Free Out of Time (Face the Music Book 3) by Shona Husk

he was drinking less. It was probably a good thing.
    Although he was starting to think that he should’ve brought more than two beers. However, there was some rule about only drinking in designated zones or between certain hours. He probably should’ve checked it out.
    He heard music going as the hottest one hundred songs of last year, as voted by listeners and not by sales, were counted down. Had they made the list? Ed would know. He kept track of that kind of thing.
    It was hours until the fireworks show, but that meant time to lie on the grass and chill. Lately it felt as though that didn’t happen much. He was always running from place to place but never stopping.
    As he drew closer, the crowd started to separate into obvious clumps of people and he began picking his way through. Maybe he should’ve got here earlier, but he’d wanted to see his mum in the morning, timing his visit between the pain meds so she was alert.
    Ever since they’d talked about his impending trip, it hadn’t been raised again. His mother was like that. If the decision had been made there was no point in revisiting it. He wasn’t like that, and in his mind he was still undecided, even though he knew what needed to be done.
    He spotted the green shade tent. In a few more hours it wouldn’t be needed, but someone had to get here early to stake out a good spot. There was nowhere to set up now, although people would squish in as they arrived to see the fireworks, before scuttling back to wherever they had come from.
    ‘Hey. I made it.’ He put his bag down and sat. Dan was lying on a picnic blanket with his arm over his eyes. Mike gave him a kick. ‘Are you pissed already?’
    Dan replied with his middle finger.
    ‘That’s a yes then.’ He must have loaded up a bottle of soft drink with vodka or something.
    ‘Yeah. Dan peaked too early.’ Gemma had her head in Kirsten’s lap.
    ‘And that’s why Lisa dumped him.’ Ed was throwing a small football to his girlfriend’s kid as Olivia packed up.
    Dan used both hands to reply, but he kept them low so the kid wouldn’t see.
    ‘He’s banned from swearing. Watch for hand signals,’ Gem said with a grin.
    ‘PG time is almost up, then you can be drunken louts.’ Olivia gave Ed a kiss.
    ‘I won’t be a lout,’ Ed said, with a suitable amount of mock outrage.
    Mike smiled. Six months ago it had been him and Ed finding a bar and a couple of chicks. ‘Where are the other guys?’
    Ed pointed across to the fenced off celebration zone. ‘They wanted to see one of the performances in there.’ He glanced at Olivia. ‘We spent some time in the kiddie area.’
    ‘Olivia has domesticated my brother.’ Kirsten laughed.
    Ed gave her a dark look. ‘K and Gem have bravely manned our spot.’
    ‘We entertained ourselves.’ Kirsten stroked Gemma’s hair.
    ‘Too much information, K.’ Ed stood. ‘I’m going to walk Olivia to her car.’
    Mike gave him a wave and watched them leave. Ed seemed a whole lot less stressed than he had a few months ago. But then, a few months ago they’d had nothing written on the album and Ed hadn’t been getting laid on a regular basis.
    Neither was he at the moment. It had been almost a month. It wasn’t really that long, but it felt like a long time. Every time he saw Ava he got hard and they hadn’t done anything more than talk. He didn’t want to break what they had by doing something dumb.
    He wasn’t a horny sixteen-year-old.
    He was nine years older and should know how to behave. It was easier to behave when at home and not on tour. The day job also kept him out of trouble. He glanced at Dan … yeah. That could be him if he wasn’t careful. Real careful.
    He cracked open a beer and a bag of crisps, content to do nothing but people watch. People were drinking around them. As long as no one was starting a fight or dragging an esky full of beer, then everything was cool.
    ‘How’s your mum?’ Gemma stuck her hand in the crisp bag.
    That was