Chapter: 1
Chloe Kidd
This morning has been the worst morning of my life.
I am seventeen, almost eighteen, and everyone in my family is gone except for one person—my brother.
Austin isn’t here right now, though.
And I need him.
I just watched the coroner remove my grandmother’s body.
I’m still in shock as I stare at her bed. She wasn’t feeling good when she came in earlier, and she told me she was going to lie down. She asked me to wake her up in two hours.
I did.
She was cold and lifeless.
A sob breaks free again as I sit down on the bed and pull out my phone. I dial the one number belonging to the one person I need right now.
My brother.
He doesn’t answer after I call several times. He might be doing a show or something. It’s hard to keep up with his schedule.
I finally end up dialing Andrea, his girlfriend.
She answers immediately.
“Hey, Chlo Bug,” she says cheerfully into the phone.
“Hey, D,” I say softly, trying not to sob. “I n-need Austin.”
I finally can’t hold it in anymore.
The sobs rack my body.
I hear her talking, but I can’t process any of it. Finally, the one voice that can break me out of this comes through the phone.
My brother.
“Chlo, tell me what’s wrong?”
Austin sounds worried sick about me right now.
I sniffle, then take a deep breath, trying to figure out how I’m supposed to tell him this.
“Grandma. I found her dead a little bit ago.”
I hear his choked sound through the phone.
Is he crying?
Or trying not to?
“Tell me what happened.”
His voice is still thick, but he’s cleared some of the emotion away so he can talk to me.
He’s always been good at that.
I try to do the same thing, pushing everything out of my mind for just a minute so I can explain.
“She came in from her yarn club or whatever.”
A small laugh slips out because that woman and her clubs.
“She didn’t feel very good, so she said she was going to lie down. She wanted me to wake her up in two hours or so. I went in there, and she was cold and starting to get stiff.”
My voice breaks, but I force myself to keep going.
“I called 911, and everything after that has been a blur. The coroner said they believe, based on the state of her body, that she died around the time she went to lie down.”
By the end of the story, I’m crying again.
I hear Austin take a deep inhale.
“I’m on my way. It’s going to be a few hours, but you are not staying there alone. Daisy and Ron, or one of them, will be over shortly to get you. Stay at D’s and Hunter’s until I get there.”
He isn’t asking.
He’s ordering.
He must have Andrea calling everyone. She’s his girlfriend and their assistant, so she’s probably already handling everything.
“Okay. I’ll go pack a bag.”
I know better than to argue with my brother.
Sighing, I get up and start toward my room.
“I’ll be there in a few hours. I love you,” he says.
“I love you too, Bubba. Thank you,” I whisper.
I end up packing at least a change of clothes and some pajamas. I know Daisy or Ron—or both of them—will be here soon.
They live across the road.
I’ve lived in this house from the time I was about seven until now.
My mom and dad were druggies.
Dad died about a year before we came here. I don’t remember much about him. I was so young.
Mom got hurt badly and has pretty much been absent ever since.
I can’t be certain, but I think she still talks to my brother sometimes. She sent me a postcard once, and Grandma gave it to me.
I threw it away.
My mother is dead to me.
She might not actually be gone, but she has never been a part of my life.
My grandmother and my brother were the only people I gave a shit about.
Now, with Grandma gone, it’s just my brother.
Austin is a big rockstar, though, and he’s busy.
The guys are all around twenty-four or twenty-five now, and they’ve been on tour several times. I believe they’re currently preparing for another tour within the next few months.
Like I said, it’s hard to keep up with them.
A knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts.
I walk over and open it to find Mrs. Daisy standing there.
She and Andrea are the spitting image of each other, minus the hair. Andrea’s is dark, while her mother’s is dirty blonde, similar to mine and Austin’s. Andrea and Hunter both got their darker hair from their dad.
Daisy immediately gathers me into her arms and holds me.
“Oh, honey. We had no idea anything happened. Andrea called us. We literally just got home. I had been visiting my in-laws.”
I let her hold me as I sob.
I don’t even realize Mr. Ron is sitting in a vehicle in front of the house until he gets out. He comes over, grabs my bag, and loads it up for me.
Daisy finally releases me and gently urges me toward the car.
I climb inside, barely processing anything that’s happening around me.
