“I was handling it. Now he’s going to get upset during his tour. There’s no reason it couldn’t have waited,” Harlow’s last few words were so sharp they could have sliced skin.

  Miles shrugged. “If you expect me to feel bad for answering a direct question and not telling him everything he has a fucking right to know, it’s not going to happen. I should have told him. I wanted to tell him. But I didn’t. Because you asked me not to.”

  “I didn’t want to bring this shit into his tour! Let the man have some damned success for five minutes without some of my bullshit.”

  Miles couldn’t stop the, “Ah.”

  There it was. Gloria’s abuse went deep into the place where Harlow wanted to please and protect her dad because she was terrified of losing his love too. That was why she protected everyone else at her own expense, and that was something Miles could not abide.

  Her gaze snapped up to his and though he loved her, he didn’t miss the frisson of fear that slithered through him momentarily at that expression. “Ah?”

  “You see, Harlow, I want to protect you and that means you having the information you need. And giving that information to your dad because he needs it too. To protect you as well. He’s a grown man. A father. He has the responsibility of dealing with a situation in his family life even while he is working. Millions of parents do it every day.”

  “What about what I want?”

  “If what you want is to shoulder everything so no one gets inconvenienced, I’m not going to help you achieve that. Your father loves you, Harlow. He regrets that he didn’t push you harder about her as you were growing up. He doesn’t love you more if you never make any trouble. You know that. He shreds that guitar and sings and does his thing, and he will do so after the two of you finally share this fucked up tale. And so will you. I expect some new songs will be written.”

  “This is my life, Miles.”

  He took her hands. “Yes, it is. Your one, beautiful and precious life that deserves to be free of this bullshit. That’s why I care so deeply about it. And why I did my best not to reveal what you need to. But I was there at that dinner, and I’m allowed to speak on it, so I gave him one detail and that was something personal.”

  She frowned. “I don’t like it.”

  “I know.”

  She gave him a glare but there was less heat than before. “What detail?”

  “When I told her I’d strip away everything she held dear if she continued fucking with you. And those calls she made to you definitely qualify.”

  She blinked at him, speechless. Finally, she took a deep breath. And grinned. “What did she say back?”

  Relieved by that response, he laughed, hugging her to him for long moments.

  “She asked who did I think I was. And I said I was the guy who’d do it. I also told Luis the same.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Miles!”

  “What? Fuck him. Fuck Hector too. Weak ass. I’d go to war over someone treating my sister that way and they helped her hurt you. They’re lucky I’m not calling my attorney right now to figure out how to ruin her.” Though she didn’t need to know he actually had called an attorney to give a heads up that they might be needed.

  “Hector is trying. Not as much as he should, god knows. But he warned me about Gloria this most recent time. Luis is a jerk, but he’s got kids. They don’t deserve that,” Harlow said.

  “You’re right. Kids don’t deserve that. Like you didn’t. So, moving on. Next time our tours are near one another is in San Diego. I think this is a face-to-face thing, but that’s up to you.”

  “Oh, is it? Is that up to me? Nothing else is up to me but that is?”

  Okay, so she was still pissed at him.

  “At the very least, spend a few hours with him, Jenna, and Ryder. After you two talk privately, that is. That’ll be good for you all.”

  “You’re very bossy. I don’t like my wishes being ignored like I’m not a whole ass adult capable of making her own choices.”

  He took a deep breath, wanting to choose his words carefully. This wasn’t about winning an argument; this was a thing between the two of them they had to work on or it would destroy them.

  “I know you’re an adult capable of making her own choices. I didn’t tell him anything more than what I said to Gloria when you were out of the room. I’m doing the best I can to find a way between respecting those choices and keeping you safe. So yes, I’m bossy. I know what needs doing. And I’ll do it when it comes to protecting what’s mine. Not because you’re less, but because you’re everything.”

  “What’s mine?” she said, her eyebrows high.

  “You arguing that point?” he asked, daring her to deny it.

  She harrumphed but didn’t. Didn’t argue with his reasoning either. He needed to let that be enough or they’d re-ignite their argument and he really just wanted to snuggle her.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-THREE

  Miles saw the caller when he checked his phone and smiled as he answered, “Hey there. Everything okay?” he asked his aunt Erin.

  “Blue! Miss your face. I wanted to check in to see how you were. I’ve been keeping up with all the tour news. Your dad is ridiculously proud of you so he’s pretending not to spy on you, but I’ll own it.” Her laugh was like a hug.

  “Spying huh? Find out anything good?”

  “Your dumbass ex, whatserface wrote some words. I read them.”

  Embarrassment flashed through him yet again. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Fuck that. You aren’t responsible and let’s be real, she didn’t make any of it up. Xander is a grown up now, so it’s not like we make any effort to pretend we are anything but what we are. Todd, Ben, and I have been together for a minute or two and it’s no secret. How are you? And how is Harlow?”

  After their lovely four days in Montreal were over, they were back to it. They’d hit Montreal, Ottawa—including that fight and amazing make up sex—and Toronto before they dipped back into the US to play Minneapolis and then had come back to Canada to hit Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. That night they’d play the last of two shows in Vancouver before they went back to the States.

