Accidental Rock Star by Emily Evans

evening.
    They did.

Chapter Twelve
    Tyler placed his feet
next to Baylee’s on the coffee table and kicked. “It’s my turn to
pick the movie.”
    She kicked back and
snagged a handful of his popcorn. “No, it’s not.”
    Aunt Joellen came into
the room, wearing an unusually serious expression. She held up a
strip of condoms. “I found these on the bathroom counter.”
    Baylee stuffed the
popcorn in her mouth and snuck a gaze at him. She smirked.
    “They’re Baylee’s,”
Tyler lied.
    Baylee choked and
kicked him in the leg. Tyler kicked back.
    Aunt Joellen arched her
eyebrows.
    “Okay. What? They’re
mine.” Tyler tilted his head back on the rough, square couch
cushion and waited. “And?”
    Aunt Joellen tossed
them into the wastebasket under the end table.
    She just threw away
my condoms . Tyler sat up. His feet thudded to the floor. “Dude.
No way.”
    Baylee snickered.
    “You don’t need things
like that around here. The girls in this town are nice girls. You
have to respect them.”
    Baylee covered her
mouth on another mocking sound.
    Nice girls. Well, I
know that now. Where was this talk yesterday? Before Aria freaked
out over nothing. Still, Aunt Joellen didn’t need to teach
Baylee the wrong thing. “Aunt Joellen, everyone should use
condoms.” He pointed at Baylee. “Every time. Don’t let some dude
give you any B.S. about it. Or use the female condom.”
    Baylee’s face flushed
red. She and her mom said together, “Tyler!”
    “Got it. I’m just
saying.”
    Baylee turned to him
and mouthed, “Shut up. You’re going to scar me.”
    Aunt Joellen took her
seat on the other side of Baylee. “Now, Tyler, if you and Aria are
thinking about getting that serious… I should probably talk to her
mother. Make sure she’s talking to Aria. Like I’m talking to
you.”
    “You probably should,
Mom,” Baylee said, sounding self-righteous and moral. Her shoulders
shook, and he knew she was containing laughter.
    Tyler gave her the
stink eye and blew out a breath. “Not necessary. Date didn’t go
that great. We won’t be going out anytime soon.” Not until he could
figure out how to fix it.
    Baylee sniggered and
reached for another handful of his popcorn.
    He held the bowl out of
her reach. “Braces,” he reminded her.
    She snarled.
    Aunt Joellen pointed to
her teeth. “He’s right, Baylee.” She gave him a concerned look.
“Well, if something changes, you can talk to me about it.”
    No. Never. Not if she
were the freaking gatekeeper for all the condoms in North America.
“Thanks, Aunt Joellen.”
    “Okay. Enough of this.
Time for the movie.” Aunt Joellen looked down at the stack of
Blu-ray discs on the coffee table that he’d had delivered. All
action films, along with a state-of-the-art player. She shook her
head and went to her worn, scratched stack of romance movies. “How
about a drama?” She waved one with a gray cover featuring a
drooping white flower.
    Baylee leaned into his
arm and whispered, “Spoiler alert: the girl gets pregnant and dies
in the end.”

Chapter Thirteen
    “She went all nice girl
on our date.” Tyler adjusted the screen on his laptop, ready for a
conversation with his bros. “It might take her a while to calm
down.”
    Man, he was starving.
He’d signed up for a ‘Steak of the Month Club’ online because he
was sick to death of chicken and tuna. Garrett was gnawing on a
sandwich that looked good. He bet Marissa had made it. “What is
that? Prime Rib?”
    “Aye.”
    Fucker.
    “Man, you sure can pick
’em,” Garrett said around a bite. “First Gina diving off the deep
end of reality … now …”
    “They’re not the same
thing at all.” Tyler crossed one hand over the other, waving him
off. Aria was … she was … He rubbed his hand over his face.
    Max frowned and swiped
a workout towel over his neck. He’d checked in from the gym. “No
news on Gina?”
    “Security says she’s
sent like a hundred texts to my old phone. Including a shot