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“Be good, Jackson,” Tim called after me as I slipped out of the meeting room. I knew the two of them would probably sit and talk shit about me for another hour or whatever, but I had better things to do.
Like band practice.
As if in sync, my phone rang in my pocket, and I pulled it out, seeing Tyson’s name.
“Hey, man, where the hell are you?” he said, his tone full of unusual irritation. He never cared if I was late. “I have plans after this.”
Right, with the new girl.
“I’m on my way. I had a PR meeting with Genna and Tim,” I said reluctantly, bracing for a fucking lecture.
“It’s shit what Artisa is doing, man.”
Well, that’s surprising.
“Yeah, but they’re trying to fix it. What’s Lena’s last name?”
“Ooh, you wanting to reach out to her?”
“No, the PR team wants to talk with the school she works at about some stuff.” I didn’t bother to explain any further. There was no point in trying to. Tyson didn’t have an image problem, always coming off as the sweet guy in the band.
“Figures,” Tyson grunted. “I’ll ask Maeve when she gets here. Should we give her a heads-up that you’re going to be popping in?”
“Nah, I don’t even know if they’re going to go through with it,” I said. And the more I thought about it, the more I started to think that seeing Lena again might not be a good idea. No matter how fucking annoying I found her, she did something to my body that I still wasn’t convinced was just the wine.
And that could really complicate the image shit.
“Maybe you could get in contact with your highly esteemed family. They’re all about image.” Tyson’s voice brought me back from my thoughts.
“Yeah, no thanks. I’m tired of hearing that lecture from them all. It’s one thing when Dad or Eli go after me, but lately, Luke has made it known that he thinks I’m irresponsible…so…”
“I mean, he’s not wrong—and the dude is so uptight that it makes sense. He probably thinks the entire world is irresponsible.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, he is kind of like that. I don’t really know how the hell I’m related to them all. They’re all settling down and shit too. Well, Dad hasn’t yet—but they’re all way more serious about life.”
“Yeah, I think you’re overthinking everything right now,” Tyson said, his tone cautious. “Something bothering you?”
“What?” I furrowed my brow. “Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know. Ever since the party at my place, you’ve just been a little…off. Is it all the shit with Artisa?”
I paused, my mind running back to the hazelnut-blonde who was irritating as shit—but who I just couldn’t get out of my head. “Yeah, maybe that’s it.”
5
LENA
“He’s just so sweet,” Maeve gushed, stars in her eyes as she propped her elbow on the table and leaned forward. “I’ve never met anyone like him. I just think he’s incredible.”
I smiled, nodding. “I’m really happy for you. Just be careful, you never know what kind of guy he really is.”
“You’re just saying that because he’s wealthy.” Maeve pursed her purple-tinted lips, shaking her head at me. “Like, you’re just so careful, Lena. I know that you want some churchgoing, family kind of man, but anytime you actually date a guy like that, you hate it.”
“That’s not true…” I trailed off, unable to come up with a viable argument. “I just…haven’t met the right guy yet.”
“Maybe the right guy is a different kind of guy. Maybe he’s like, way more fun or something—not saying that Yahtzee isn’t fun—but come on.”
“I don’t know. What’re your plans with Tyson?” I was desperate for a subject change, because while Maeve had been my best friend for nearly my entire life, her opinions still got on my nerves sometimes.