Once we arrive across the road, they help me inside and let me go to Andrea’s room to lie down.
At some point, someone brings me food.
I nibble on it, but not much.
I don’t know how much time passes.
The next thing I remember is the bedroom door opening and the clanking of heavy boots against the floor.
The bed dips beside me.
I turn my head and see the worried face of my handsome brother.
His eyes, darker than mine, shine with sadness. His golden hair is tousled and disheveled on top of his head.
I sit up, and immediately my eyes start watering again.
He reaches for me and wraps me in his strong arms.
My brother.
My protector.
Being in his arms again, I can’t even explain how amazing it feels.
I missed him.
And I needed him.
He holds me for I don’t know how long.
The next thing I know, I’m waking up snuggled against his side.
I fell asleep.
When did that happen?
He groans and shifts beneath me. His eyes slowly open, and he looks down at me.
“Hey, baby sis,” he says softly.
He’s definitely not in the best sleeping position, and Andrea’s old bed is small.
I glance up at him.
“You guys got down here quickly.”
He runs his hand over my hair and smiles down at me.
“Of course I did. My baby sister needed me. I’ll always be there for you.”
The tears threaten to fall again, but I hold them back.
“Thank you, Bubba,” I whisper.
“Anytime.”
He starts sitting up, so I move too. He yawns and ruffles his hands through his hair.
“You go get a shower, and I’ll go use Hunter’s.”
I perk up at the mention of Hunter.
He may be seven years older than me, but when you see a hot guy, you just know it.
“Did they all come with you?” I ask, trying to figure out if Colt, Trey, Hunter, and Andrea are all here too.
I know their schedule is crazy.
Austin gets all the way up and digs around in a bag on the floor. He must have put it in here last night.
After he gets what he needs, he stands back up.
“Yeah. Hunter, Trey, Colt, and Andrea are all here,” he says softly.
I nod, and he leaves the room to shower.
I pull myself up and dig around in my bag for my things.
My shower is long and relaxing.
I didn’t realize how badly I needed that hot water against my sore muscles until I’m standing beneath the steaming spray.
Eventually, the water starts getting cold, forcing me out.
I get dressed, leave my hair a little damp, and make my way downstairs.
When I reach the kitchen, the first thing I see is a shirtless, tattooed, dark-haired hunk grabbing a bowl from the cabinet.
He works out.
And you can so tell.
Hunter Drake is the epitome of a sexy rockstar.
He turns around, and I try to mask my face so he doesn’t realize I’m ogling his body.
One eyebrow goes up.
Yeah.
My mask isn’t working for shit.
Now I have a full view of all those muscles and the tattoos covering his chest.
“Chloe,” he says with an amused chuckle.
“Shit,” I mutter before sitting down on one of the barstools. “Hey, Hunter. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
He pauses and shakes a cereal box in front of me, silently asking if I want some.
Then his expression softens.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
I sigh before adding, “I’m starving.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls.
Loudly.
I look down, embarrassed, but Hunter just laughs.
“I’ll fix you a bowl,” he says softly as he turns around and reaches for another one.
I really have to stop ogling his ass.
It’s quite sad that I can’t look away.
I sigh and stretch my neck as he pours me some Frosted Flakes.
“Still like some sugar on top?” he asks.
I look up.
He points toward my cereal, and I smile before nodding.
I can’t believe he remembered that.
Hunter busies himself around the kitchen, finishing my food while I sit there and watch him.
Nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen.
Okay, Chloe.
Stop.
He places the bowl in front of me and sets a spoon beside it.
“There ya go.”
“Thank you,” I say, smiling up at him.
I take my first bite, and my stomach clenches at finally getting some food.
I start scarfing it down.
A few minutes later, I hear several voices coming toward the kitchen.
Andrea and my brother walk in first, followed by Ron and Daisy.
Andrea immediately makes her way over to me and hugs me from behind.
“Hey, honey. Are you okay?”
My mouth is completely full, so I try to chew before answering.
“I’m okay,” I mumble as best I can.
She pulls back and looks at me.
“Oh, man. I’m sorry. You’re eating.”
I shake my head, trying not to laugh.
Man, am I glad to have this bunch back.
This is going to be tough.
But I have my family here.
Some of them might not be family by blood, but they’re family all the same.
