I'm sick of being called Junior. Sure, I'm William Nicholas Martens, Jr., but I just want to go by Nick. I'm sick of my boyfriend mismatching his socks on purpose. And I'm sick of being in the closet.<br><br>All this changes when my band Taking Back Nick lands a record deal. My friends Casey, Kennedy, Levi, and I are about to make it big. In one night I come out to my parents and break up with my boyfriend. And then the hard part starts. Casey is my oldest friend, and I move in with him after my breakup. But things ... start to happen.<br><br>We skyrocket to fame, but Casey finds himself in the middle of some serious addiction issues. Combined with him showing me so much affection, I start to worry there's more going on than just the stress of success. Will Casey be able to overcome his addictions and find happiness? More importantly, will that happiness be with me?

Porch Light

Levi wordlessly handed him a cup of coffee. Casey reached into his bag to grab his flask, and Kennedy spoke up.


“Can you maybe not, Casey? Not everything you drink has to have alcohol in it, you know.”


He looked up between the three of us. I turned my eyes down. I didn’t want him to feel like he was being judged.


Unfortunately, he absolutely did feel judged.


“What? I’m not allowed to live a little? We’re rock stars now, people. We’re allowed to do the drinking and drug thing.”


“No, we’re allowed to drink because we’re over twenty-one. And we’re allowed to smoke pot because it’s legal in California. What we’re not allowed to do is become an alcoholic and drag the rest of the band down because we’re too busy drinking to play our fucking instrument like professionals.”


Chapter 38