  Canada had been a pleasant set of shows. Great fans. Great venues. Privacy was nice too. And best of all, Gloria was in a whole different country, and he knew—though Harlow didn’t say it—that was a comfort to his best girl.

  “She’s…” Miles paused because he wanted to think about how Harlow would feel about whatever he told his aunt. Harlow would trust him, and he strived to keep being worthy of that. “It made a whole mess with her biological mother.” Miles gave a brief recap of that situation.

  “Harlow isn’t mad at you though, right?”

  “I wondered if she would be, but no. She said it had nothing to do with me, or with us. She’s not upset really about the rest of the interview.”

  “Well, Sophia douchenozzle did say some nice stuff about Above Me. I hope that sells some albums for them after the mess the rest of it has made. Are you going to talk to Ben? He’s right here if you want to.”

  “I’m trying to let Harlow make that choice. No matter how curious I am. No matter how much I want to show up at Gloria’s door with an attorney and paperwork forbidding that bitch from ever uttering a single word to or about Harlow ever again,” Miles told her.

  “Well now.” Erin paused. “Your dad told me he thought you were falling in love with her. He was right.”

  “What gave it away?” Miles asked, laughing.

  “You’re very protective of your friends so I’d have expected your concern about Harlow and her mother. But it’s the way you thought about what you were going to say to me about her, the way I know you weighed what you thought she would want you to reveal to anyone else. That’s a different level of connection. And then the threat to show up at a woman’s door after you called her a bitch.”

  “I respect women!” he protested. “This particular terrible person happens to be a woman who is also a bitch.”

  “If I thought for half a second that you didn’t, I’d show up at your hotel in ten minutes with your mum and we’d both kick your ass. Hell, I might even bring Raven along for that. This Gloria character sounds like an absolute miserable bitch. She’s got all my mom hackles up. But she’s got your this is a threat to the person I love hackles up. You’re more intense than I’ve seen you over anyone you’ve had in your life.”

  “There’s no falling about it. I’m there.”

  “I really can’t wait to meet her. Your mom and I are here in Vancouver. I probably should have led with that, but I wanted to take the temperature first.”

  He snorted, unbelievably pleased. “You’re here?”

  “Okay, well, it’s not just me and your mum. Todd, Ben, and your dad are here as well. Kelly and Vaughan too because they want to see Maddie.”

  Miles waved at his sister to call her over.

  “How many of you so Poppy can let the box office know?” he asked, thinking it shouldn’t be that hard to accommodate seven people.

  “Is this going to be too much? The most of the entire crew is here including part of Hood River and Bainbridge. It took us four giant SUVs to fit everyone. We want to get a look at you and Poppy and obviously Harlow, but there are twenty people. Will that be way too much of us and scare her?”

  So much for seven. “Hang on.” He looked up at Poppy. “Mum and Dad are here along with pretty much everyone else. Let the front know we’ve got twenty guests coming tonight.”

  Poppy’s eyes got wide a second and then she laughed. “I knew it. I knew they couldn’t wait for the Gorge shows.”

  Erin interrupted, “Miles, we’ll be there for Above Me’s set too. We’re staying at the same hotel you all are apparently. Jeremy hooked your dad up with the info and also got us all seats.”

  “Of course he did.” He and his sister gave one another a look. “Poppy’s going to doublecheck and make sure everything is in place. Text when you arrive at the venue so we can come meet you.”

  “So you think this will be okay for her? Last chance,” Erin said. “We’re a lot. We want you to keep her, not freak her out.”

  “Just use your manners and don’t rush up to her all at the same time asking questions. No one gets to ask her what her intentions are with me. And please don’t mention this ugly business with her mother.” Harlow felt enough guilt that didn’t belong on her shoulders because of Gloria, Miles didn’t want to make it worse.

  “I think we can manage not to act like animals,” she told him and in the background, Miles heard his mother’s voice asking if he said they could go.

  “I didn’t ask if we could come see him. We’re here, Gillian and that’s that. I just asked if all of us would freak the girlfriend out,” Erin told Miles’s mum.

  Harlow came into the room and his heart lightened.

  His mother got on the phone. “Hello, darling. I would apologize for all of us showing up here, but that would be such a terrible lie. We miss you and Poppy and after all the pictures we’ve seen on the internet, we want to meet your Harlow.”

  “Everything is fine, Mum. We’ll see you all later.”

  “Later? You didn’t tell him we were already here?” his mom asked Erin.

  “I don’t need to now, do I?” Erin said.

  “You’re here? At the arena? Now?” He stood and Harlow backed up toward the door and he pulled the phone from his ear. “No, wait. Not you, Mum. Poppy will bring you—are you all here?”

  “Not all. It’s me and your dad along with Erin, Todd, and Ben. Everyone else will wait another two hours or so. Your uncle Brody wanted to be sure we told you he agreed to stay back at the hotel, but he got the first hug after you came off stage.”

  Miles didn’t even know how much he needed to see his family until right that moment as joy crashed through him.

  Over the line, Miles heard his sister’s voice which meant she’d already reached the front office. “Mum, we’ll see you shortly. Poppy will bring you back here.” He disconnected and took two steps and Harlow took another back. “I guess you heard part of that?”

