Page 21 of Fight For Me

I catch my Uncle Lennon’s eye. He alone doesn’t look grim—probably because neither of his kids has reached eighteen yet and are therefore safely stuck at home. Then again, he might be chill even if one of his kids wanted to be involved in something like this. He’s definitely the most easy-going of all the brothers.

“Scale of one to ten,” I ask him. “How ridiculous are they being?”

“It’s a reality show, Wyatt,” Reed snaps before Lennon can answer. “You can’t tell me you think this is a good idea?”

To be honest, I’ve been trying hard not to think about it at all. It helps that none of my siblings are involved. But the idea of Alex being on TV, being that visible, that exposed, to so many people—yeah, definitely better to try not to think about it at all.

“Doesn’t really matter what he thinks, does it?” Dad asks, returning from the wet bar in the corner with an armful of beers. He passes them around before taking a seat. “The kids are all legal adults. You can’t really stop them.”

“Doesn’t mean we have to like it,” Daltrey mutters.

I look around at the mostly scowling faces. “I take it they’re going ahead with this? You couldn’t talk them out of it?”

“Fox won’t even return my calls,” Daltrey admits. “Says I’m being immature.”

“Smart kid,” Lennon murmurs.

I look at Reed. “And Everly?”

He sighs. “She got her mom on her side. The other girls are hounding me.” He glares at Levi, who I’ve been carefully avoiding looking at since I sat down. “Doesn’t help that Paige’s best friend is apparently all for it.”

Levi rolls his eyes. “Karen isn’tall for it. We’re both freaking the fuck out.” He shrugs. “But when it comes down to it, we decided to trust our daughter to make her own choices.”

Reed groans. “They’re too young to make their own choices.”

“I owned my shop by the time I was Everly’s age,” Will points out. “Wyatt was already living on his own in Seattle and touring with a symphony. You guys had how many albums under your belt by then?”

“What’s your point?” Reed growls.

“My point is that your kids aren’t kids anymore. They all stayed home far longer than I did—longer than most grown adults would. I think you should count yourself lucky.”

“It’s not about them moving out,” Daltrey argues. “It’s about them being on television.”

“It’s a little bit about them moving out,” Lennon says, his lips twitching. “Admit it.”

“Fuck off, Len,” Daltrey spits.

Levi holds up his hands. “Can we not have yet another Ransome tantrum?” he asks. “There was actually a purpose to this meeting.”

“Right.” Reed sits forward and grabs a folder from the coffee table. “We need to talk to you about this.” To my surprise, he shoves the folder into my chest. “We need your help, kid.”

“If you’re going to ask me to try and talk them out of it—”

“Would you?” Daltrey asks, his eyes lighting up. “You know they all look up to you.”

My stomach twists at the reminder that I’m older than the three people in question.Doesn’t matter,I remind myself.She’s off limits no matter what age I am.A wave of tiredness washes over me. I’ve been in town for two days, and I already feel like this. How am I going to feel in a week? Three? A month?

“Leo and I already tried,” Will cuts in. “They’re not budging.”

“That Leo kid is smart,” Reed grumbles. “I always liked him.”

Will snorts derisively. “You did your best to scare him off from the first day.” He points at Reed. “I distinctly remember you saying you were going to try to make him cry. You said no one was good enough for your precious Rosie and—”

“Can we get back to business?” Levi asks, pointing at the folder. “Look at that, Wyatt.”

I flip open the folder and thumb through the first few pages. “Is this…this is a background report?”

“Yeah,” Reed says grimly. “Scott Roderick. The producer.”