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I don’t give him any choice. I step over to him and wrap my arms around his neck. “I was so worried. Don’t you ever leave me like that again.”

Strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me tighter against his chest. He buries his face in my hair and inhales deeply. “I’m sorry, London. I fucked up so bad.”

I shake my head. “Shhh. Don’t talk about that right now. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.”

Jared gives me one final squeeze and then releases me. When I step back and straighten my shirt, Jared looks down at his mom and frowns. “Mom . . . I’m—”

Julie wraps him in a hug. “It’s okay, son. It’s okay.”

Once he’s in his mother’s comforting arms, a sob rips out of his chest. Tears that I’m sure he’s been fighting since he heard the news last night about his father flow freely down his face. I glance over at Wes, who also bats away the tears from his eyes and throws his arms around both his mom and brother. Finally, they are able to grieve together over the loss of the

man who was the rock of their family—the man who held them all together. It’s then it hits me like a ton of bricks that life for this family will never be the same, and my heart breaks for these people that I love so much.

NOW

JARED

I’m still standing there in shock. I can’t believe that asshole just flipped us off and then stormed off the stage like that. Ace is one selfish bastard to leave us to deal with the aftermath of an angry sold-out crowd who obviously will not be getting the show that they paid for.

There’s no other choice but to cut the music and follow Ace’s lead off the stage. Luke and Tyler take off first, while I’m right on their heels. The fans at Summerfest instantly boo. I turn back and watch as our instruments get pounded with half-empty beer bottles and anything else the people can find to throw onto the stage to show their protest.

“Fuck,” Luke says, standing next to me. “They’re pissed.”

“Wouldn’t you be? I mean, shit, they paid for a show, and we just walked off stage,” Tyler adds.

“What choice did that asshole give us? I mean, who does that?” Luke’s face is just as red as his hair.

We stand there, completely unsure of what to do next. I’ve never had anything like this happen before. Hopefully Jane Ann has tracked Ace down and talked some sense into that moron. He needs to get his stupid ass back on this stage before these people riot and tear this place apart.

After close to twenty minutes since Ace’s Houdini act, Tyler looks to me. “Do you think he’s coming back?”

I shrug. “I have no idea, but I still expect to get paid for this show. I showed up. It’s not my fault Ace picked now to be a fucking diva.”

No sooner do the words leave my lips than Jane Ann shows up without Ace. Her red hair is frizzy and completely disheveled. I can tell by the wild look in her blue eyes that she’s losing her shit right now.

I straighten my back. “I’m going to guess that Ace told you to piss off.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “It seems that Ace will not be doing the show tonight.”

“Thanks for that one, Captain Obvious,” Luke spouts off. “Does he plan on making the next show tomorrow night?”

Jane Ann squares her shoulders. “I’m unable to answer that at this current time. I guess we will just wait and see when we get there tomorrow.”

I release a bitter laugh. “Are you fucking joking? There’s no way I’m going to stand up thousands of people again. Either he’s going to be there or he isn’t, which is it?”

“I don’t know,” she answers.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“It means I don’t even know where he is, okay?” she growls at me. “He’s gone and I have no clue where he is. He’s not answering his phone—nothing—so like I said, we won’t know if he’s going to show up until we get to the arena tomorrow.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “This is fucking ridiculous. I told you that you put all your eggs in the wrong basket. Guys like Ace can’t handle the pressure of being center stage.”

“I don’t need this right now, JJ. What we need to focus on is finding Ace. His foster mother is ill, so I’m pretty sure he’s heading to Ohio to see her. If any of you speak with him before I do, you better tell me, and let Ace know that I expect him to be at that show tomorrow night.”

“Why would you even think that we’d talk to him before you? He rarely speaks to us, and we are definitely not his friends,” I tell her. “This isn’t anything new.”

“Unbelievable. Well, you all better hope that we find him or we’ll all be out of jobs.” She doesn’t give us time to say anything else, just turns on her heel and walks away.

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