Kate ran her fingers under her eyes, then her face brightened. "I've got candy and popcorn."

Cheyenne looped her arm around Kate's. "And I've got every chick flick under the sun."

It wasn't too much later that we had a full-fledged slumber party going. I hadn't had a sleepover since the eighth grade, but childhood memories instantly assaulted me as the girls spread out their treasures. There were enough movies to last a week solid, enough candy to feed a small country, and enough beauty products to keep my sister stocked for a month. It gave me a serious case of the giggles to give myself a facial in my living room with four other girls. And it was so much fun I didn't care how ridiculous we all looked.

Halfway through the second movie, my doorbell rang. Even though I was in my pajamas with a green facemask on, I hurried to answer it. Dressed in a tank top and Kellan's black boxers, I pulled the door wide open. Hopefully it was our pizza. And hopefully the delivery girl noticed that I was wearing Kellan's underwear . . . since she'd seen them when Kellan had ordered food during our strip poker night.

My amused laughter died on my lips as I stared at the person standing in my doorway. It wasn't the pizza girl. Joey stood in my doorway. She ran her eyes over me and let out a derisive snort. I felt my cheeks heat, even under the layer of the cooling green tea mask slathered over my skin.

"What are you doing here? Kellan told you to never come back," I snapped, my good mood gone.

Joey ignored my attitude and tilted her head to look past me into the house. "Kellan here?"

I sidestepped to block her vision. "No, he's in L.A."

She grabbed a long lock of her black hair and twirled it around her finger as she absorbed my answer. Her fingernails were long, sharp, and painted bright red. Remembering the long scratch along Kellan's jaw, I ground my teeth together and considered slamming the door in her face.

She looked unaffected by my unhappiness. "Is he seriously recording an album? Or is that just some line he uses to pick up girls?" She smirked as her dark eyes drifted to the ring on my finger.

Even though I knew it shouldn't bother me, it really got under my skin that this woman was belittling our relationship. Kellan and I had gone through so much together. For her to demean it and dismiss it as some casual hookup boiled my blood. "Yes, he's recording an album." I started to close the door. "I'll tell him you stopped by."

She stuck her toes in the door's path. "Interesting. So . . . he's gonna be hot shit soon? Well, hotter than he already is, at any rate."

As she stood in my doorway chewing on her lip, an expression seeped into her features that reminded me of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. I could clearly see the woman's mental image of herself counting large stacks of money, money she'd earned at someone else's expense.

I could feel my friends cautiously approaching the door as I sighed, "You have other copies of the tape, don't you?"

Joey removed her foot as she shrugged. "I was just returning his copy. I have plenty of others." As Jenny stepped to my side, her face equally covered in green goo, Joey sprightly asked, "You guys want to watch it? It's pretty freaking hot. Kellan did this thing where he-"

I put up my hand to stop her explanation. God, no, I didn't ever want to watch him hav**g s*x with someone else. And I definitely didn't want a play-by-play. "I don't want anything to do with you or your tape. Kellan paid you, and we're done as far as I'm concerned."

I heard some of the girls behind me gasp as they realized just what was going on. Jenny was the only one of them I'd told about the sex tape; she apparently hadn't passed on the information. Jenny was awesome that way.

Joey shrugged as she adjusted her short skirt. "Whatever, I was just offering you an advance screening to the movie of the year."

She spun on her heel to leave. Outraged, embarrassed, and mortified for Kellan, I stepped forward and blurted, "Are you really going to sell that? I mean, you're on it too. Do you really want a bunch of skeezy guys entertaining themselves with your private life?"

Joey stopped on the sidewalk and turned her dark head to glare at me. "If it means I'm set for life, then yes." Raising one edge of her lip, she added, "Besides, I'll be forever linked to a rich and famous rock star. I'll be famous, and what could be better than that?"

I shook my head, not understanding the desire to be famous, regardless of the price. Here I was, trying to find a way to stay out of Kellan's spotlight, while Joey was perfectly fine with selling her skin to find a way into it. How sadly desperate she must be to crave attention so much she'd do just about anything to get it. Oddly enough, my anger faded as I stared at her in stunned silence. While Joey waited for some response from me, all I felt for her was pity.

Retreating to the warmth of my home with Kellan, I told her, "I hope you find what you're looking for, Joey." Not expecting me to react that way, her brow was deeply pointed in confusion as I shut the door on her.

Chapter 7: So Long, Seattle

I woke up with a feeling in my chest that bordered on delirium. Today was Friday, my last day in Seattle. By this afternoon, I'd be in Kellan's arms in Los Angeles. I couldn't wait. I bounded out of my makeshift bed and nearly tripped over the girlfriends sprawled around the living room floor.

Jenny groaned when I bumped her elbow, but she didn't wake up. Giddy, I hurried upstairs to take a shower and get ready to go. Anna was picking me up soon, and I wanted to be fresh and sparkling clean for my reunion with Kellan. It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd left me, but it felt like an eternity. That always happened when he went away. Time's continuity seemed to depend on Kellan's proximity to me-the farther away he was, the longer time stretched.

When I emerged from the shower, I smelled the heavenly aroma of freshly brewed coffee. My mouth watered at the smell, and Kellan was instantly in my mind . . . not that he'd ever really left. He was usually somewhere in the back of my brain, but coffee always brought him right to the forefront.

After I was dressed and ready to go, I grabbed my bags and hurried downstairs to set them by the front door. Most of the girls were awake by then, rubbing their eyes, sipping on mugs of coffee while they started putting their stuff back together. Jenny gave me a one-armed hug as she held a travel mug of coffee out for me. "Anna just called. She's on her way."

