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London gives him a tight-lipped smile as I hit the gas and set out for home. “Nervous. It’s unlike Julie to go MIA. I called Dad to go check on her, but he’s working, pulling a double shift patrolling some wrestling event that’s in town, and won’t be finished until late.”
“Brian has been working a lot lately, hasn’t he?” Wes asks, attempting to make small talk. It seems that he’s also trying to distract himself from thinking about what could be stopping Mom from answering her phone all day.
London sighs. “Yeah, but he says the extra money helps. I think he likes it for when he goes out on all these dates. He keeps telling me that he forgot how expensive women are.”
Wes laughs. “That’s why you don’t see me dating much. Being a poor college guy sucks.”
“You don’t date much because no one can put up with your crabby ass.” I laugh as I tease my brother over his lack of game. He’s never been a smooth talker with the ladies. It’s like he gets nervous and clams up around them, but when he does work up the courage to ask someone out, he always finds reasons to get rid of them pretty quickly. “You can’t keep a girl around longer than a week.”
He shrugs. “I haven’t found the right girl yet. Not everyone out there is as perfect as the one you’ve got.”
I grin and throw my arm around London’s shoulders, driving home the fact that she is indeed mine before I pull her in tighter against me while keeping the other hand on the steering wheel. “Well, you can’t have this one. This perfect woman is all mine.”
“Stop.” London pokes me in the ribs, and I laugh at how flushed her face is.
I stare down into her green eyes. “What? It’s true. I don’t share well, especially when it comes to you.”
I notice out of the corner of my eye that Wes is no longer looking at us but staring out the passenger-side window. It’s not like I purposefully try to hurt his feelings, but I want to make it clear that whatever little crush he’s harboring for my girl, he’s going to have to squash it quickly before it starts pissing me the fuck off. I know London is beautiful and damn near perfect, and I’m sure it’s hard to not be attracted to that, because, hell, I know I’m pretty damn addicted to her myself, but he can never have her. No matter how much he may want to.
We’re all quiet for the rest of the trip, all of us contemplating the things on our minds, like what held up Dad’s call yesterday and why Mom isn’t picking up her phone.
I press my foot down a little more on the gas, breaking all the speed limits as my mind begins to wander to that dark place again. I just pray to God that nothing has happened to her, because I’m not sure what I’d do if anything ever happened to my parents—either of them.
NOW
JARED
A sea of sweat-riddled bodies jumps in time with the beat. It’s truly a sight I never dreamed I would see, and it amazes me that these people are all here for my band.
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd is one of the best feelings in the world. It’s the only place I can be lately where my mind totally shuts off while the music and the energy of the crowd overtake my body. The coolest thing in the world is when everyone seems to know your name simply because you can play the shit out of an instrument.
I shred the last few riffs on the guitar as Ace belts out the lyrics to the crowd, and thousands of people join in with him, knowing every single word. Ace streaks past me like lightning in the all-white clothing that Jane Ann insists we wear as part of the marketing push behind the band’s name, Wicked White. After nearly four years, I’m getting pretty damn tired of this all-white clothes bullshit.
I would love to say that I’m not jealous of Ace, but the truth is that I’m consumed with jealousy. Admitting that I want what Ace has makes me feel like a complete asshole, but there’s no way I can deny it, even to myself, and I’m sure everyone around me sees it too.
One day Ace is going to screw up, and when he does, I’ll be there to take his spot as front man of this band and prove that I was the best choice all along.
As the last beat of a song plays, Ace throws his hand in the air, waving, and the crowd goes wild, begging for more. “We’re Wicked White! Thank you!”
I shove my hair out of my eyes as I remove the strap from around my neck and hand Joe, one of our roadies, the white guitar I played during the show.
“Nice playing, Jared,” Joe says as he tucks a strand of his sandy-blond hair behind his ear. “You guys were really in sync tonight. The best live playing I’ve heard from you all.”
“Thanks, man. It’s taken us a while. It’s hard at times to get us all on the same page off the stage, but for some reason when we get in front of a live audience, we just come together. Wanting to get the music perfect is about the only thing we all agree on.”
Joe nods and then pats me on the back. “Whatever it is, it’s working for you. You guys keep sounding like that, and we’ll have a set job for a long, long time.”
When I step backstage, Ace is nowhere to be found, but my other two bandmates, Tyler and Luke, are waiting for me. These two aren’t what I would exactly consider my friends, but they definitely like me more than they like Ace.
Luke grins and his face lights up the moment we make eye contact. “Dude, we’re all going out tonight. There’s some strip club here in town that’s supposed to have chicks with fantastic tits and incredible food. You in?”
I hesitate before I answer. Typically when the band is on the road, I can be found in the hotel bar drinking myself into oblivion. I rarely go out. Having lighthearted fun isn’t something I’m into anymore. I’m too fucked up to be able to enjoy myself, because I have to constantly live with the guilt of my past and how I treated the people in my life who once loved me. I don’t do relationships of any kind anymore. They’re too painful, and I know that nothing ever goes right, so there’s no use in trying to pretend that there’s a happily ever after waiting for me.
Luke shoves his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans while he awaits my answer.
I shake my head. “Naw, man. I’m beat. I think I’m going back to my room to crash. You guys have fun.”
He sighs. “All right, then. We’ll catch you later.”
