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“You’re excited, huh? I figured you’d miss me. I was great compared to tour life, huh?” He laughed and then stood up straighter. He didn’t get a chance to say whatever he was going to say next, though.
Xavier appeared at my side and had an expression of chaos on his face. “What the fuck do you want?”
Matthew took a step back but kept his smile in place, despite it appearing strained. “Xavier Leeds. Nice to see you again. It’s Matthew O’Brian.”
“I don’t recall anyone by that name. Must not have been a memorable meeting.” Xavier rested his hand on my lower back and stared Matthew down. “You didn’t answer my question, though.”
Big hands landed on my shoulders from behind and I breathed in Jones’ scent before I felt Mack at my other side. They each glared down at Matthew, whose smile had faded completely. I cocked my head to the side and a slow smile stretched my lips. Having backup was everything, even if I didn’t need it.
“Mr. Bingham and I decided that The Homewreckers should join the tour as your opening act. He’s very excited about the idea.” Matthew looked back at me. “He also thought it’d be nice if I could do a little more hands-on training with Layla.”
My back stiffened. “Excuse me? Will you be learning from me? If not, I find that idea utter bullshit. I haven’t been doing this for as long as you Matthew, but just look at the state of the tour since I took over. I would be more than willing to accept guidance from someone with more knowledge than me, but I don’t see that person in front of me.”
His eye twitched. “I can’t speak on what Mr. Bingham was thinking. Maybe he hasn’t been completely happy with part of your work. Not that he said anything to me, of course.”
“Get fucked, dickhead. Layla is the best there is right now. She doesn’t need you and we don’t need The Homewreckers.” Mack gripped my elbow. “Go on back to wherever you came from.”
“That isn’t going to be possible.” Matthew took a step back when Jones growled. “Look, we’re all adults here. Let’s just act like it. We don’t need to work that closely together. You’ll be doing the stage work for The Homewreckers as well, Layla.”
“The fuck I will. Are you not here, acting as their tour manager?”
“No, Layla. I’m theirrealmanager.” He winked at me. “You’re looking good, babe. Miriam and the band will be flying into New York for the next show. We’ll meet then and figure out how to work out their stage.”
Mack stepped forward. “She’s not your babe, asshole.”
Matthew held up his hands and plastered a good guy smile on. “Whoa, pal. I didn’t mean anything by it. Layla and I were together for several years, though. You can’t just turn all that off right away. I’m sure she understands.”
I snorted. “I understand that you have no reason to be here. You can do your job from anywhere. You’ll just be in the way here. Go home and find another assistant to do your job for you, Matthew. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
He stepped closer until all three guys moved in front of me, creating an immovable barrier. Xavier’s hands balled into fists and I knew I needed to keep him from smashing Matthew’s face in.
“O-okay. This was fun. How about you get the hell out of here, though? I’ll work The Homewreckers in. Thanks for stopping by.” I gripped the back of Xavier’s shirt and tugged lightly. “Come on, guys. We’ve got burgers to eat.”
“Stay away from Layla.” Xavier spit out the words before letting me tug him away. He looked down at me as I glanced back to make sure Mack and Jones were following us. “That fucker has a lot of nerve.”
I stopped walking and rubbed my temples. “He’s a piece of shit. One I don’t particularly want to work with. It looks like we’re all just going to be one big happy family, though.”
“We can call Bingham and throw our weight around again. Get The HomewreckersandO’Brian away from us.” He cupped my face and waited until I looked up at him to continue. “We won’t let him hurt you again. No one will hurt you while we’re around.”
I hugged him and pressed my face into his chest. “Him being around is going to change things. I’ve been enjoying being with y’all in the open. With him around, though, we won’t be able to. He would run straight back to Mr. Bingham and insinuate that sex is the only reason y’all wanted me and the only reason y’all kept me around. I’d never get another job.”
“Like I said, honey, we’ll call Bingham.”
I shook my head. “No. You can’t chance Bingham losing his mind and cutting your contract. It’ll be okay. It won’t be that big of a deal.”
Mack and Jones walked up and both swore when they saw my face. Jones ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “Fuck.”
34
Jones
“Well,lookwhatthecat dragged in.” Miriam Dark stood up from her stool at the bar and smiled coyly up at me. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
I saw the way Layla glanced over at me, like she was judging me for knowing Miriam. Cringing, I leaned down and tried to lightly hug the woman, but she clung to me like a squid and the next thing I knew, she had her legs around my waist. I leaned away from her face and gently pried her off, but I knew the damage was already done. The tips of Layla’s ears were red and I could feel her brain spinning.
“Good to see you, too, Miriam.” I stepped away from her and crossed my arms over my chest to put a stop to whatever else she planned on doing. She had already moved on to Mack, though.
“Mack Stone! God, you get hotter each and every time I see you. Ginger is going to cream herself when she sees you.” Rubbing against him in what might’ve been a hug, she moaned. “God, I was always so jealous that you fucked Ging over me. Maybe we’ll fix that.”
