Free Fame by Meghan Quinn

patted him on the shoulder.  
    “Would you like some lemonade, sweetie?” she asked Cruz.
    “Gosh, lemonade would be delightful, Mrs. Cross. Thank you.”
    “Of course,” she patted his cheek and said, “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
    “Mind if we sit outside?” Cruz asked. “I just can’t get enough of that view of the valley.”
    “By all means. I’ll be sure to bring out some homemade cookies too.”
    “You are just the perfect host, Mrs. Cross,” Cruz said, making her blush as he walked out the sliding glass door with Grey.  
    Once they sat down, Grey asked, “Are you done kissing my mom’s ass?”
    “Kissing her ass?” Cruz asked in confusion. “I don’t remember my lips on that perfectly round butt, but I can arrange it if you would like.”
    “Seriously, lay the fuck off,” Grey huffed out, as he leaned back in his chair. “Just say what you need to say and get out of here. I’m really not in the mood to deal with you right now.”
    “You know, that really hurts my feelings, Grey. I made the drive all the way out here; the least you can do is give my dick a tap hello.”
    Grey flipped him off just as his mom walked outside with a trey of lemonade and cookies.  
    “Grey, I will not have you flipping our guest off; you apologize to Cruz right now.”
    Good fuck, his mom was really starting to irritate him.  
    “Sorry,” he mumbled under his breath, about to take a cookie, but his mom swatted his hand and shook her finger at him.  
    “Say it louder, Grey.”
    Using all the energy in his body not to roll his eyes, Grey cleared his throat and said, “Sorry for flipping you off, Cruz.”
    The shit eating grin on Cruz’s face was going to be Grey’s undoing. His patience was wearing very thin, and at the rate he was going, if he didn’t pull things together, he was going to be apologizing to Cruz for days after his foot met Cruz’s ass and his mom was an eyewitness to it.  
    “So much better. Okay, you boys play nice. You let me know if you need anything.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Cross.”
    She waved her hand in the air, as if saying it was nothing, and then said, “Anything for my boys.” Then she took off and left them their privacy.  
    Forgetting any type of manners, Cruz leaned over the tray, grabbed a cookie and shoved it down his throat. Grey watched as the man barely chewed, swallowed, and then reached for another.  
    “Your mom makes the best cookies,” Cruz said, while crumbs flew out of his mouth.  
    “You’re a fucking pig,” Grey said, as he brushed crumbs off of his shirt.
    “Hey, will you bend over for a second. There’s a stick up your ass that I want to beat you over the head with.”
    Growing more and more irritated by the minute, Grey said, “Just tell me why you’re here.”
    “Why else would I be here? You need to come back to the band and stop hiding out like a little twat nugget.”
    “I’m not a twat nugget,” Grey defended, sounding like an idiot.  
    “Yes, you are. Okay, your brother stole your girl, boo fucking hoo. Write a song about it and move on. Pull a Taylor Swift on her and make us some millions. If anything, you should really be thanking Quinn and Landon, because they just gave you ammunition for a chart topper.”
    Surprisingly, Cruz was right. Ever since Grey got off the bus, his writing had been non-stop and he wasn’t much of a writer to begin with. But all the emotions he was feeling from Quinn and Landon, and then the whole Willow situation, had him hiding away in his room and writing every damn emotion he was feeling.  
    “It’s not that easy, I just can’t go back to how things used to be.”
    “I’m not asking you to go back to how things used to be. They’ll never be like that, but you can at least come back and give Landon the cold shoulder in the studio. The guy needs to feel uncomfortable.”
    “Because that’s really mature.”
    “More mature than hanging out with mommy dearest and getting fat on her