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“Yeah, he has. You have no clue what we went through when you left. You ever been booed on stage? Had shit thrown at you? Because that’s the shit we had to put up with when you walked.”
Trent’s face fell, and he looked away. “I know. I’m not sure if Killian ever told you that we met up earlier this year—”
“Of course he did. He’s not the type to keep secrets.”
Trent ignored the dig. “Kill told me what happened at the Savannah show, and… Shit. I never meant for any of that to happen. I just needed to fucking breathe, and I couldn’t do that in TBD anymore.” When I didn’t say anything, Trent blew out a breath. “Look, I didn’t come in here to fight with you. I came to clear the air, okay? I don’t want to avoid each other if we’re at the same place, and I don’t want all the shit talking, either.”
“Aw, but you give me so much material,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“V, come on. I know I fucked you guys over, and trust me, I plan on apologizing to the rest of the guys for that, but I’m not the only one who should be throwing out an ‘I’m sorry’ here.”
I had to bite down on my tongue to stop the retort that wanted to come flying out of my mouth, instead thinking back to more than a year ago, when Trent was still around. It’d been a rough few months at the end, I’d cop to that, but we’d just come off a massive tour and had gone straight into the studio to work on the next album. We were tired. We needed a break from each other.
And yeah, maybe I’d been an asshole, but what else was new? Trent had wanted to go in a direction that was the complete opposite of TBD’s sound, and it caused us to butt heads more often than not.
“So we made you that miserable? Or me, specifically?” I said.
“Look, we had a great run for a long time, but toward the end? Yeah. You, the whole thing. I felt like I was suffocating, and I don’t expect you to understand, but I needed to find my own way. You guys felt broken? I felt broken too. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to make music again.”
I glanced at Shaw. “I’m guessing you found some inspiration for that.”
A smile crossed Trent’s lips as he looked at the intimidating man watching us. “Yeah, I did.”
“And you’re…happy.”
“I am. And if you’d stop playing the stubborn, unforgiving asshole, you would admit you’re happy too.”
“Oh, I can admit I’m happy even being a stubborn, unforgiving asshole.” I crossed my arms again and rubbed my jaw. “But I can see that I go too far with shit sometimes. If I’d known I was such an unbearable jackass, I would’ve backed off a little.”
Trent snorted. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Okay, I probably wouldn’t.”
Trent looked at me expectantly, and when I didn’t say anything, he asked, “Isn’t there anything you want to add to that?”
“No.”
“Really? Nothing you think you should say to make up for being an arrogant jerk?”
I thought it over. “Nope.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Well, if you think of something, you know where to find me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I straightened and looked between the two guys. “We done here? I’ve got a hot date waiting for me.”
When he nodded, I made my way to the door, but before I walked out, I looked over my shoulder. “Hey, Trent? Good luck tonight. You’re gonna need it.”
Thirty-Two
Halo
I COULDN’T READ the look on Viper’s face as he made his way to the bar, where I stood with the guys, both our drinks in hand. He’d been gone so long that I’d almost sent out a search party.
“Everything okay?” I said, handing him his drink. “I got you a double whiskey.”
“That’s perfect, Angel.” He surprised me by throwing his arm around my neck and bringing me in for a deep kiss that left me breathless until Levi’s voice broke us apart.
“Maybe you could save it for the after-party? Just because we’re inside doesn’t mean there aren’t cameras.”
Viper dropped his hold on me and shrugged as he lifted his drink to his lips. Satisfied, Levi walked off as I gave Viper an inquisitive look.
“Okay, what’s goin’ on?” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re acting strange.”
“Is that new?”
I lifted an eyebrow and waited until Viper sighed.
“I ran into Trent.”
My pulse jumped. “And?”
“He wanted to talk. I wanted him to kiss my ass.” He took a long swallow of whiskey, and I cursed.
“You didn’t fight, did you?”
“Physically? No. He’s got a boyfriend the size of the fuckin’ Hulk.”
“Viper—”
“Don’t worry so much, Angel. We…came to a truce, I think.”
“You think?”
Jagger appeared beside us. “Did I hear you say you called a truce with Trent?”
