Ryan's phone beeped as she and Brody walked to the club. She checked the screen and touched the icon to see Evan's text message. I had to promise to come to dinner with Mom and Dad next week. You owe me.

"Smart ass." Ryan shook her head with a smile and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Who is?" Brody asked.

"Evan. Oh, hey, I guess we're officially official, since you'll be meeting a family member."

He opened the door for her. "Yeah, but it's only your brother. You're starting me off easy."

Ryan laughed. "You'll thank me for it."

She took his hand as she wove her way through the crowd, saying hi to some familiar faces from other bands and other clubs. Nate, Lara and Mitch were clustered at one side of the bar, along with Lara's cousin, Ephraim.

"Hey, guys. Hi, Ephraim. Long time, no see." Ryan gave him a hug. "How was Corsica?"

"So cool, so very cool." He grinned. "I wish I was there now."

"Oh, stop rubbing it in." Lara smacked his shoulder.

"Hey. I am here to help you guys out, you know. That ought to get me a few less smacks."

Ryan grinned. Ephraim had agreed to help out and handle their merchandise at the show while he was in town, since Allison wasn't going to do it.

"Ephraim, this is Brody Lang. Brody, this is Lara's cousin, Ephraim."

The two men shook hands and exchanged greetings. Ephraim told them more about Corsica, making Ryan long for sun, warm sand, and palm trees. A few people stopped by, members of other bands and friends of friends, and all of them curious for the scoop on what had happened with Jason. Annette turned up again as well and hung around while waiting for her set to start.

Brody turned to Ryan. "I'm gathering no one thought much of Jason."

"Guess not. We'll just chalk it up to a lesson learned and move on."

"Annette! Annette!" A woman with platinum blond hair came up to the group. She waved at everyone and tugged on Annette's arm. "Come on, time to go."

"Gotcha, Cecily." Annette turned to the others. "Good luck everybody! Later!" She and Cecily disappeared into the crowd towards the backstage area.

"Those were some outfits," Brody commented. Annette had switched her cut offs for a bright green miniskirt, and Cecily's hair was outshone only by her metallic silver blouse.

Ryan laughed. "Those were pretty tame compared to some others I've seen them in."

"So . . . ." Brody studied her.

"What?"

"Do you ever wear outfits like that?" His expression was somewhere between teasing and hopeful.

Ryan smiled. "Guess you'll just have to stick around and find out."

x-x-x-x

When Trouser Minnows began playing, Brody was standing with Ryan in front of him, close enough that he kept one hand on her waist. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Minnows, although he gave them points for enthusiasm. Ryan would lean back every so often to point out people she knew in other bands, or tell him the name of the songs, and he'd take advantage to pull her a little closer. When she looked down at his hand, then up at him with a grin, he knew she'd caught on.

When the set was over, Brody saw Mark, Bax and Hilary on the other side of the room. He pointed them out to Ryan as he waved them over.

"Hey, Ryan!" Hilary grinned and then gave her a hug. "I am really psyched about this! You guys will be great."

"Thanks, Hilary." Ryan smiled. "I'm really glad you could make it."

"There'll be more," Mark said with a grin. "Lena and Obie will be here, and Tolya and Sara, and Bax is here, too. Mina and Drew will come but she had to work a dinner shift and so they said they'd come later."

"Excellent." Brody beamed. "Hey, everybody, come meet the others." He took Ryan's hand in his as they introduced everyone. Bax came over a moment later and took his turn.

"So, you're Brody's musician," he said as he shook Ryan's hand.

She gave Brody a questioning look. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, Bax said it, not me."

Ryan smiled and shrugged. "Well, I guess if I'm his musician, he's my hockey player."

Bax laughed. "I like that."

They talked for a while, greeting Lena and Obie when they showed up, and then the lights went down and No More Trees took the stage. Brody cracked up at the lead singer's t-shirt, which was burgundy with gold lettering that read "Save the Redskins—Fire the Owner."

They finished to a round of raucous cheers and left the stage. Ryan turned to Brody and gave him a nervous smile; he smiled. It was the first sign of apprehension she'd shown all night. He was about to say something when a man's voice called her name.

"Hey, Ryan! Ryan!"

Her face lit up and for a moment, Brody felt an unexpected flash of jealousy.

Then she turned and grinned. "Evan!" She laughed as her brother gave her a hug, and Brody chastised himself for the feeling of relief that swept over him.

"Evan, Amira, this is Brody Lang. Brody, this is my little brother and his girlfriend." Ryan made the introductions.

