URGENT (Book 2 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 72: Little Sisters Make Mistakes

Okay guys, I know everyone is worried about Babycakes...but we have another situation to deal with, too..

Kat

I pace the photo set in Seb's bohemian loft strung with Einstein bulbs and dream catchers and soft, dusty-colored tapestries on the wall. I haven't been here before...I'm surprised by it. Beyond the space he's specifically arranged for the shoot, it's not as immaculately decorated as I thought it would be.

It seems a little...cluttered, maybe even a little disorganized. The edges of dust and grime cling around the edges, like Seb is more likely to sweep troublesome crumbs to the corners rather than dutifully deal with them.

I chide myself for falling into stereotypes. Just because Seb is super outgoing, friendly, fun, encouraging and gay...doesn't mean he's a good decorator or immaculate housekeeper.

Seb is smoking a cigarette on the balcony, on the phone with his boyfriend who is in Italy.

I check my watch. This is supposed to be just a quick pit-stop for me. I just come back from Napa yesterday evening. It's my day off, and I am supposed to meet my witch friends for a day at the beach at some super-secret-celebrity house party. They won't even tell me which celebrity...I guess they don't trust me 100% yet. I get it. LA is a crazy place, where people who seem perfectly genuine lie to your face and turn around and screw you. I'm still learning to see the lies behind people's perfect smiles and colored contacts. Until I learn whom to trust, I guess I can't be trusted myself.

I wish Trace were here more, because I always feel one hundred percent safe with him. I know he would never do anything that wasn't in my best interests. Part of me knows that's why he won't go official with our relationship...because it will increase my "dollar value" to the paparazzi and increase my appeal to the fame jackals that prey on celebrities. He doesn't want that to happen until I've had a little time to get used to this lifestyle. Or maybe he doesn't want it to happen until his tour is over and he can be here with me to face all the publicity.

Or maybe he's just not sure he'll ever want the things that I want one day—a marriage, a family, kids—and so he doesn't want to lead me on.

I reach automatically for my rubber band, to dismiss him from my thoughts.

Fuck. Why did I do that? I don't have a rubber band anymore. I don't need a damn rubber band, I have the man!

But there's no denying, that sometimes I get the same feeling I used to have back in high school, when I was with Colin or Maddie or Laurel and he would pop unbidden into my thoughts. The feeling that he wasn't a part of my life, that I need to push him out of my thoughts and get on with the business of my day.

Even though he's the best part of my life now, he's hardly ever in the day to day, and I can't spend every single moment of my day wishing he was. He's out there living his dream, right? So I need to live mine. I tug on the bead bracelet I'm wearing and snap thoughts of him away. Right now, I need to focus on this project—my Loving Marcs Art Auction.

Today is Seb's very last photo shoot, before he begins selecting the shots he will paint. I just came by to meet Street's girlfriend—I mean, his ex-girlfriend—and thank her for being part of the project.

In two months, we will have the art auction—all the photo series, as well as the paintings he made from the best shots. Today is a critical shoot, though, because it's Street's shoot, and we all know the del Marco photo's will bring in the most money. Especially the elusive, non-conformist del Marco—the intellectual artist of the family. Street thinks no one will be interested in his series, but Marcy says the industry has been trying to get a read on him since he hit the hot-sexy two-oh.