Happily Ever After

“Sounding good. I say studio in a month,” Blake said, packing up her microphone.

Cadeau shot Reese an excited smile over the partially dismantled drum set and he chuckled in response. A month till they would begin recording the new album in the studio and Cadeau would potentially be there, would potentially get the chance to write her own drumbeats to contribute to Say Goodbye’s newest album. She could make this happen. She just needed to continue proving she was good enough.

She was good enough.

She was, no matter what pointless corrections Sage gave her during practice.

“You going to stop having marathon sex long enough to finish writing in a month?” Hunter asked.

Blake didn’t get to respond, didn’t even get to make the decision for herself. Saylor—walking into the living room, the last tray of assorted sandwiches balanced in her hands, her kitchen helper in tow—decided for her. “No.”

Laughter. From every band member. Including Sage. In fact, hers seemed to ring above the rest, a pretty sound that left Cadeau’s stomach fluttering. Hardly intimidating. From the corner of her eyes, she caught the smile lighting Sage’s face. The first real smile she’d seen all practice. So gorgeous. She should smile more often, stop being so guarded and let people see her happy.

Being happy was better than letting the past eat her. Cadeau knew that much.

“You were supposed to be the good influence,” Sage said, joked.

She was joking, actually joking, and Cadeau was in the room. Maybe letting her get away with pointless critiques all practice eased her spirits. Maybe she was becoming comfortable with Cadeau’s presence.

Maybe she was just ignoring her.

“I am a good influence,” Saylor said, “I influence Blake to put her hands where they belong. I’d say that’s pretty good influencing.”

Cadeau had, unwillingly, come to understand Saylor and Blake’s sex life in the short period of time working with the band. Saylor was in charge. And if Saylor wanted it, Saylor got it. The number of times Blake had left practice early to appease Saylor was almost ridiculous.

But Cadeau also understood the monumental strides Saylor had taken to get where she was. Overcoming the long-term effects of an abusive relationship, letting another woman into her life when she had been so terribly hurt by someone of the same gender, falling in love. She could demand sex in the middle of practice.

Plus, no one was dumb enough to stand in her way.

“Where do Auntie Blake’s hands belong?” Grayson asked his father.

Cadeau almost expected Reese to choke on air and stumble through a promise to tell him the workings of lesbian sex when he was older—or offer to show him a video—but he didn’t. He was a father to a four-year-old, no longer the partying teenager she used to know. He had grown accustomed to his role.

“Remember that talk we had last week?” Reese asked.

“Yeah.”

“What talk?” Hayden piped.

“We had the talk.”

“I know where babies come from,” Grayson announced, proud.

Cadeau stifled a chuckle at his excitement. He had been quite the opposite after the talk she, Reese, and Emily—Grayson’s step-mother—had given him. Performance anxiety summed his response up nicely. Four years old and he was already anxious about having sex. It’d be cute if the three of them weren’t concerned about scarring him, and one of Cadeau’s younger relatives, for life.

“Do you?” Blake asked, teasing hitch to her alto voice. “You going to go around practicing with the little girls on the playground?”

“No, that’s too much work,” Grayson responded. His adorable face held a serious expression, his mouth a slight frown, his eyebrows drawn. “I’m just goin’ give them chocolate and hold their hand.”

“Remember that,” Reese stated.

The obnoxious jingle of a pop song turned ring tone rang in the air. Sage glanced around her band mates, waiting for one to burst into laughter because they changed another’s ringtone. A small prank that was executed with alarming frequency in their group. But Cadeau perked at the auto tuned noise, abandoned her work to rush across the living room and grab her purse from the couch.

Of course.

Curiosity piking her interests, Sage ignored the continued teasing of Grayson and his anti-sex declaration, her attention on Cadeau’s phone conversation.

