AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you think, Gunner?” Creed asks, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
I shake my head and shrug him off, completely divided on what the right thing to do is. The contract we have with the label allowed us to make most of our own decisions, but we needed to get back on the road and keep touring. Our fans are counting on us, even during this depressing time. I know they understand that we need time to find a new guitarist, but tickets have already been sold, and the hit the label will take if we just called it quits for the year would probably bankrupt them, and we’d lose our contract. There really isn’t a good solution to our problems. Sky sure as fuck isn’t the right one like the label thought.
Raising my head, I look up at the bright blue sky, letting the sun beat down on me as I close my eyes and twist my neck to let the tension loosen. It’s clear for now that Sky is here to stay.
We may be stuck with her, but we don’t need to make it easy on her. So fuck it. Let’s throw caution to the wind and take the rest of the day.
“Alright, I’m in.” I open my eyes and turn to look at my brothers. “Let’s get some food and get the fuck out of here.”
“Yeah, Boy!” Creed shouts. “That’s what I fucking thought! Let’s go!”
Sebastian leads us over to where his Range Rover is parked near the entrance. Most days, we let our security team drive us in their SUV, but today we needed to have control over something for ourselves. None of us were under the impression that security wasn’t going to follow us, but taking our own car let us feel somewhat normal, like we had some feeling of freedom.
“What’s it going to be? Burgers? Mexican? Italian?” Sebastian put the car in drive, peeling out of the parking lot.
“What sort of question is that? Burgers obviously,” Creed answers, rolling his eyes at me when he turns to look at me in the back seat. I just laugh at their antics, knowing this at least feels normal again. Sitting back, I’m just along for the ride. Sebastian is probably going to take us to one of our old haunts. It’s a hole-in-the-wall burger joint that, mostly, only locals go to. We’ll be recognized but not to the point we will have fans glued to our sides interrupting our meal. The people who come here have watched us all grow up. If anything, they are going to bug us about our love lives more than wanting pictures taken with us.
In twenty minutes, Sebastian has us pulling into a gravel parking lot. The only building around looks like a run-down bar. The exterior is dark brown wood paneling that’s seen better days. A neon sign in the window says open. Since it’s a Monday, there aren’t more than, maybe, six cars in the parking lot. Usually, on any given Friday night, this place is packed, though.
The three of us climb out of the car at the same time our security team pulls into the parking lot. A small part of me hoped we had managed to lose them at least for a little bit, but of course, we aren’t that lucky. The label agreed to a smaller security team while we were back home with only one car compared to the three we usually have. It was the best we were going to get. The three of us did try to stay at our family homes, but that was a hard no from Rockport Security. They said it was too risky for us and our families if we stayed where someone could easily find us, which is how we ended up with a whole floor at one of the nicest hotels in Coventry. Our parents didn’t like it, and neither did we, but it was what it was. There’s not really anything we can do about it.
“Gunner,” Sebastian pulls my attention to him as he hits my shoulder. “What the hell is up with you dude? You’re a lot quieter than normal.”
“Sorry,” I grunt sliding into the booth Creed already claimed for us. “It’s been a weird couple of days, and I think my brain is still trying to catch up. I’m not really sure what's wrong.”
“It’s that damn woman,” Creed growls, slamming his fist on the table.
“It’s more than that,” I retort with a sigh. “Sky being here has me all sorts of screwed up, but she’s only one problem of the many that we’re facing. I’m still fucked up with what happened to Ezra. No one has given us any updates on the case or let us know if they are any closer to catching his killer. I’m worried about this tour we’re on, and I don’t want to disappoint our fans, but I’m not sure bringing back our ex-girlfriend is the best idea. We have a shit ton of unresolved baggage with her that can’t just be pushed under the rug to deal with another day. Our fans will know the vibe is off amongst all of us if we don’t try to fix this.”
“Fix this?” Creed practically shouts. His hands are in fists as he clenches the glass of water in his right hand. Considering his mood and his strength, he’d break the cup if it was glass. Thankfully it’s plastic. “Wedidn’t break something that needs fixing. That bitch did.”
“You’re right that she broke us, Creed,” Sebastian cuts in, trying to stop the fight he knows Creed and I are about to begin, “but we don’t have to forgive her, and I think I understand the point Gunner is trying to make. We need to work with her for our fans. They deserve for us to give this a shot. We don’t need to speak to her or work our shit out. We just need to get along enough that our fans don’t question things.”
“Question things?” Creed scoffs before taking a sip of his water. “Everyone is going to question why our ex-girlfriend, who just disappeared randomly, is back out of the blue.”
“He’s right on that, Gunner,” Bas cuts to me. “How do you want to explain that one to everyone?”
“When did this become my problem?” I grumble, crossing my arms across my chest.
“When you decided to become introverted about everything,” Creed jokes. “She’s your problem now.”
“I hate you both. Fine, I’ll come up with something and deal with her,” I concede, rolling my eyes.
Before the conversation can go any further, one of the regular servers arrives with our burgers. She sets a plate with the most delicious-smelling food down in front of me. As per usual, I ordered a BBQ bacon burger with cheddar cheese and those little crunchy onion straws. I also got a double side of french fries with ranch and ketchup. Creed and Sebastian got their usuals and also a double side of fries each. All of us were starving. The conversation about Sky and our future was long forgotten while we focused on shoving as much food into our stomachs as we could. I’m not even sure if we tasted our food or not. I can guarantee that I didn’t, instead choosing to just hoover it all down like a damn vacuum.
By the time we all finished, I was sitting reclined in the booth, my hands on my stomach. Groaning lightly with how full I felt. Both of my brothers were in similar positions just trying to digest their food as well.
“So are we going back or not?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“I vote no,” Creed says through a small smirk.
“I need a break from her. Just because she proved she can keep up with our old music doesn’t mean jack shit,” Bas agrees. “Let’s leave it today. It can be tomorrow's problem.”
I give a small nod of agreement. For the most part, I agree with them. A small part of me, however, disagrees. If I’m the one being stuck figuring out how to fix this, then shouldn’t I be there dealing with her? My brows pinch as I continue to contemplate. The sooner I deal with her, the sooner we can all move on. If we can get this tour started back up quickly, then we can be rid of her faster. That is the most important part.
“Hell no,” Creed shouts. “I see that fucking look in your eye, Gunner. We aren’t going back. Tomorrow’s fucking problem god dammit! We are going back to the hotel, and then you are going to a fight. That should fucking help your brain.”
“Dude, I highly doubt a fight is going to help anything right now,” I counter. Though a fight does sound mighty nice. My knuckles have already healed from the last one, so it’s about time I get back in the ring.
