Page 24 of Beyond the Stix

“Nope. If I have to eat, so do you,” I insist, eyeing my mother with an intense stare-down, attempting to mimic one of her famous glares.

She waves her hand. “Alright. Maybe something small.”

The doorbell rings then, and right away I know who’s behind the door. “Eat quick, the vultures are here,” I announce loudly.

The second I open the door, my Warrior Black brethren stride in, along with their bodyguards.

“I smell food,” Bobby chimes with glee, rubbing his hands together, a pixie stick protruding out from between his teeth.

“Coffee,” Callum mutters as he rubs his temples with both hands.

“Hangover?” I ask, studying my friend who never gets drunk. He’s usually our DD, whenever we go out.

“You can say that again,” Danny growls, as he eyeballs our bass player with annoyance. “You’d think we’d get this from Bobby. But no.” He blows out a resolved breath, walks to my mom and hugs her. “Good morning.”

“Someone’s grumpy because they didn’t get eight plus hours of sleep,” Raef razzes, poking my best friend’s ribs.

“Shut up.” Danny points at Raef. “You’d be mad too, if you stayed up all night listening to moaning in the next room,” Danny shoots back, wrinkling his nose up at our lead guitarist.

“But, babe, you did the same—” Tobias starts before Danny smacks a hand over his boyfriend’s mouth.

“We’re not talking about me, are we?” Danny huffs at Tobias.

“Thank you,” Raef says with a chortle, raising his hand up to Tobias, but he doesn’t clap back.

“Here, have a seat, Callum.” My mother offers him a cup of coffee while nudging him into the seat. “You really should not drink so much. It’s not good for your liver.”

“I know, Mrs. Wild,” Callum rumbles out, but his eyes shift to Dom, and then to Pen, who looks sheepish. Both bodyguards drop their attention to the floor, but they can’t hide the pink that blooms across each man’s cheeks.

Hmm.I’m not touching that with a ten-foot mic.

“So, what are you guys doing here this early in the morning?” I ask, but turn to Danny for the answer.

Tobias’s hand is on my friend’s waist, while Danny munches on a piece of bacon. “We heard about your uncle coming here last night, and the guys decided that it’s better we remain together than apart. If that’s okay with you, Mrs. Wild.”

My mom waves her hand around. “Most definitely. I don’t mind company. More the merrier Markus…” Her bloodshot eyes fill with tears. “Excuse me.” Mom sniffles and rushes away.

“I didn’t mean to make her cry.” Danny has tears of his own, and walks into his boyfriend’s open arms. “I know it’s going to be tough, especially since you have to meet with the funeral director today. If you want, I can come with you.”

I shake my head. “That’s alright.”

“Are you sure? We can all go for moral support,” Bobby offers, with a pancake sticking out of his mouth.

“Thanks, but I think I need to do this myself,” I admit with trepidation. My friends have never seen me cry. I’m not about to start now.

“You’re not going alone. I’ll be with you,” John says adamantly.

Danny squeezes my hand before dropping it. “I can come too.” I can tell he wants to argue by the way he’s slathering his lips with cherry flavored lip balm.

“Yes,” I reply with a false smile. “Now I have to talk to my mother.”

“You do that,” Danny says. “I need to call Ron, who seems to be avoiding my calls this morning.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, before eyeing every band member for an answer, but they shake their heads.

I’m surprised to hear Ron is not taking Danny’s calls. Our band manager can be prickly as a cactus at times, especially if we don’t keep him up to date on everything. So, it’s weird to hear he’s not answering his phone. He lives on the damn thing.

“I don’t know,” Danny says before walking away with his cell to his ear, and his boyfriend right behind him.