The last chapter will be Tuesday at the latest! Sooner if I can get it done!
~Slade’s Point of View~ ~Three Months Later~ “But in all seriousness. Slade you are everything to us, and I’ll admit we all took you for granted for way too long. Hopefully, we’ve all grown up … a bit…” Corey trailed off. Everyone booed. I shook my head and laughed, then squeezed my bride’s hand. “Enough that at least we can finally start carrying our weight. Distribute the responsibilities. Having amazing wives to help doesn’t hurt,” he said, winking at Pearl. She had a little baby belly now, and damn she was beautiful. Natasha wasn’t far behind. Bailey though? She was holding out and Trey seemed just fine with that. Juliet wasn’t in a hurry for baby number two anytime soon. There would be three new Feisty babies this year, that was more than enough. A few whistles broke out. If this is how long it was going to take each one of them to make a damn speech, we’ll never get out of here. Jude and Lukas had already been nearly ten minutes a piece! I’d only had one dance with Holl
~Holly’s Point of View~~Twenty Five Years Ago, Suburbs of Portland, Oregon~I can’t believe mom forgot to get me from school … again. I know she’s got a lot on her plate but come on! Trudging down the sidewalk with my heavy backpack weighing me down, I tried to avoid the mud puddles. Thankfully by the time school ended the rain had quit but it had been pouring ALL day. Now I had nearly a two mile walk home and it was chilly. And muddy, there weren’t exactly sidewalks along the entire way.My mom was a night shift nurse at the hospital so I rarely saw her except when she picked me up from school. She worked seven at night to seven in the morning but often went in early. The fact that she didn’t show meant she either got doing something else or didn’t set her alarm.I’d thought about going into the office and calling home but if she needed to sleep that badly I guessed I should leave her alone.It just made my already bad day worse. First dad was late dropping me off, then we had a po
~Slade’s Point of View~~Present Day~“I don’t want you wasting time on your honeymoon worrying about my problems,” I said, to one of my best friends.The drummer in the band I had managed for the last fifteen years was newly married and he should be face first in his wife’s thighs instead of talking to me.The band and I were close, beyond close. We were brothers and we’d all been through hell and back together. I’d do anything for any one of them and I knew they all felt the same about me. True friendship, brotherhood, is something you can’t buy. Loyalty.While I was rich with those around me who cared and loved me, there was certainly a massive void in my life I didn’t know how to fill.“Look Slade you can’t fuck around. But you can’t be like a stalker either. Holly is right there, she’s right there bro. I’ve been talking to the wife about this and we agree,” Lukas said.I rolled my eyes as I heard a shuffle.“Slade, you need to give her what you failed to give her all those years
~Holly’s Point of View~“You’ve been on that video game all day,” I snapped, blowing my bangs out of my face.“I’m just getting your money’s worth,” Chase said, laughing.This kid.He’s way too smart for his age, way too far ahead of his time. He needs to slow down. He knows since we lost his dad I’ve pretty much let him do whatever he wants, though he usually doesn’t take advantage of that. I don’t have the heart to tell him no to anything.As I struggled to get more out of the fridge than I knew I should, my fingers seemed to stop working.“Damn it,” I whined, looking at the carton of eggs on the floor. I put everything else down and grabbed a roll of paper towels. But before I could even squat down I felt arms around me.“Mom, you’ve been off for a couple days. Like a space cadet off … floating without gravity. What’s up,” Chase said, resting his head on my shoulder. I couldn’t believe my flipping 13 year old was as tall as me already. I am only 5’5 but still. “Can’t hide anythi
~Slade’s Point of View~ It had absolutely killed me not to pay for Holly’s dinner, nearly killed me. Natasha’s words rang in my brain and told me not to. Don’t step into her life waving your money in her face. That’s not the way to do it. I was so damn messed up over seeing her I ended up giving the counter guy $300 for a $42 bag of food and telling him to keep the change. Her son was handsome and polite, clearly amused with the little exchange too. Which means he’s probably more mature than his years. He wasn’t defensive though, he wasn’t throwing me shade or irritated. I felt that was good, if there could be any good at any rate. It stabbed a bit when she called me an old friend, but really what would she say? I supposed it was better than saying “someone I used to know” or “some asshole” from high school. I had to get out of my head, I really should get back to California. But I just can’t. Running into her tonight was a complete fluke, I hadn’t even been following her aroun
~Holly’s Point of View~What the fuck was I thinking getting naked in my ex-boyfriend’s pool?? Ugh. What if there are cameras?? Friggin’ idiot Holly. Not to mention leading him on. He … doesn’t even … live here!Like it matters! I’m not getting back with Slade!Thankfully he was a perfect gentleman when it was time to get out, he brought me a nice soft robe and didn’t even peek. I don’t think.Of course I’m self conscious of my body, I’m no spring chicken. My boobs thankfully lasted pretty well over the years, I’m not a sagging granny yet but I definitely have a bit of a muffin top, cellulite on my ass. Years of running my ass off at the hospital but eating like a dump truck. Damn hospital fries and chicken tenders being so good are my downfall.I was stupid to think he cared about my imperfections, he clearly didn’t. But knowing the kinds of women he’s probably been with and could have with a simple phone call if he wanted … yeah it made me self conscious.Slade should absolutely be
~Slade’s Point of View~ ~Fifteen Years Ago~ “Baby I can hardly hear you, the band just went on,” I shouted, irritated. She’d been calling all night, I had no clue what time it even was back at home and I was sure she was just missing me. She’s probably blown through the phone cards I’d left her. I missed the hell out of her but with everything going on and trying to keep the guys together and straight I barely had time to remember to piss. Holly knows what tonight means to me. To the band. We’re on a fucking worldwide tour, five guys from podunk nowhere Oregon currently on a stage in Austrailia in front of fifty thousand people. That shit just doesn’t happen everyday. My mind flashed to the marquee outside: TONIGHT ONLY: FEISTY - SOLD OUT Seeing that on the way in gave me a hard on like I’d never felt. I was 18 fucking years old and managing one of the hottest bands on earth. I got them a record deal like nobody gets, even bands that have been around a long time and sold million
~Holly’s Point of View~ “Really I can just get an Uber, that’s how I got here,” I said, as I fumbled to get my sneakers on. I had already seen a text from Chase asking if he could stay another night with his cousin, apparently they were doing a two day horror movie marathon. I used to be uptight about him watching that stuff but he thinks it's so funny and actually spends the whole time dissecting why it's all fake. My in-laws are also the sweetest people you could ever want to meet. Much like Gene and I, they were only able to have one child and it's always meant so much to us that Chase and Dylan basically grew up as brothers. Also, in my book, if he had a strong male friend to occupy his time he wasn’t chasing girls that much. Really, he rarely showed much of an interest. His life right now was baseball and I was more than fine with that. “Holly, just let me take you. It’ll be weird but cool to see Mama Anderson’s place again,” he said, shaking his head. “Yeah well, the only t