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course, prompting Nat to burst into tears again. “And you’re almost as beautiful as your mama,” I whispered. “One day… one day you’ll get there. You may be my new princess.” I kissed her forehead again and looked directly into Nat’s eyes. “But your mama is my queen.”

CHAPTER NINE
     
    Demetri
    “ Y OU’RE GOING TO GET a cavity.” Gabe pointed at the taffy clenched in my hand. I growled and threw the wrapper at his face.
    Alyssa was sitting on my left. She rubbed my back softly. “It’s a nervous habit he has.”
    “No drugs,” I mumbled under my breath. “Just taffy. Lots and lots of taffy.”
    Gabe nodded and crossed his arms.
    The clock ticked in the corner.
    Weird how a day ago I didn’t even know Gabe and Wes, but now they were in the hospital waiting room, probably seeing me at my worst.
    I loved Nat.
    I loved her. She was the sister I never had. To think of her being in pain or something going wrong…
    Shit.
    I popped my knuckles and stood, needing to get out the nervous energy in a way that didn’t have me reaching for a cigarette or alcohol.
    “Hey…” Wes nodded his head at me. “…you should sing a song.”
    My eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”
    Wes smirked and then shrugged. “Well, it’s what you do, right? To relieve stress. So sing or write a song.”
    I snapped my fingers. “Just like that?”
    “Yeah, just like that.”
    “Couldn’t hurt.” Gabe mumbled. “Just think of all the teeth you’ll save.”
    “Thanks,” I muttered, pacing the floor between the two guys, most likely wearing out my flip-flops and feeling a sudden headache coming on.
    “I’ll help.” Gabe stood.
    “Yay!” Alyssa clapped her hands.
    I shot her a dirty look.
    The last thing I wanted to do was sing “Kumba-Freaking-Ya” with Ashton Hyde or whatever — Gabe— Hell, he even had identity issues! Nat could be dying for all I knew, and they wanted me to write a song?
    I was handed a pen and paper.
    Wes ushered the girls out of the room, saying something about getting them Starbucks. Jaymeson followed.
    And it was just me and Gabe.
    “Honest moment.” I cracked my knuckles for the third — maybe fourth — time. “I’m not so sure I like you.”
    Gabe snorted a laugh. “Honest moment? I’m not so sure I like you either.”
    “Good.”
    “Fine.”
    “So…” I swallowed. “…are we really going to write a lame-ass song?”
    “No.” He shook his head. “We’re going to write a badass one, for Nat and the baby. If it’s good enough, meaning if you don’t suck so hard I have to replace both eardrums, we’ll record it.”
    I rolled my eyes. “We both know I don’t suck, just like we both know you don’t suck.”
    “So no sucking.” He gave a curt nod. “You ready?”
    “No.” I kicked the chair then slumped against the wall, falling to the floor, my knees knocking together like I was about to go in for surgery or something. I hated hospitals.
    “Me too.”
    “Huh? Did I say that out loud?”
    “More like yelled it.” Gabe shrugged and sat down next to me. “Wes was in the hospital a lot… when his cancer was bad, and well, one of my best girls was in the hospital a lot toward the end too. You know the anger’s displaced, right?”
    “Displaced?”
    “Yeah.” Gabe pulled up his legs. “I’m not all emotional and sappy like Wes.”
    “And I appreciate that.”
    Gabe laughed. “Right, but I’m not stupid either. Whenever we go through shit, it’s easy to blame stuff around us for the feelings we can’t figure out.”
    “Like the hospital?”
    “Like the hospital.”
    We both fell silent. Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was write a song with a complete stranger who I may or may not decide to be friends with. Jury was still out. But I recognized something in him that I liked, something that told me I could trust him.
    “Distract me,” I huffed. “I can’t write in my current taffy coma, but you can at least tell me something interesting.”
    Gabe