Free Trouble Rising (New Adult Rock Star Romance): Tyler and Katie's Story #3 by Emme Rollins Page A

and your mom let you go to a Trouble concert by yourself when you were twelve, too,” I reminded her, handing over a twenty. “Decaf only. Got it?”
     
    “Fine.” Jay rolled her eyes and sighed in true teen fashion, and I managed to hide my smile before going to find us a table.
     
    I saw Sabrina struggling with the door and waved. I would have gone to help her, but a guy in bike shorts pushed the door from the inside, holding it open to let her wheel the double stroller in. Lucy was in front, and squealed loudly when she saw me, turning several head. Henry was in back, sucking on a sippy-cup.
     
    “What do you want?” I asked as Sabrina parked the stroller beside the table, but out of the aisle. “I can tell Jay.”
     
    “Uhhh… just a white hot chocolate,” she said, making a face. “I’m still nursing Henry and I don’t want to do any coffee. Even the decaf has some caffeine.”
     
    “It does?” I asked in surprise, looking over at Jay. This whole parenting thing wasn’t exactly easy, and I’d only been doing it for a week. I went over to give Jay another twenty, telling her what to order for Sabrina.
     
    “You should get a hot chocolate, too,” I advised. “Did you know that even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it?”
     
    “It’s not like it’s going to stunt my growth,” Jay said, rolling her eyes yet again. “I’m already five-seven.”
     
    “Jay.” I’d perfected that warning ‘Mom’ tone already. In under a week. Of course, I’d learned everything I needed to know from my own mother, who I found coming out of my mouth more than I ever thought possible this week.
     
    “Fine!” She tucked both twenties in her cleavage—where she had stashed the iPhone we got for her. This was another thing I didn’t like, the storing of electronics in her bra. It had to contribute to breast cancer, I argued. But I’d learned, even just in a week’s time, to pick my battles.
     
    “So how’s it going with her?” Sabrina asked as I slid into my chair at the table. She had Lucy out of the stroller on her lap, but Henry seemed content to lean back with his sippy cup.
     
    “Jay?” I shrugged, looking fondly at the girl standing in line. Several guys had done a double take when they passed her by, and I gritted my teeth at that. “She’s great. We love having her.”
     
    That was mostly true. Really, she wasn’t that bratty. She was mostly sweet, and helpful, if sometimes a little moody. Compared to most teens I knew—heck, compared to the teenage I’d been—she was an angel. And considering what she’d run away from at home, she was doing fantastic.
     
    “But what are you going to do with her?” Sabrina asked, narrowing her eyes in Jay’s. “You’re going to have to make a decision… sooner rather than later.”
     
    “Yeah.” I sighed. Tyler kept saying that, too. Her mother would be looking for her, wouldn’t she? She’d probably filed a police report.
     
    “I mean, before we start seeing her face on the side of milk cartons?” Sabrina prompted.
     
    “I know, I know.” I smiled when Lucy reached for me and I took her from Sabrina, settling her in my lap. “I just… I want her to get settled. Let things calm down a little…”
     
    “Maybe she shouldn’t get so settled?” Sabrina frowned over at Jay. “I mean, she’s a runaway. She’s crossed state lines. I’m not a lawyer, but if I was, I’m pretty sure I’d be advising you that keeping a runaway in your house without telling her mother is a bad idea…”
     
    “Her mother doesn’t care,” I insisted, bouncing Lucy on my knee. “I don’t even know if she’ll even bother with a missing person’s report.”
     
    “She’ll care if she finds out where Jay is,” Sabrina said knowingly. “If that mother finds out her underage daughter is living with a rock star? Who has a boatload of money? All of a sudden, she’ll care a whole lot.”
     
    “Yeah.” I made a face as Lucy reached for the