Page 27

“We have to do it, Bunny.” Piper bounced in her seat, pulling Bunny from her thoughts. “Think about it, please.”

“I don’t like the idea of this.” Bunny shook her head in the negative as she spoke. She didn’t want to have this discussion with Siena looking on, and who knew what ears might be able to hear them.

“What are your concerns?” Siena asked, giving Bunny her full attention. She always did that, and it won her many clients and a hell of a reputation in an often untrustworthy industry.

How could Bunny articulate it? She didn’t want to make things worse. Even if Bea was using Siena and the concert as a leg up in the industry, could Bunny really blame her? Everyone had their angle. Bunny and Piper had their own angles while they were starting out as well. Hell, they still had them.

“Bunny?” Piper asked.

“Is it going to be a rainbow flying event?” Bunny didn’t know how else to say it. She had worked too hard to get this far. Both she and Piper had. She wasn’t going to just give it all up now and be lumped in with the new fashionable young lesbians who were the hot things for the next five minutes.

“Bunny,” Siena spoke with a tremble on her lips. Bunny hated seeing that. It meant she wasn’t going to like what Siena said next. “You know I have many clients who identify with a range of sexualities and genders.”

“I know.” Bunny already wished she had kept her concerns to herself. She was making herself out to be the biggest jerk on the planet this morning, and for some reason, she kept stepping right into the dog shit willingly.

“This isn’t about waving any flags, except for supporting and raising funds for the Holbrook Foundation. Which, I’ll remind you, is founded by two queer women.”

“It is a good cause, I get that.” Bunny had no issues with that. She would support single mothers any day. Her own single mother was the only reason she’d made it this far, and she’d died an early death because of it.

“Would it really be so bad if there were a few rainbow flags around?” Piper asked quietly.

Bunny’s chest ached to see Piper so still when her face had been animated so wildly just moments earlier. She knew Piper didn’t have the same level of concerns Bunny always had.

They had fought horribly about it once, and Bunny had always accused Piper of not understanding because she could be with a guy in the end. Piper had accused her of being a biphobic asshole, and in the end, Bunny had been the one to apologize. Because Piper was right. Bunny never wanted to revisit that argument again, and she understood Piper and bisexuality a lot better now. But still, the gripped fingers worried Bunny.

To be labeled as queer would alienate their fans.

“Piper,” Bunny started, tasting each word on her tongue before letting it touch her lips. “I know you don’t always feel the same, but we agreed we can’t just come out in this industry.”

“Things are changing. Hell, things have already changed.” So they were back to the argument despite Bunny wanting to avoid it.

Bunny slipped a glance to Siena, hoping for some help here even though she knew she wouldn’t get any. Siena had plans and backup plans for when it did come out. But Bunny was adamant about staying in the closet for as long as humanly possible—preferably until the day she died.

“Not enough.” Bunny shook her head, not having to think about her answer.

“Have you even checked?” Piper looked up and met Bunny’s eyes. “I hate lying, and that’s exactly what we do. We have fans who love our music, and we lie to them every single day about who we are. And for what?”

“We have a right to our private lives.” Anger built in Bunny’s chest, folding in on itself and tightening, although it didn’t feel solely like anger. It tasted of fear.

“I know, but this is more than that. You do see that, don’t you?” Piper pleaded.

“Siena.” Bunny couldn’t look into Piper’s begging eyes any longer, so she turned to Siena. “Have things changed all that much?”

Siena pressed her lips together. It wasn’t like Siena to hesitate or hold back, and Bunny knew which side of the argument would win.

“No,” Siena finally said. “It is changing, but it’s slow. Just the other day I heard about several agents who would only represent a queer band if they toned down the queerness.”

“I’m sorry, Piper. I can’t agree to it.” Bunny turned to Piper, who looked down at her hands and nodded.

“I know. I just wish we didn’t have to lie anymore.”

“I think we all wish that.” Siena took control of the conversation again, spinning it back to the entire reason they were there. “But what do you think about the charity event?”

“Piper?” Bunny asked.

“I want to do it.”

“For us or for… some other reason?”