Page 103 of Tracking Wolfe

Fear of disappointing someone. Fear of rejection. Fear that I wasn’t enough.

Those fears were very real. And conquering them wouldn’t be remotely easy.

But I wouldn’t be doing it alone.

And the alternative—a life where I kept locking bigger and bigger pieces of myself away—that was so much harder.

Gabe paused as if making sure I was listening. “Not every song is for every listener. But when a listener finds just the right song for them… it’s like fucking magic.”

I wanted to roll my eyes. To groan at the after-school special of it all. But I was too busy silently blubbering to say a word.

“Okay,” he said after a beat. “Anyway, I’ll run this down for you. And if you decide that our Jacob Mason needs a little petty cyber revenge on top of it, you know who to call.”

I laughed through my tears. “Appreciate it.”

“Am I going to see you at the music festival in Legacy? We’re flying out in the morning. I know your dad doesn’t play till day after tomorrow, but it opens tomorrow night.”

I paused, taking a minute to process his words. “Wait, it’s already the Spring Sling?”

How had I lost track of time? It seemed like years had passed since I’d first gone to Legacy and Majestic to arrange for the festival sponsorship and ended up kissing Trace in his cabin.

He laughed. “Some of us have been counting down, man. Zee Barlo’s playing, and he’s hot as fuck. Should be a huge crowd, I think.”

“Yeah, that’s—” I stopped dead as the wildest idea occurred to me. “Gabe. You’re a genius.”

“I am? I mean, pfft. Of course I am. Been telling people that for years. Maybe you could drop it in the group chat⁠—”

“I’ll do you one better,” I promised. “I’ll buy you a drink this weekend at Timber and announce it to the bar.”

His grin came through the line in his familiar voice. “Yeah? Excellent. See you there. Love you, cousin.”

And then he was gone. I gathered myself together and shot him a final text.

Love you, too. Thank you always.

He sent back a heart, and I closed my eyes to have a little moment of genuine gratitude for the big, loving family I’d been born into. They were seriously better than anything.

And they would be even better when I was no longer keeping a giant secret from them.

When I was brave enough to claim the life I wanted and strong enough to hold it.

I shot off another few texts—Sunny was going to get whiplash from all my conflicting instructions, but I figured she’d be okay with it. Then I climbed back into the van, packed a bag as silently as I could, and wrote a note for Trace.

Before I left, I pressed a soft kiss to Trace’s forehead and murmured my love into his skin, feeling a kind of peace I hadn’t felt in… god, ever.

Then I snuck out of the van once again, and I made my way home.

To Legacy.

26

TRACE

I woke up with the sun piercing my eyes through the skylight. It took me a minute to realize that Wolfe wasn’t in bed next to me.

“Baby?” I called out, voice rough from sleep.

When there was no response, I squinted toward the little shower cubicle that also held the toilet.