“Ha! They’re not.”
“We are… by law.”
This time it’s Liam waving Harrison off. “Common law, whatever.”
“Wait, you’re not married? But Elle has your last name.”
“Katelyn and I decided a long time ago that neither of us wanted to get married. I think it makes us both work harder at our relationship to be honest. I adopted the twins when they were little, about six years old and she adopted Quinn.”
“You can do that?” I ask. “Just adopt other people’s kids?”
Harrison takes his sunglasses off and turns so he’s facing me. “Peyton and Elle’s dad—”
“My childhood best friend to be exact,” Liam adds.
“His name was Mason. He died in a car accident when the girls were five. Liam had come back to his hometown for the funeral and decided to stay. Quinn and I came to see him for Christmas that year… and well, the rest is history. And Quinn’s mom gave up her rights to him, paving the way for Katelyn to adopt him.”
I nod slowly. “I think it all makes sense, at least a little bit. Peyton, what does she do? Elle and Quinn talk about her every now and again.”
Liam chuckles. “Peyton is married to my son, Noah. You’ll meet him at a stop soon.”
“Oh wow, is that weird?” I ask them.
Both say no.
“So, you guys are best friends, bandmates and now fathers-in-law to each other’s children?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Liam says. “When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was paired with Harrison for the group. We just clicked. We’re family, right along with JD. He’s married to my wife’s other best friend, Jenna, who you haven’t met yet. They have a daughter, Eden, who competes in surfing competitions, so she travels with her a lot.”
“Wow, this is band thing is a crazy dynamic. I remember Elle talking about the band becoming your family when we first started out.”
“It’s important because you spend so much time with each other that when there are wives or husbands, as well as children, it’s invaluable to keep everyone included in everything, to make sure everyone feels involved in the decisions the band makes,” Harrison tells me.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
But it’s Liam who answers. “If Harrison needs time off to tend to something, the band takes the time off. We put rehearsing on hold when Peyton and Noah got married, and when football season starts, we all go to my son’s games as a family. We put real life in front of fantasy. I didn’t always and almost lost the love of my life as a result.”
I listen to everything that they’re telling me and begin to wonder if I’ll have an opportunity like this or if Whiskey’s going to be adamant about following through with the divorce. If she is, I’ll give her whatever she asks for because that’s the least I can do, even though she got us into this mess.
The plane moves slowly down the tarmac and comes to a stop. The aviation clerk tells us we can go outside now, and just as we open the door, Quinn comes barreling toward us.
“Oh good, you haven’t left.”
“Everything all right?” Harrison asks him.
“Yeah, just gonna hitch a ride south. I thought Ajay could use some support and Nola’s at her parents so she’s going to drive up and meet us there.”
I pat him on the back. “Thanks, man.” I don’t even know if I need help but the fact that he’s here means the world to me. Quinn and I make our way out to the plane and board, leaving the guys behind.
“How is 4225 West getting to the next stop?”
Quinn laughs. “This isn’t their plane. My dad rented this for you so you can spend time with your girl.”
“Are you serious?”
Quinn buckles himself into the seat. I choose to sit across the aisle and opposite him so we can continue to talk.
“If my dad hadn’t, Liam would’ve. He’s a sucker for a good love story.”