Page 24 of Rescue

“Usual reason.” Lennon grins. “A girl.”

Ah. So that was why he stopped being so flirty. “Is she nice?”

“Very nice. And good for him. She’ll be coming over when we’re in Paris.”

Toward the end of the tour, Ransom will be performing in a live-streaming concert in Paris. It’s a pretty big deal, the label expecting it to air for millions of people. So we’ll be staying in Paris for an entire week for rehearsals. I’m really looking forward to it. From the looks of the jam-packed schedule in the other stops, it will be our only real chance to explore a European city.

“I take it you’ve been to Paris before?”

Lennon nods. “It’s probably my favorite city in Europe.”

“What’s so good about it?”

He looks a little embarrassed. “Well, therearea lot of art museums.”

“And you’re excited about that?”

He narrows his eyes a little, but he’s smiling. “You sound like my brothers. I happen to like art.”

“Really?”

“You don’t believe me?”

I shrug. “I’ve just never met many rock stars who look forward to spending their time in a quiet museum.” There’s a chorus of raised voices near the front, followed by loud laughter. Sounded like Cash. I raise an eyebrow and make a face that clearly says,See?

“Didn’t we discuss this, Haylee?” he asks. “I’m the quiet brother.”

His voice is light and playful, but something in his eyes tells me those words have more meaning than he wants to let on.

“I wonder what that’s like,” I muse. “To be quiet, I mean.”

He grins. “I take it you’re not the quiet one in your band?”

I snort. “I don’t think thereisa quiet one. We’re all pretty loud and obnoxious.”

A flight attendant appears at Lennon’s side, startling me. “Your menus,” she says, handing one to each of us. I flip mine open and read through the options. Filet of beef with truffle-infused fingerling potatoes… sea bass with rosemary asparagus… vegetarian potato gnocchi with sweet potato coulis.

“Um,” I say after a moment. “I thought airline food was supposed to be awful?”

Lennon looks up from his own menu. “Another first-class perk,” he explains. “The food is actually pretty good.” He grimaces a little, stretching his leg.

“You okay?”

“I broke it this summer,” he explains, stretching again. “It’s still pretty achy.”

“Oh, that’s right. I read you had an accident.” I raise my eyebrows. “Motorcycle accident? That sounds pretty rock and roll. I thought you were the quiet brother.”

He smiles, but it looks rather pained. Before I can ask him for the details, the attendant returns to take our order. Having no idea what many of these foods are, I opt for the beef, and Lennon follows suit. “To drink?” she asks. “Wine? A cocktail?”

I knew if I was sitting with Dylan or James we’d be giggling about the free booze, pretending to be big-shot rock stars. But Lennon calmly orders a beer, so I order red wine, trying to play it cool.

“I wasn’t sure if you drank,” I tell him once the attendant’s gone.

“Why’s that?”

“You seemed a little… tense when I said Never Have I Ever was a drinking game.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, and I wonder if I’ve offended him. Finally he looks up, and I’m struck by how tired his eyes look. “I drink a little. I just try not to overdo it, I guess. Drinking games… that feels like overdoing it. For me.” He clears his throat. “Right now, at least.”