Matt’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, and he started storming toward me; the fans between us quickly got out of the way, and Rita at the bar warned us to be good or she wouldn’t hesitate to call the cops on our asses. I glanced over to see her summoning the bar’s bouncer. I didn’t have time to worry about it though, because Matt had reached me, and he was pissed enough and blitzed enough that he wasn’t happy stopping with verbally assaulting me.

With both hands against my chest, he shoved me backward. I stumbled but caught myself. “Dude! Lighten the fuck up,” I snapped.

He let out a sardonic laugh. “Lighten up? You fucked the band three weeks before our album dropped. You’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met. I always knew you were a piece of work, but I had no idea what a fucking fucker you were until now. But you know what, it doesn’t fucking matter. We’ll replace your ass and move on. It will be easy as can be; I know a dozen guys who would love to have what you just threw away.”

He was in my face, shouting at me like I’d gone deaf or something. His words were tiny logs being set on my internal fire, stoking me piece by piece. If he didn’t shut his piehole soon, I was going to shut it for him. “Cool it, Matt. I’m just about done with you.”

His face turned incredulous. “Just about? I thought you were done. Well, I am too. We’re no longer family. You’re dead to me, asshole. And the D-Bags are better off without you!”

That did it. My body reacted before my mind could process what was happening. My entire arm tensed, my fingers curled into a rigid ball, and then I pulled back the coiled power and released it. My fist connected with Matt’s jaw and he spun to the ground. Rachel was instantly by his side.

Once she saw he was okay, she stared up at me with wide, horrified eyes. “Have you lost your mind!” she shouted.

Hovering over Matt, I shook my head. “No. I finally found it. And I’m finally seeing my ‘friend’s’ true colors. So much for blood being thicker than water.” I wanted to spit on Matt, but I thought better of it. He wasn’t worthy of my saliva.

The bar’s bouncer wrapped his fingers around my biceps and pulled me back. Turning my head, I spat out, “Let go of me, asswipe. I’m done pummeling him.”

The man, who could have been Sam’s twin, gruffed, “You’ll be done when you’re outside.” He manhandled me past the crowd that was booing me. Booing me. I almost couldn’t comprehend what I was hearing. Were they all drunk? Matt had started that shit; I’d only been defending myself. He was the bully here, not me.

As I was being dragged away, I shouted back at Matt, “Oh, by the way, I’m taking my name with me. You can’t use D-Bags! That was mine!”

I saw Matt scrambling to his feet. He followed us, spouting, “No, that’s not true. Your idea was Douchebags. I’m the one who suggested shortening it. It’s my name!”

I sneered at him; he had a trail of blood running out of the corner of his mouth from where my aching fist had connected with him. “We’ll let the lawyers settle this one.”

Matt put a hand on my shoulder. The bouncer told him to back off, but Matt ignored him. “You’re already quitting the band…don’t kill it too.”

With a sneer, I tossed out, “What do you need my name for anyway? Just call yourselves Kellan’s Bitches, ’cause that’s what you are.”

Matt stopped moving with us, and the crowd soon swallowed him up. But not before I heard him mutter, “Enjoy Hollywood, Griff.”

“I plan to,” I shot back, then Blockhead unceremoniously shoved me out the front doors. I landed on the cement in a painful pile.

“Don’t come back,” he ordered. “You’re officially banned from the premises.”

My hands were scraped and bleeding, and my elbow felt on fire, but ignoring my aches, I shot to my feet. “You couldn’t pay me to come back to this dump,” I sneered.

He only smiled, then walked back into the bar. I waited for the rush of outraged fans to come outside, gushing about how awful I was treated and how they’ll never frequent this place again…but no one came out. Not a single human being checked to see how I was doing. I didn’t want to admit it, but that stung.

Anna was surprised to see me when I got home, since I hadn’t been gone very long. I told her Pete’s was dead and she hadn’t missed much. I wasn’t entirely lying. Pete’s was dead to me now; I couldn’t go back if I wanted to. Not that I wanted to ever go back there. Pete’s could suck it. Matt was dead to me too now, but I didn’t mention that to her either. No point.

I fell asleep wishing I was away from here already, and ended up waking up an hour before the car taking us to the airport was scheduled to arrive. When Anna finally stirred, I had the mountain of bags we were traveling with stacked by the front door, a pot of coffee brewing, and a vodka Red Bull in my hand. Might as well start the day out right.

“You beat me. I don’t think you’ve woken up before me…well, ever.” She yawned and stretched after she said it, and I did the same. I might have woken up before her, but it was still freaking early.

My hip hurt from where that jackass had tossed me on the cement. I inconspicuously rubbed it while I told Anna, “I’m just excited to go. This is going to be so much fun. You’ll see.” She gave me a small, unconvinced smile before getting up to get ready.

The doorbell chimed just as Anna finished getting dressed. Time to go. Wrangling the kids and all our stuff took a surprising amount of time. Gibson cried and refused to leave her purple room. Onnika needed food, then a diaper change, then another outfit. By the time we finally made it to the airport, I was done with this trip. Couldn’t we just be there already?

We needed two carts to hold all our stuff, and even then I was bogged down with bags. When the automatic doors swished open, I spotted something that put me even more on edge. Kellan and Kiera were here. Kellan was dressed in a ball cap and sunglasses, but he still had a group of fans around him. He was smiling, autographing scraps of paper, and posing for a few pictures. Airport security was hovering around the crowd, looking a little uneasy. I figured they’d put a stop to this in about three more seconds.

Readjusting the car seat in my hand, the diaper bag on my back, and the stroller balancing on the cart, I worked my way to Kellan’s circle. He looked up when he noticed me, then gave me a wave. Fans in the crowd turned my way, but if they recognized me, they didn’t show it.

Anna squealed when she noticed her sister. Clutching our daughters tight, she dashed over to where Kiera was standing off to Kellan’s side. They hugged, and Anna’s smile was the brightest I’d seen since I’d told her we were leaving.

Kellan politely brushed through his fans to get to me. Wondering if he was going to chew me out like Matt had, I brusquely asked, “You here to bitch me out too?”

Kellan sighed, so I figured he knew about the incident with Matt at the bar. “No. I’m here to say goodbye. Regardless of…recent events…you’re family, and I can’t let you leave without a send-off.”

I didn’t want to be moved by the fact that Kellan gave a shit, but I was. He extended his hand to me. I hesitated, but eventually took it. His grin under his ball cap had the lingering fans sighing like he’d just asked them to marry him. “Good luck, Griffin. I mean that.”

Nodding, I pumped his hand a few more times, then let go. “Thanks.” I felt like I should add some sappy shit about how I appreciated his encouragement, but the words wouldn’t come out. All I kept hearing in my mind was Not tonight, maybe tomorrow. Well, tomorrow was today.

I had to peel Anna away from Kiera. She had tears in her eyes when she said her final goodbye to her sister. “I’ll call you when I land,” she told her as their fingers finally separated.