Girl vs. Boy Band by Harmony Jones Page A

“You could try there.”
    Max elbowed him in the ribs. Lark was about to dial 9-1-1 when a voice floated languidly through the kitchen.
    â€œMorning, all. What’s for brekkie?”
    All five of them whirled to see a bleary-eyed Aidan lounging in the doorway. He was still dressed in his clothes from the night before—a black leather blazer over a black T-shirt and black leather pants, which made Lark blush as she noticed they fit him like a second skin.
    â€œEither those are some really trendy pajamas, mate,” said Ollie, biting back a grin, “or you are well and truly busted.”
    â€œBusted?” Aidan gave a casual lift of his eyebrows. “What for? Having a little fun?”
    â€œHow about breaking the law?” seethed Donna.
    Aidan was cool as a cucumber as he sauntered to the table and helped himself to a glass of juice. “I didn’t break any laws. As it happens, I never actually made it
into
the venue.”
    â€œWell, if you didn’t go to the club, where were you all night?” asked Lark.
    â€œTurns out I wasn’t the only one in the queue without proper ID. After I got turned away, I met a couple of girls who couldn’t get in, either. They invited me to a party out in the Valley, wherever that is.” He gave a careless shrug. “So I went.”
    â€œA party in the Valley with two girls you just met.” Lark’s mother covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “Good grief! Do you have any idea how many things could have gone wrong in that scenario?”
    â€œBut nothing did, did it?” Aidan challenged. “I made it home alive, didn’t I? Which reminds me, there’s a taxi out front and I owe the driver a few dollars for the ride. Donna, would you mind handling that?”
    Donna removed her hands from her face and glowered at him.
    But Aidan didn’t flinch; he simply met her angry eyes with an angelic expression and turned up his palms. “All
my
money’s got pictures of Her Majesty the queen on it. Don’t think he’d accept that, do you?”
    Mrs. Fitzpatrick immediately went to the desk in the corner of the kitchen, where Donna’s tote bag hung on the back of a chair. “I’ll take care of it,” she said, grabbing Donna’s wallet and marching out to the driveway.
    Aidan just chuckled and took a long sip of his juice.
    â€œDo you think this is funny?” Donna asked in a brittle voice. “Well, here’s a little newsflash that you’ll find hilarious! What you did last night was not only disrespectful and unprofessional, it was downright stupid. And if you ever so much as even
think
about pulling a stunt like that again, I will send you back to London so fast, your head will spin. Do you understand? One more incident and I’m throwing you out of the band.”
    Lark thought she saw a flash of regret flicker across Aidan’s face, but it was almost instantly replaced by a look of defiance. “I thought pop stars were meant to live on the edge! What’s the point of being in a band if you can’t have any fun?”
    â€œFirst of all,” Donna said tightly, “y’all aren’t pop stars yet. You can have your fun when you’ve earned it. Right now, young man, you have everything to prove. And so far you’re doing a pretty terrible job of it!”
    It wasn’t until Lark heard the “y’all” slip into her mama’s speech that she understood just how mad—or maybe frightened—Donna was. From the moment Lark and her mother had arrived in LA, Donna had been obsessed with erasing all traces of Southern twang from her speech. But now she was so angry that she didn’t even realize she’d reverted to sounding like a Nashville native again.
    Aidan lowered his eyes. But he didn’t say he was sorry.
    â€œGet upstairs and change out of that ridiculous outfit,” Donna ordered through her