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Seven shrugged like he was completely unaffected by Jude’s anger. “I’m not the one who needs to talk to her. That’s your shit to work out. All I care about is the band.”
“You’re stirring shit up, man,” Jeremy said. “Back off.”
Jude’s fists pulsed. I was at a loss. Never Again had had a meeting with their new record label today, but Jude and I hadn’t had a chance to discuss what had gone down. Apparently, a hell of a lot had.
“I’ll back off when Jude stops letting a cunt guide him,” Seven replied.
I grabbed Jude’s arm out of instinct, but he wasn’t the one I should have been grabbing. In a flash, Ben was out of his chair, yanking Seven up by his shirt and slamming him into a wall. Nina screamed, a couple glasses tipped over, and a picture fell off the wall, shattering on the hardwood floor.
Ben got in Seven’s face, nose to nose. “You, motherfucker, must have a death wish. You don’t come into this house disrespecting Tali. You keep her name out of your mouth.”
Seven tried to push Ben off him, but the bigger, taller, slightly crazier man held tight.
“Get off me. You have nothing to do with this.”
Ben poked his chest hard. “Hell yes I do. Those are my two best friends in the world. You’ve been talking shit for a long ass time, but you just stepped so far over the line right now.”
Seven scoffed. “She’s your friend, right. Fuck you, Benny.”
Tino got up, laying a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “You gotta leave, Sev. I can’t have you here, saying that kind of stuff.”
Jude’s arm shook under my hand. Tearing my eyes from the three men across from me, I looked atmyman, and found his shaking wasn’t confined to his hand. His entire body vibrated. I had to get him out of there.
I got up from my seat, wrapping myself around Jude’s trembling form. “Come with me,” I whispered. “Come to my room. I want to hold you.”
It took coaxing, but eventually, Jude followed, leaving everyone else to figure out what to do about Seven.
We went into my darkened bedroom, only switching on the small lamp on my bedside table. I pushed Jude’s shirt off before yanking off my own, then laid with him on the bed. We were skin-on-skin from the waist up. His flesh burned with his roiling emotions. I tried to cool him by taking some of it into my own skin.
Carefully, I stroked his hair, which he’d let grow longer, shaggier, since the summer. He squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body shuddering when I pressed soft kisses to his cheeks and neck and the corner of his mouth.
“I would have killed him if Ben hadn’t gotten there first,” he said, barely audible.
I pressed my cheek to his. “You wouldn’t have. He didn’t say anything unforgivable.”
“I can’t let anyone talk shit about you, Stripes. I won’t have it.”
He brought his fingers to my wrist, rubbing each bead of the bracelet he gave me over a year ago between the pads. I’d done the same thing many, many times when I needed to think or soothe a racing brain.
“Tell me what’s going on,” I said softly.
He continued to rub the beads methodically, the heaving of his chest gradually slowing.
“The label wants us in New York to record. I want to do it in D.C. They have a smaller studio down here, there’s no reason we should have to go up there.”
My heart broke in two. It felt like he’d only gotten back. I’d known the day was coming when he’d have to leave again, I just hadn’t known it would be so soon.
“What do Jeremy and Jin say?” I asked.
“They’re just going along for the ride. Neither have strong opinions. Not like Sev.”
“If it weren’t for me, you’d be all in for New York, right? Because we both know that’s where the best producers and equipment are. And you’ll have more attention from your label, and possibly more press.”
Jude sat up quickly, dropping my wrist and moving away from me. “Fuck, Tali, you sound more like my manager than my girlfriend. I’m breaking apart here, and you’re using logic.”
I sat up next to him, curling my arms around his waist. “Do I need to show you my broken heart for you to understand how hard it is for me to tell you to go to New York? It’s cleaved in two right now.”
His breathing stuttered at my words, and he pulled me into his arms. “The thing is, I don’t want to go. We’re just getting started, and it’s already feeling like too much sacrifice.”
