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Austin glances back at me nervously. This feels so surreal. I haven’t been part of any kind of ordinary, everyday situation in so long. Being surrounded by the boys or other celebrity friends and industry people. This feels real.
I smile. “I broke up with him.”
Maddox lifts his hands high. “Thank God!” Still smiling, his gaze falls back on Austin again. “Wait, and you already picked up a stray? Sis, that’s completely unlike you.”
“Shut up!” I laugh, slapping his chest. “Austin is not a stray.”
The joke seems to break the ice. Austin lets go of my hand, extending it to him. “Nice to meet you. Officially.” I see Maddox lift a brow at the comment. “I’ve seen you a couple times at Rich Records.”
Eyeing him carefully, Maddox finally takes his hand. “Cool. FYI, I’m rich and have access to the best lawyers money can buy. If you hurt her and I kill you, I’ll never be convicted.”
“Maddox!” There’s not a hint of humor in my voice as I snap, slapping him again.
Thankfully, Austin finds it funny. “Not a problem. And if she suddenly develops a hatred of overbearing, overproduced techno beats, you can blame me for that, too.”
Maddox’s eyes widen, and his jaw drops with a half-smile. His gaze jumps to me. “That wasn’t half bad.” Maddox looks back at the stage area. “I gotta get backstage. I’m playing another set in ten minutes.” Eyeing Austin up and down, Maddox gives him a nod. “Good to meet you, man.”
“Yeah, you too,” Austin replies. Turning back to me, he leans closer. “I have to go to the bathroom now.”
The comment earns a huge laugh out of me. “Did he scare you that much?”
He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Not really. I had to go when we first got here, but I didn’t want to be rude.”
“Silly.” Turning around, I point to the side of the room where the restrooms are located. “They’re over there. We’ll be in the VIP area when you’re done.”
“Sounds good.”
He heads across the room, and I motion to Shawn to follow me back to the roped-off section of the room. As we turn, I see Bret walk in through the entrance. “You have got to be kidding me,” I hiss under my breath.
I haven’t replied to any of the text messages he’s sent me since the breakup, and now I wish I had. I’d much rather keep in contact with him that way than having another public outburst.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Shawn.
“Where are you—”
I don’t answer. Instead, I hurry over to Bret, who is scanning the people in the club. “What are you doing here?” I ask him through a clenched jaw.
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he stares over my shoulder. “Is this why you broke up with me?”
Looking over my shoulder, I see Shawn has followed me. I glare back at Bret, focused and annoyed. “What? Are you jealous? You’re picking now to try to act like a boyfriend?”
“I’m not jealous.”
I scoff. “Of course you’re not.”
“You haven’t been returning my text messages.”
“Why would I? I broke up with you.”
“It’s not about our relationship.” I knew it wasn’t, but it still annoys me. “Jade, we need this deal.”
“So you’re stalking me?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes. I just want to make sure you finish however long you’re going to be at Rich Records, and then I can get my band in there. Don’t screw us over, Jade.”
“Listen to yourself! Me screw you over?”
“I set this entire thing up for you.”
