she’s been pretty lonely since Alys and Lili had to go back to work, and you won’t hang with her—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped. “None of you have any fuckin’ idea how hard it is—”

He turned to face me, and he was pissed, real pissed.

“I do know how hard it is for her because she fuckin’ tells me. She’s devastated because seventy-five percent of her life is about music, and she hasn’t heard a single fuckin’ thing in three weeks. She’s fuckin’ terrified that she’ll never hear your voice again, especially since Gavin’s hearing started coming back—”

“When?” I gasped.

“A few days ago. He woke up one morning and could hear. Not a hundred percent, but it’s been improving more and more.”

“She didn’t tell me.”

“You kind of have to be around to have a conversation with her. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass to have to write everything down, but I thought you loved her enough to do that at least.”

Bastard.

He might as well have kicked me in the nuts.

“It’s not that, brother,” I replied.

“Then, what?”

“I’m not discussin’ it with you, man.”

He smirked. “Yeah, she told me about that, too.”

That had to be so fuckin’ bizarre. I’d never had a conversation with Danielle about either of our sex lives. As far as I was concerned, my niece and nephew were among the immaculately conceived. It couldn’t explain how Martin was their father, but I didn’t have to think about that.

“It’s for her own safety,” I said, keeping my voice hushed. “I’d never forgive myself if…”

Connor just nodded, but his next words chilled my soul. “So, what are you going to do if there is something wrong? Is your relationship gonna be reduced to you snuggling up with her in her sleep? Is that all you two will have?”

Heaving a sigh, I replied, “No. We’ll figure that shit out. She’s…she’s my best friend, Connor. Right now, it’s easier for both of us if we’re not all up in each other’s shit. And I don’t feel comfortable talking with you about my sex life with your sister.”

“Says the man who made me play ‘Love Letter,’” he stated sourly.

“Ha-ha! Yeah…”

“It’s not easier for her, man. Kenna’s heartbroken. She tries to convince herself that it’s okay, that you guys are only temporarily separated—”

“We aren’t separated!” I snapped.

“You sure fuckin’ act like you are!” he snapped back. “Kenna has never shown more emotion than when she’s with you! Right now, she’s hurting bad, and it’s not from being blown up. The only thing she’s never been able to hide is how she feels about you, not since that very first time she heard your voice. I saw—”

“What?” I asked, my chest swelling up with undying devotion for my woman.

“She fell in love. You were it for her. I saw that. Your voice connected with something inside her, and she has never been able to let it go. When she’s with you, she lights up. She’s warm and happy. I would hate to see that taken away from her.”

“I’m not leavin’ her, brother. Ever. She’s fuckin’ stuck with me. She’s it for me, too.”

“And if she has to take it easy for however long?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“You won’t go fuckin’ around—”

The closest thing I found to throw at him was the scroungy-looking pillow on the futon. He was lucky because the second closest thing was a beaten-up bass that would’ve hurt a hell of a lot more if it had hit his head instead.

“That ain’t even remotely funny, asshole!” I snarled.

“I’m not laughing!” he said, tossing the pillow back on the futon. “But I’m not keen on watchin’ my sister die a little inside each time you decide you need some head and won’t let her give you a blow job!”

I got up and whacked him upside the head.

“Ow!”

“That’s your fuckin’ sister!”

“She’s your fuckin’ fiancée! Just because you and your sister grew up as prudes—”

I whacked him again.

“Ow!” He stood up and slapped me like a bitch.

I fuckin’ lost it, laughing my ass off. “Seriously? You slapped me?”

“Your sister ain’t a virgin either, douche bag—ow!”

“You take that back!”

“Fuck you!”

I tackled his ass to the floor, and it felt fuckin’ good to beat on someone my own size. We weren’t going for blood or anything, just working out some aggression. Avoiding each other’s faces, we wrestled and wailed on mostly stomachs and ribs. Motherfucker grabbed my hair like a fuckin’ chick, so I did it back. That shit hurt.

Jason charged into the room and tried to pull me off, but I ended up grabbing his ass and slamming him down, too. Then, Connor and I both went after him and gave the poor fucker a wedgie that ripped his designer boxers up his ass crack.

“Fuck!” he shrieked. “I think I’m bleedin’! You fuckers cut a deeper crack in my ass!”

Connor and I cracked up till tears were leaking out. Then, I smacked the soulless ginger for good measure before hauling my ass back to my space.

At six o’clock, I was ready to go home and wait for Kenna to come back from dinner with her friends. Guilt was eating at me, and I needed to tell her that I was sorry. I thought about texting her what I was thinking, but that seemed pretty fuckin’ lame. So, instead, I stayed at the studio, deciding it would be better to get some more shit done. I’d head out in a little while and hopefully get home around the same time she did.

Jason, Connor, and I got together and laid down the foundations for a new track. If we kept on it, we might have it ready to go on the next album. We were raising the standards, and it was proving to be epic.

All was going great until…

Flipper ended up blowing up on Koko from the Space Monkeys. The girl was a brilliant drummer. I’d give her that. But she knew it and liked to argue with Flipper over what would be best in the solo they were working on. The thing she didn’t seem to grasp was that if she was considered brilliant, then Flipper was the God of Percussion. They’d been snipping at each other all damn day, and the rest of us were doing our best to avoid them.

“Connor!” Flipper roared, finding us in the jam-out area. “Fuckin’ take my ass home, man. I’m fuckin’ done!”

“Uh…” Connor looked down in desperation at all we’d written.

“And you!” He pointed at me. “You’re workin’ with that little puta until her fuckin’ arms fall off!”

“Why me?” I shouted back. My shout could trump Flipper’s any day.

“Because you can scare some sense into that shitty little bitch! I’m fuckin’ sick of her whinin’ and complainin’, tellin’ me I don’t understand their music!”

“Seriously?” Jason snorted.

“I’m fuckin’ out!”

Connor put down his bass and stood up. “It’s cool. I wanna see Kenna anyway.”

There he was, kicking me in my nuts again.

Fuckin’ asshole.

Flipper started firing off in Spanglish, and Jason and I picked up our shit. When Flip got his Spanglish on, it was just best to get the fuck out of the way.

“I’ll get in the box and see what’s up with what they’ve recorded already, yeah?” said Jason.

“I don’t wanna work with Koko Loco,” I whined.

Jason just laughed and walked off.

“Order pizza, douche,” I called after him. “I ain’t tryin’ to tame the Asian Sensation on an empty gut. Worse comes to worse, I’ll puke on her to shut her up.”

“She’s got a mouth on her to rival Flip,” Jason conceded.