I nodded as I took a sip-it burned my tongue a little but it was gloriously creamy. Jenny glanced around at the still-full living room. "I'll make sure the girls get home, then lock up the house before I leave."

Her words reminding me of something, I dug through my bag to find my key ring. After freeing it from the book I was hoping to read on the plane, I flipped through the keys until I found the one for the Chevelle. "Can you do me a favor today?" Jenny nodded as I handed her the key to Kellan's baby. "I made arrangements with the auto body shop below Evan's loft. They're going to garage the Chevelle for me until I come back. Can you drop off Babe-ette?"

Jenny smirked at my nickname for Kellan's car. "Sure thing. Rachel and I will drop it off this afternoon."

Rachel came over to stand by Jenny and rested a tired head on her shoulder. We'd stayed up way too late last night. The exotic beauty let out a loud yawn, and Jenny sympathetically patted her dark head. Her almond eyes blinked at me a moment, then she lifted her head. In a quiet voice, Rachel asked, "Would you mind saying hello to Matt for me? And telling him . . . I wish I could be there with him?"

The demure girl bit her lip, and a light flush tinted her tanned cheeks. I immediately told her I would. I knew exactly how it felt to be kept apart from the person you loved. It sucked. But Matt and Rachel seemed to have the long distance thing down pat, and I felt pretty good about them making it through the crazy lifestyle the boys had-or were about to have.

I also felt good about Evan and Jenny's relationship. Looking over to my best friend, I told her, "And I'll give Evan a great big bear hug for you."

Jenny gave me a wide smile, then reached into her back pocket. She pulled out a lime green box of candy that had been flattened and folded into thirds. With a mischievous grin, she handed it to me. "Can you give him this too?"

Curious, I unfolded what turned out to be a box of Jujubes. As I refolded the box, I asked, "You want me to give him your garbage?"

Jenny started giggling. "Don't worry, he'll get it."

I tucked the box in my bag, wondering just what inside joke I was being the messenger of. Well, however I could help was fine by me. Evan and Jenny were my rock star role model couple after all.

Cheyenne and Kate came over to give me goodbye hugs. As Kate pulled away, she said, "Hey, Justin is in L.A. right now. If you happen to see him, will you tell him I said . . . hey?"

She laughed, and her springy ponytail bounced around her shoulders. Justin was the lead singer of a band that was already pretty big-Avoiding Redemption. The five-man group had been the ones to "discover" the D-Bags, inviting them along on their sold out tour. Kellan's band got noticed by the industry while on that tour. In fact, Justin's label was the label that had scooped up the D-Bags. Kate had a thing for Justin, and I think Justin had a thing for her as well. Ever since the pair had met, they'd been texting each other on a regular basis. Her golden brown eyes sparkled with excitement when I told her I'd keep a lookout for him.

Just as the doorbell rang, Cheyenne wrapped me in a hug. "You keep your pretty little butt safe down there, ya hear?"

I chuckled at her as Jenny opened the door for my sister. My chuckle died as Anna stormed into the room. She dramatically tossed her bag onto the half-moon table in the entryway. "It's times like these that I really wish I could drink," she murmured.

"Problem?" Jenny asked as she shut the door.

Anna looked over her shoulder. "Besides the fact that I'm going to kill that f**ker when I get to L.A.?"

No one needed to ask who the f**ker in question was. Pursing her lips, Jenny asked, "What . . . did he do?" Her face was blank, like there was no answer on earth that would shock her. I understood that feeling. Really, a better question for Jenny to ask would have been, What didn't Griffin do?

Knowing what Anna's problem was, I sighed. "It's not that big of a deal, Anna."

She glared at me. The rest of the girls looked at me with shocked expressions. I didn't usually defend Griffin. "A boy, Kiera. He gave me a boy. All I asked out of this entire . . . fiasco was for him to give me a little girl, but the idiot couldn't even get that right."

Frowning, I told her, "It's not like he can control-"

Her icy stare stopped my voice. As the other girls caught on to the source of Anna's vexation, Kate gushed, "Oh my God! You're having a little boy-congratulations! Boys are so a . . . dor . . . able." Kate's voice faltered as Anna's glare shifted to her.

There was a moment of silence, then Jenny cautiously said, "I'm sure it will turn out fine." Anna started tapping her foot, and Jenny shrugged and gave up. "You're right, Griffin's a tool."

Anna immediately brightened. "I know! Right?" I had to shake my head at Anna as she went off on her boyfriend for a solid five minutes. Sometimes you just want someone to blindly agree with you, no matter what the problem is. And even if Anna was blowing her predicament way out of proportion, none of us was going to argue with the fact that Griffin was indeed a tool.

Eventually Anna simmered down enough to say goodbye to everyone and help me get my stuff into Denny's old Honda. Well, okay, she supervised while I packed my bags into the car. I had two of them, which I thought was pretty modest for an open-ended stay. Anna had three stuffed bags and a carry-on that pushed the boundaries of acceptably fitting into the overhead compartment.

Just as I was settling into my seat and the flight attendant told us to turn off our electrical devices, my cell phone buzzed. Thinking it was Kellan, since I'd just texted him to let him know we were about to leave, I discretely checked the phone. I smiled, seeing a message from Denny on the screen. I'll miss you, mate. Good luck, and be careful.

I had to shake my head at Denny's never-ending thoughtfulness. I almost showed the message to Anna, to maybe change her mind about Denny, but she would look at the text and immediately assume I'd slept with him the other night. Not wanting to defend my innocence again, I turned my phone off and tucked it into my bag.