Unplugged Read Online Free Page A

evening sitting with the olds; I want to see what they’re up to.
    Goldie sleeps in his bed in the corner of the kitchen and lifts his head as I walk in. If a dog could look pissed off, that ’s what he’d be. The kitchen light is on and the two girls snicker quietly, knocking back tumbler glasses full of clear liquid. A bottle of vodka and another of tonic water are side by side on the table, lids off.
    “ Aww! It’s my big brother, the rock star!” Louise says too loudly and half-staggers toward me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
    Definitely drunk if she ’s being affectionate. I peel her fingers off me. “Good night, Looby Lou?”
    She attempts to focus on me and pouts. “Don’t call me that. And yeah, apart from...” She glances at Cerys and suppresses a laugh, plonking herself in a kitchen chair. “Cerys had some fans.”
    Cerys half-smiles and rolls her eyes in an exaggerated way. “Yeah, I’m just a magnet to sad bastards.”
    I rest against the kitchen counter and watch them. Pissed girls; in the Blue Phoenix world, they ’d be targets. I picture Jem stepping in, turning on his strange persona that has girls falling at his feet or into his bed. If Dylan were here? He doesn’t even need to try. He could ignore them all evening and still a girl would be on his lap by the end of the night. Me? Not now, but before Honey I’d watch and wait. Not like a Blue Phoenix guy has to wait long or do much to get a girl. In fact, I don’t think I’d know what to say to pick up a girl if I needed to, because I never do.
    “ Nobody caused problems, I hope?” I ask.
    “ I’ve been dealing with sad bastards for years. Cerys is a bit out of practice, but I helped her fend them off,” says my sister.
    “ I can imagine.”
    “ What time is it?” asks Cerys, squinting at her phone.
    “ Oh! 3 a.m.! Shit!” Louise rubs her face. “Will Ella be up soon?”
    “ Six if I’m lucky,” groans Cerys.
    “ Bad luck!” Louise veers out of the room toward the downstairs cloakroom.
    Cerys regards me over the glass she ’s holding, cheeks flushed and eyes swimming with the alcohol in her system. If she’s out of practice, she’s going to feel like shit tomorrow.
    Slumping back in her chair, Cerys continues to stare and it ’s unnerving.
    “ You okay? Can I get you something?” I ask.
    “ Just wondering why you’re not staring at my tits anymore.”
    I raise an eyebrow. “Because that’s not appropriate.”
    “ ‘Not appropriate’,” she mimics my words, “That’s not very rock star.”
    “ When I’m here, I’m not very rock star. Hadn’t you noticed?”
    “ Rock stars are hot,” she says with another drunken giggle. “Even you.”
    “ Thanks. I think.”
    “ No, no, no,” she waves a hand frowning. “I mean even you, Louise’s big brother who wasn’t so hot when he was a teen.”
    “ You hung around us enough back then.”
    “ I was a kid and it was cool to hang around a rock band. Shame you forgot all about us when you left.”
    “ I never forgot; I come home when I can.”
    She stands and steadies herself on the table. “When you got famous, I put pictures of you guys all over my bedroom wall. I was such a sad fangirl.”
    “ You were fifteen.”
    “ I fantasised about one of you coming back and whisking me away for the rock star lifestyle.” She includes a sweeping gesture with her arm, almost tripping over.
    I smile at her drunken ramblings. “A lot of the time it’s not so glamorous. Mum and Dad come over to LA sometimes. You should come with them next time.”
    Cerys pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and shakes her head. “My life is in Cardiff with my daughter and...” Her mouth turns down. “Well, just me and her now.”
    I chew my lip; I’ve spent the last few days wondering where Ella’s dad is. I figured it’s none of my business, but I’m alarmed Cerys is getting upset about it.
    “ Dickhead,” she mutters, “I should’ve waited for my hot rock star to