“Hello?” Cadeau said, pink-encased phone pressed to her ear. A brief pause followed, short, most likely a greeting. “Hey, yeah, practice just ended. I’m packing up. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Back? Back where? The sorority house where she belonged? Hell, she didn’t look old enough to be out of college. Maybe she was skipping class to show up at practice. Not very responsible. She wouldn’t get her degree in one of those majors her kind normally went for. Nursing, psychology, biology to be a doctor, the ones they had no right attaining because they didn’t really care about other people. Fakers.

How were she and Reese friends?

“I’ll pick something up for her,” Cadeau continued, “Ask her what she wants and text me.”

A sick sorority sister? A sorority sister too busy preparing for a party to make food? Something else along the lines of incompetent airhead who had to buy her friends and didn’t know how to use a microwave?

“Hey,” Reese said, catching Cadeau’s attention. She looked at him, as did Sage and the rest of the band, phone remaining against her ear. “You can go. I can finish packing.”

“You sure?” Cadeau asked.

“Yeah, pick me up some McDonald’s on your way home. I’ll stop by to grab it.”

“Okay, thanks.” To the person on the phone, she said, “I’m heading out now.” A pause, pretty laughter. “Yeah, whatever, bye.” And she hung up, dropping her phone into her purse and slipping the strap over her shoulder. “I’m out. See you guys next week,” she said to the group of band members.

“You’re not staying?” Saylor asked.

“Wish I could but I have errands to run,” she replied.

“Good,” Sage mumbled.

Blake shot her a reprimanding look. Great, Cadeau had Blake wrapped around her preppy finger. Sage would never get rid of her.

“You never get to stay,” Hayden whined.

Looked like she had Hayden, too. Fantastic.

“I’m sorry.” As if she cared. “Next time, I promise. Bye, guys.”

She waved, a cute wiggle of her slim fingers. Farewells followed. From everyone except Sage. She crossed her arms, frowned, raised an inpatient eyebrow, but didn’t bid her goodbye. She was already in enough trouble with Blake—she could feel the impending lecture—and she wasn’t going to add onto that by telling their sweet fucking drummer to get lost.

But, of course, Cadeau noticed.

“Bye, Sage.”

And she didn’t give her a chance to respond. She slipped from the living room, hips swinging as she walked, and left the house, front door shutting quietly behind her. Sage scowled. Bitch.

“You are such a jerk,” Blake stated, pulling Sage’s eyes away from the window where Cadeau was strolling down the sidewalk to a car parked on the curb, a car Sage hadn’t given a second thought when she pulled up.

“Look who’s talking,” Sage shot.

“Cadeau is a nice girl, okay? Can’t you just give her a fucking chance?”

No.

“What type of name is Cadeau?”

“French,” Hunter said, “Means ‘present.’”

“I know what it means,” she snapped.

He shrugged. “You asked.”

Asshole.

“She’s our drummer,” Blake stated.

She wasn’t their drummer. She was some whore the band members were infatuated with. They didn’t need her. They had Reese. He was still at practice, he could still drum for them. Until they could hold actual auditions.

“We can get a new one.”

“Sage,” Reese cut in, his voice dripping in parental reasoning. “Cadeau has been my friend for a long time. She’s a fantastic drummer and she’s been through enough. She doesn’t need you harping on her for no reason.”

“I wasn’t harping on her,” Sage grumbled.

“Could have fooled me.”

Scowl deepening, Sage threw herself onto the couch. “Whatever.”

***

The smell of fast food tickled Cadeau’s nose from the bag balanced in her arms. McDonald’s. Cheap food for her cheap budget. She unlocked the door to her shabby home, sparing no glance at the dismal scenery of her not-so-nice neighborhood, and walked in, locking her home behind her. Extra precaution. Things happened there, even in the daylight.

“I’m home,” she called.

Tiny footsteps resounded through the house. From one of the rooms in the back to the front hallway. A child sped around the corner, blonde curls bouncing, blue eyes vibrant, and a woman followed behind her.

“Mommy,” the child exclaimed and rushed into Cadeau’s waiting arm.