"Little is relative, I see." Brody and Evan shook hands and Ryan groaned at the pun. "Nice to meet you, Evan. And you, Amira." He hadn't seen her at first; Evan was close to six-foot-five, Brody guessed, and she'd been standing behind him.

"Hi, Amira," Ryan said.

"It's good to see you again. I'm so glad you could make it."

"I wouldn't miss it." Amira smiled. "I've been looking forward to it since we saw you at Maryland."

"Great. Oh, and by the way." Ryan turned to Evan and poked him in the shoulder. "Sending me a link to a song about a 'disposable pop star' is not funny."

Evan widened his eyes. "It was that one? I mean, I just saw it was an SR-71 song and sent the link."

"You knew damn well what you were doing, you brat. Do that again," Ryan warned her brother, "and I'll show Amira the pictures from your thirteenth birthday party." When Evan scowled, Ryan smiled in satisfaction and Brody coughed to hide a laugh.

He got a kick out of watching them teasing each other, so much like what he remembered from home. Neither Carla nor Eileen had taken any crap from their brothers, and it looked like Ryan didn't either.

"Hey, Ryan. Looks like it's our turn." Lara came over and grinned. "Come on, let's rock this town."

"Rock it inside out," Ryan replied with a smile, then turned to Brody. "Guess that's my cue."

He smiled, tugged on a lock of her hair and leaned down for a quick kiss. "Go get 'em, rock star." He watched her go and turned to Evan. "So, you come to all her shows?"

Evan nodded. "Not all, but I come when I can. It's a little easier now that I'm at college and on my own schedule."

"I heard your parents aren't real crazy over her and the music," Brody said. He was curious to find out more about that particular issue.

"To put it mildly." Evan rolled his eyes. "It's stupid."

"It is," Amira said. "They were great at Maryland the other week. How'd you even get away from that party tonight?"

"I told them I was meeting some guys from the team. And who knows, there might even be some here." Evan shrugged. "It was easiest."

Amira shook her head and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "You know that's crazy, right?"

Evan looked uncomfortable and scuffed his foot on the floor. "I know, but trust me, it was the best way."

Brody felt bad for Evan; it wasn't easy to lie to your parents. Not that he hadn't gone with the odd misleading sentence himself as a teenager, but even then, he'd known his parents weren't that dumb. Evan was probably torn, Brody thought, wanting to support Ryan and knowing his parents didn’t approve. He was glad he'd never been put in that position.

"What do you think of it?" Brody asked. "I mean, about the band and all?"

Evan grinned. "I think it's fantastic. I told Ryan, I'm jealous. I wish I could do what I want without worrying what other people think."

x-x-x-x

Ryan and the others were quiet as they worked with Trout to set everything up. They didn't need to say anything—they'd done this so many times it was automatic—and Ryan had found she liked the time to try to clear her mind, or at least let her thoughts settle.

Tonight she wasn't having any luck with that, and so she stopped trying to force it. Instead she turned her attention to getting ready and going over the set in her mind. She frowned as thoughts of Brody kept breaking through; she wasn’t used to anything taking her mind off a performance.

"You okay, Ryan?" Lara asked. She waved at Trout as he headed out to take care of the sound.

"Hmmm? Yeah, I'm fine." Ryan slung her guitar on and adjusted it. "Just a little distracted, I guess. Nervous."

"About the show? Or someone else?"

Ryan began to protest, but didn't; Lara knew her too well and she was right. "It's weird," she told her friend. "I'm really glad Brody's here, but it's a little unsettling or something. I don't know. Okay, doesn't matter." Ryan grinned and tossed her hair back. "We've got other things to think about."

"Come on, people. No time for drama." Mitch grinned and they all laughed.

"Speaking of which, did anyone see Allison or Jason out there?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, they're out there." Nate huffed out a breath. "She made sure I saw her when she came in. Good God, how can I be related to her?"

"Maybe there was a hospital mix-up and they brought the wrong baby home," Ryan suggested.

Nate laughed. "I should be so lucky."

"Well, I'd say we have some incentive." Mitch twirled his sticks. "You guys ready?"

"Just about." Ryan made sure her guitar was plugged in, and the amp, and tested her effects pedals. Trout had already made his way back to the sound board.

Ryan looked down as her stomach took a tumble as she heard the crowd milling around. She'd just been with them a few minutes ago, but it hardly felt like that now. At last they were set, and she looked at her friends. "Ready?" When they nodded, she let out a slow breath. "Well, then, let's do this."

They went to their spots on stage and the lights went down.

Mitch sat behind his drums, counted them in and Ryan hit the first chord of "My Last Mistake," one of their new songs. It had gone over so well at the college shows they'd decided to change up and open with it. Her nervousness disappeared as the lights came up.