Page 25

Maybe

Thedoor swings open.

“Jesus!”Iswear, nearly falling off the bed.GlaringatMom,Isay, “YouthinkIcould get a little privacy around here?”

Sheshrugs, perching on the edge of the bed.Hergraying blond hair is up in a bun and she’s wearing her favorite cornflower blue cardigan that complements her pale skin. “No, not really.”

Igrumble under my breath until my phone starts vibrating in my hand. “Hey.”

“Who’sthat?”Momasks the same timeTysays, “Don’tbe teasin’ me like that.”

Itap the screen and hold the phone away from my face. “You’reon speaker withMom.”

“Hi,Mom!”

Herface brightens a hundred watts. “Mybaby from another lady!When’reyou gonna come visit us, huh?Youprobably missedRobbiewhen the band was in town.”Shereaches over and hugs my shoulders. “AndIknow you already missSteph.”

“Yes, ma’am,Ido,” he readily admits. “Andyeah, heard about the fight at the show.It’sa shame the guys can’t keep their act together anymore.”

Shesqueezes my shoulders. “MaybewithStephback in the band, that’ll change.”

Theother end goes silent for a long moment. “Well, that’s news to me.”

Mommakes anoopsface but smiles like she totally meant to spill the beans if they weren’t already. “Ithink they’ve got another show comin’ up soon.Youshould come visit and go.”

“Yeah?I’llcheck the studio schedule and see ifIcan swing it.”

Clearingmy throat and takingTyoff speaker,IpushMomoff the bed. “Alright, you two, enough chitchat.”

Momscrunches her nose with a wave as she shuts the door.Inmy ear,Tyasks, “Shegone?”

Iinhale deeply, bracing myself for the third degree. “Yeah.”

“Whatthe fuck,Steph?Didn’trealize we were lyin’ to each other these days.”

Imake a face. “Ididn’t lie.”

“Yousaid the other day, andIquote, that you were only covering forZaksince he was out sick.AndItold you that was code for ‘givin’ shit a try before they let you back in.”

“Youkeep tellin’ yourself whatever you want, dude, but that’s not what happened.”

“Thepoint being you didn’t tell me,” he says. “Ithought we were a lot closer than that.”

Sighing,Irelent, “Itliterally just happened.Ihaven’t had time to process what’s goin’ on.Ifanything is after this.”

“What’sthat supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.We’rejust working out details.”

“Uh-huh,” he says, clearly not buying it. “Yousure it’s got nothin’ to do with the fact that you’re tryna make shit work in the shit factory that isTimeless? ’CauseIimagine the twins ain’t goin’ nowhere, and that’s gotta be awkward as hell.”

“Ifyou’re just gonna shit-talk my band, thenI’mhanging up.”

“Hey, no, wait.”

Ipause, waiting for him to speak.

“Look,Iknow you bein’ back home has stirred up a lot of old feelings and shit.Ididn’t mean to make things awkward the other night, or before you left—”