Page 70 of Rescue

He shrugs sheepishly. “I just kind of figured it was better than them worrying, you know? Treating you like normal.”

“Messing with each other is pretty normal Ransom behavior,” I agree. “You have a point. I would take that crap over the incessant worrying any day.”

“You about done here?” Reed asks, coming up behind us.

“Just about.” I stand and dust off the knees of my jeans. “We heading back to the hotel?”

Levi glances at his watch. “You guys have two interviews this afternoon,” he says. “The reporters are coming here.”

I groan. The last thing I feel like doing today is sitting in a room with my brothers answering questions. We only have three more days in Paris, and I want to spend them out in the city. Preferably with Haylee.

Her face flashes through my mind, the way she looked when I left her room this morning. She was laughing as I went in for one last kiss before the door closed, dressed in nothing but one of my old band shirts, her hair loose around her face. On second thought, maybe we didn’t need to spend time out in the city after all. Her room would suffice. Or mine.

“Sorry,” Levi says sympathetically. “We’ll try to get them out of here pretty quick. And I’ll order some lunch so you’re not starving while you wait.”

“Thanks, Levi.” He pulls out his phone and walks away, presumably arranging our meal, leaving me standing with Reed on the side of the stage.

“How’s it going?” he asks, voice careful.

I suppress a sigh. “It’s going really good, Reed. How about you?”

He doesn’t answer, his eyes on my face. “I heard about you and Haylee.”

“Yeah?” If he detects the warning in my voice, he ignores it.

“Yeah. You, uh, sure that’s what you want to be doing right now?”

“I’m sure it’s none of your business.”

He sighs, running his hands through his hair. “I’m just—”

“Worried? How shocking.”

“Lennon, come on.”

“No, Reed. I’m so fucking tired of this.” I realize that I’m clenching my fists, and I force myself to relax. “I’m happier about this than I’ve been about anything in a really long time. If you think that’s a problem, something to worry about, well, you can keep it to yourself, okay?”

“Lennon—”

Rescue comes from an unlikely place. “I think that’s enough, Reed,” my dad says, coming up behind us. “Why don’t you head back to the dressing room. I want to talk to your brother.”

Awesome. So now he’ll lecture me instead of Reed. But, to my surprise, he smiles once Reed has left the stage. “You look good, son. You’ve been getting some rest?”

Caught off guard, I nod. “Yeah. The schedule has been pretty great. Especially this week. Uh, thanks for that.”

He waves his hands dismissively. “I want you boys to enjoy this experience. Besides, what’s the point of all that hard work all these years if we never get to enjoy the fruits of our labor?”

Wow, is this really my dad? I study his face, noticing that he seems better rested as well. The worry lines, so prominent since my accident, have faded a bit, the dark circles under his eyes gone.

“So. Haylee Hunt.”

I don’t think I’ve ever discussed girls, any girl, with my dad before. He’s avoided any hint of emotional stuff for as long as I can remember. “Uh, yeah,” I say, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting. “She’s, you know. Pretty great.”

“I’m sure she is.” His slightly strained voice betrays his words a bit. He’s never been very good at letting women into our circle, though he’s done a better job at hiding his displeasure since Daisy and Paige decided to stick around. “Does she… does she know what happened?”

I can’t meet his eyes. “Yeah. I told her.”

He nods. “I’m glad. That you can talk to her, I mean. I think that’s important.”