Jaded (Rock Star Trilogy)

intrude. We definitely aren't at the meet my parents stage... Far from it, in fact.
    “No!” he answers quickly. “It's fine. You can meet her. She'll love you.”
    “Wow. Stephan Montgomery is introducing me to his mother. ”
    “Well, I wouldn't introduce just any girl to her,” he smiles.
    Damn, his smile should be illegal.
    “I hope she likes me.”
    “She will. In fact, she already does. She's a big fan. She's never missed a TV appearance with you.”
    “Great...” I roll my eyes.
    “Hey, I was just warning you.” He takes off his seat belt. “Come on, I'll protect you.”
    “Fine. Let me just tell Bob I'll be here tonight and he can take the rest of the night off.” I get out of my car, and Bob is parked behind us. Stephan waits for me at his front door.
    “Hey, you can just take off the rest of the night. I'm going to be here all night anyway,” I tell him.
    “Ok, Miss Ryan. I will see you in the morning.”
    I follow Stephan inside his house. Ethan hasn't made it back from school yet, so I follow him into the kitchen where his mom is pouring herself a glass of ice tea.
    “Mom.” She looks up at him, and smiles, then looks over at me. Her glass is full of tea, but she keeps pouring. It is slowly overflowing onto the counter. “This is my friend, Scarlett Ryan. Scarlett, this is my mother, Sarah James.”
    His mom finally notices what she's doing and immediately puts down the jug of tea. She wipes up the spilled tea off the counter. “It's so nice to meet you, Scarlett,” she says in a very controlled voice. “I'm a big fan. Um, Stephan didn't tell me that you two were friends.”
    “Are you ashamed of me?” I joke with Stephan.
    “Would you like to stay for dinner? I know that my husband would be thrilled to have you,” she urges me.
    “Sure,” I say, then look at Stephan. “I mean, as long as it's alright with Stephan.”
    “Of course it is!” Sarah jumps before Stephan can even respond.
    I hear the front door open and Ethan walks into the kitchen. He looks annoyed. “Ready to study?”
    “Yeah,” I say. “Nice to meet you Mrs. James.” I turn to Stephan. “You want to study with us?”
    He shakes his head. “You two go ahead.”
     
    4:25 pm
    Mind your own business.
     
    “Enough studying!” I tell Ethan after only 45 minutes. I feel like banging my head against the wall. “If I see one more math equation I may kill myself.”
    Ethan get's a very serious look on his face. “That's not funny, Scarlett. Suicide is not something to joke about.”
    “It was just an expression. I'm not actually suicidal. I'm sorry if it offended you, but I promise I'm not going to off myself,” I quickly say.
    He sighs. “Sorry. It's just a sensitive subject for me.”
    “Why? What happened?”
    “I don't really want to talk about it.”
    I nod, and decide to change the subject. “So, I was thinking about Mona. She's kind of a bitch. I think you should set your sights on somebody else. Maybe somebody with a personality.”
    “And maybe you should mind your own business.” His voice is cold, and very unlike him. “Seriously, don't act like you know anything.”
    “I'm not,” I defend myself. “Seriously, get a grip, Ethan. The girl sent her clone to tell me that as long as you were with me, I wasn't welcome at her table. Do you really want to be with a girl like that?”
    He doesn't answer.
    I get up and gather my things. I'm so furious that my hand is shaking. I'm about to open the door, but Ethan stops me.
    “I'm sorry, Scarlett. It's just really complicated, but it's not my story to tell.”
    “Stephan?” I ask.
    “Yeah,” he says in a whisper. “But, don't ask him yet. Let him tell you when he's ready.”
    I nod my head, but don't say a word. Honestly, I think I may be scared to. I walk out of his room.
     
    4:40 pm
    The 'L' word.
     
    I walk down the hallway and eventually I find Stephan sitting in his room. He's listening to music, but he has his headphones on so I can't tell what is playing. I sit beside him on the bed, and he looks up at me smiling.
    “Hey,” he says, pulling off his headphones.
    “Hey,” I repeat. I look around his messy room. It's exactly how I pictured it would be. Posters of classic cars are hanging on the wall, his bed is black, and clothes are spread out across the floor. “No poster of me?” I ask, trying to act hurt.
    He rolls his eyes. “I'm not the kind of guy who lusts after what he can't have.”
    “Who said you can't have