Page 67 of Hard Rock Fling

"She passed away when I was young. Car accident."

He spun me around on the rotating chair to face him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago."

He must have recognized the pained look on my face. "Even though it was a long time ago, that kind of thing never really heals."

"It wasn't just her death. It was—" I cut myself off. I didn't want to ruin the evening with my teenaged angst.

"You can tell me." Ian's voice was so sincere.

I debated for long moments. I hadn't confessed my feelings like this to anyone before. I'd never had anyone I felt comfortable enough unloading on. It wasn't exactly a pleasant conversation starter. But Ian had always listened to me, even in the beginning. He seemed to genuinely care. Maybe I could trust him. Maybe he would understand.

"After losing mom, our dad just kind of… stopped. I don't think he ever recovered. He spent all his time working. He was never home, and when he was it was like Faith and I weren't even there. I think… he couldn't stand the sight of us. We reminded him too much of our mother."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm over it. We grew up, moved out and moved on." I blinked back the sting of tears at the back of my eyes. "So Faith and I have only each other to rely on. We've always had each other's backs."

"It's good to have a sibling help you get through the hard times."

Ian appeared startled at himself and glanced away.

"Has Damon helped you through stuff?" I asked carefully.

He was silent for a moment before lifting one shoulder in a casual shrug.

"Just the usual bullshit that comes with being famous. You know."

I didn't know. But I wanted to.

"You guys went on hiatus, right? Did that have something to do with it?"

Ian stiffened. "Why would you think that?" he said slowly.

"Just curious." I tried to play it off lightly. "Some of the other interns were talking the other day. I was wondering. I remember reading about it in the news."

"We needed a break."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but I knew it was the only one I was going to get.

He stood abruptly. "I'm going to go get us dessert."

I watched his retreating back as he headed into the kitchen.

Ian had secrets. Secrets he obviously didn't want to share with me. And why would he? I wasn't anyone special. I wasn't his confidant. I was just the girl he was sleeping with.

It was obvious I would never be anything more.

My phone buzzed. A welcome distraction. I peeked at it. Another Darkest Days update.

The screen displayed an entire gallery of the guys at different parties. In every photo they had their arms around a woman. Sometimes multiple women.

My eyes were drawn to the photos of Ian and Damon. On that small screen, I couldn't tell who was who. There were a handful of pictures where they were locking lips with some girl.