  “Your parents are here right now? Here at this venue?”

  A little bit of panic edged her tone, so he took her hand and pulled her to him. “I only found out myself about five minutes ago. A whole crowd of them will arrive in a few hours. Right now, it’s just my parents and Erin, Todd, and Ben.”

  “Go be with them. I’ll see you later.”

  He frowned at her, edging even closer so he could wrap his arm around her waist. “Don’t leave. They want to meet you. You’ll like them, I promise. You’ve already met my dad.”

  “I look like crap.” She squirmed. As she currently looked beautiful, he had a differing opinion.

  “Hush. You’re gorgeous. Also, you know they’ve all been backstage before a million times. They’re not expecting anything fancy.”

  “Miles, I look like a racoon. My hair is a mess and I’m in sweats.”

  She wasn’t usually this nervous about stuff. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly. “You were okay going to the big dinner with everyone at the end of the tour.”

  “I’m just going about my day, no makeup, hair in a messy ponytail, wearing sweats and a ratty shirt when I meet your parents. How does that equal all right? I probably have a mustard stain!” She kept her voice low because she must have realized they’d be coming any moment as well.

  “I didn’t know until right now or I would have told you. They’re going to see you perform at your set. You’ll be fully made up and dressed up and all that then. But it won’t matter. They aren’t going to care about that. And I repeat, you look beautiful.” Her idea of ratty and messy were in a different universe from his.

  He heard Poppy’s laughter and then the rumble of his dad’s voice. He might be fully grown and living on his own but hearing his parents’ voice still filled some empty space inside when he was away from them for long periods of time.

  They came around the corner and Harlow let go of his hand, but he kept hers. Did she think he’d just forget she existed the moment he saw his family or something? She knew she meant more to him than that.

  She held on again and he relaxed as he moved them both out into the hallway fully.

  “Hello, darling,” his mother said as she approached him with a big smile and a sparkle in her eyes. Since Poppy had moved next to Harlow and he knew she wasn’t going to run away, he did let go to hug first his mum and then his dad.

  Erin waited, mostly patiently, for Adrian to finish before she hugged Miles and kissed both of his cheeks. Naturally, when Todd and Ben hugged him, Miles was reminded that while he was considered tall, both his uncles were giant, broad shouldered, and could be scary as fuck when they were protecting someone, including Miles.

  “I wasn’t expecting you,” he told his dad.

  “Well, you should have.” Poppy snorted. “I told you this would happen.” She slung an arm around Harlow’s shoulders and Miles figured his sister had picked up on her nervousness, he’d noticed the two getting closer at the tour had gone on.

  It was probably where his family was getting their information from.

  “Everyone,” Miles said as he took Harlow’s hand and pulled her a little closer to his side. “This is Harlow. Har, that’s my mum, Gillian. You know my dad already, my aunt Erin, my uncles Todd and Ben.”

  She blushed and freed her hand to hold out to everyone, ending with his dad. “It’s really nice to see you again, Adrian.”

  His dad gave her a charming smile, designed to put her at ease. “Thanks for letting us crash your show tonight. Even though we didn’t ask so I guess there’s no letting involved,” he teased.

  Harlow laughed and it wasn’t strained, so that much was going okay. He hadn’t seen her nervous like this except…before they went over to her brother’s house. “After touring with Miles for the last few months, I can see where he gets that from now, I guess.”

  His mum’s scoff made Miles snort. “Yes, Mum, I guess you’re not the only one who makes that comparison.”

  Gillian said to Harlow, “To be fair, you’ll have to see Adrian with Erin and Brody. You’ll meet him later tonight. He’s the original who taught it to them. As for Miles, bossiness is in his DNA.”

  Miles could see Erin wanted to hug Harlow and he gave her a subtle shake of his head. She was nervous enough, so he wanted to give her a little time to adjust.

  “Come through.” He indicated the room Earthquakes had set up in.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” Harlow told him quietly.

  “Oh no you don’t. Don’t run off,” he said as everyone else got settled.

  “I was on my way somewhere when you grabbed me just now. I just came in here to say hi and drop off some grapes on my way to procure some chocolate. Nora and I are working.”

  “You brought me grapes?”

  “Yes.” She pulled some out of the tote bag she had and handed them to him. “I told Nora I’d be right back.”

  Well, he didn’t want to interrupt her work. He knew they’d begun working on songs for the next album.

  “I’ll be back by the top of the hour,” she reassured him, and he felt better. Without waiting for him to reply, she looked around his body. “I’ll see you all later. I know Miles and Poppy are pleased to see you.”

  “We don’t mean to chase you off,” his mum said.

  “Oh no, it’s not that,” Harlow said. “My drummer and I are in the middle of something. I just paused to say hello.”

  “She said she’ll be back by the top of the hour,” Miles said.

  His dad said, “Understood. We’ll see you in a while.”

  Miles followed Harlow into the hall. “Go be with your family,” she repeated, sounding annoyed.

  “They didn’t mean to be overwhelming,” he murmured as he pulled her close. “They just are.”