Page 33 of Fight For Me

“You what?” I ask, gaping at him. “Will, you don’t need to take a day off.”

“Are you crazy? You’re having surgery. Of course I’m going to be there.”

“Dude—”

He holds up a hand, eyes hard. “Don’t. Mom and Dad are coming too. Deal with it.”

This is ridiculous. “I don’t need three people sitting in the waiting room,” I argue.

“Four people,” Eva says, giving me a sheepish smile as she leans into my brother. “I’m coming too.”

“Why the fuck would you come?” I snap, way too sharp because Will’s glare turns positively incendiary.

“To keep me company,” he snarls. “And because she’s going to be your sister in a few months.”

“Eva, I didn’t mean it like that,” I mutter, feeling like a dick. “But it’s outpatient and—”

“You’re going to be underanesthesia.” Will stresses the word like I’m an idiot. “We’re going to be there.”

“Will,” I snap, starting to get irritated.

“You know what we need?” Bodhi suddenly cuts in, his voice a shade too loud. I look around and realize that the entire group is watching me argue with my brother. “We need some music,” Bodhi continues, pulling his phone out. “And by music, I mean dancing.”

Leo groans loudly. “Every time we hang out doesn’t have to be a dance party, man.”

Bodhi ignores him, tapping away on his phone. “We’re celebrating!” he insists. “It’s not every day our friends open a kick ass clothing boutique.”

“They’re not opening it today,” River points out, but Bodhi is already pulling Everly up—not that she takes much convincing. He moves around the circle, grabbing Rose and Alex by the hand before moving onto Fox, who groans a little but doesn’t argue. When Bodhi reaches for Leo, his friend smacks his hand away so Bodhi retaliates by tousling his hair. Leo just rolls his eyes, apparently used to this behavior.

“You too, tattoo man,” Bodhi says, pointing at Will. He looks at me. “And you too, guy I don’t know very well but who Lele insists is awesome and therefore I already consider a friend.”

I look over at my brother. “Who is this person again?”

“Ignore him,” Leo advises, cracking open another beer. “I always do.”

But apparently Leo is in the minority position, because Bodhi manages to get almost everybody else up and dancing in the middle of the empty floor, leaving just me, Leo, and Will sitting around the nearly empty pizza boxes. Fox gets Bodhi’s phone hooked up to the store’s speaker system and some pop bullshit I don’t recognize blares through the space.

Not loud enough to deter my brother, though.

“What’s your deal?” he asks, leaning close so he doesn’t have to shout over the noise.

“I don’t have a deal.”

He rolls his eyes. “Then why the fuck don’t you want us at the hospital?”

“Because I don’t want you all acting like it’s some big thing.”

Understanding passes over his features. “I get it. You’re freaked out.”

“I’m not freaked—”

“Of course you are,” he argues. “This is your career.”

“It’s mylife,” I mutter. And I mean that, with every fiber of my being. These last few months, not being able to play my piano, it’s been unbearable. I can’t even imagine what my life will be like if that loss becomes permanent.

“It’s not your life,” he argues, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I get that losing it would suck, but you’d still have a life. People who love you.”

“Maybe it’s not as easy for me to give up as it was for you,” I snap, then immediately regret it. My brother is the best guitar player I’ve ever heard in my life, better even than our dad. But after his girlfriend Skye overdosed and died when they were teenagers, he didn’t touch the thing for years. Not until Eva came into his life.