Final Serenade (The Encore Book 1) by N. N. Britt

Author:N. N. Britt [Britt, N. N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781732973152
Published: 2020-04-16T04:00:00+00:00

“Crap!” Ashton smacked the back of his head against the headrest of my Honda and drew something from his pocket. “I forgot to give this to Levi.”

And here I thought my brother was going to be on his best behavior tonight. “What’s that?” I examined the SD card in his palm.

“It’s the first fifteen minutes of Izzy’s set.”

“Izzy, huh?” Irked, I grabbed the card and slid it into the pocket of my jacket.

After the show, Isabella’s mother took us to Saddle Ranch for supper. I hadn’t felt like going, mainly because Ashton was with me and censoring him in a public place wasn’t part of my babysitting duties. But I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know the entire band, so we accepted the invitation.

Levi had left before dessert. He wanted to start on the interview as soon as possible. Surprisingly, Ashton wasn’t a total dud. I only counted three embarrassing things that came from his mouth that I was going to discuss at a later date. Isabella liked him, though. I had a suspicion they’d exchanged phone numbers too, but I didn’t bring it up at the table. I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone.

“Why didn’t you give it to him?” I questioned my brother as I started the car. “He’s probably looking for it.”

“I told you. I forgot.”

“You know Izzy isn’t into guys, right? You flirted with her all night.”

“I know.”

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure you don’t get your hopes up.”

“You think I’m so dumb I can’t tell gay from straight?”

“No, I don’t think you’re so dumb, Ashton.” I paused and listened to the engine purr. Thin fog spilled into the parking lot from the tops of the hills. “Actually, sometimes I do. Because you behave like a ten-year-old.”

“No, I don’t. I wasn’t flirting with her, and I did everything you said today. I carried your bag all night.”

“Could you put your seatbelt on, please?”

“Come on. Say it. I didn’t fuck up. You’re going to see Levi tomorrow anyway. You can give him the card.”

I didn’t know why telling my brother he hadn’t disappointed me tonight was difficult. Maybe because I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually said that to him. At the same time, I understood encouragement had to be a part of his rehabilitation. He needed to hear the praise. He needed to hear he was doing a good job.

“Look”—I leaned back in my seat in an attempt to gather my thoughts—“you were a lot of help today, Ashton. Next time, try to be more attentive. Always check all the gear before you leave. Bags, pockets. You want to make sure you don’t lose anything important like an SD card, okay?”

“Okay.” He buckled up and connected the aux cord to his phone. “Any special requests?” A proud smile flashed across his lips, but he hid it from me.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll tell you if I don’t dig it.”

We had a very strange push-pull relationship, which exhausted the hell out of me lately.

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