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“The other night—” he starts.
“What happened is none of your fucking business. Stick to worrying about the band.” Her harsh tone breaks. “Jem, you have to back off.”
“There’s so much I want to say to you,” he says and reaches out to touch her cheek. Ruby flinches and Jem grabs her face turning it to him. “Is the bastard hitting you again?”
“Get the fuck off me!” She struggles against Jem as he wipes at her cheek.
“Everyone sees, Ruby. You can’t hide this shit. You said he’s stopped hitting you—why fucking lie?”
“Because I know you won’t keep out of this and things’ll get worse for me. Jem, please, leave me alone.” Ruby slumps against the wall and pulls a packet of cigarettes from her pocket with shaking hands.
I can’t move, as if I’m watching a car crash and my body won’t pull me away.
Jem grabs Ruby’s wrist and pulls her to him, rests his head against hers and says something I can’t hear. Ruby’s shoulders drop and she moves her head to look at him. Time to leave before I see something I shouldn’t.
I head back to the Green Room and slip through the door. Another guy joined the group and he immediately greets me with an outstretched hand to shake.
“I’m Jax,” he says. In a huge contrast to Dan, still skulking against the wall, he has a calm, friendly aura—the kind of person you can’t help but smile along with. A blonde fringe sweeps halfway into sapphire blue eyes, one eyebrow pierced. “Lead guitar.”
“Been looking for you,” says Jem, barging into the door behind almost knocking into me. “Where were you?”
“Busy,” he grins.
“It’s a lead guitarist thing,” Bryn whispers loudly to me. “They can’t keep their dicks in their pants.”
“You’re not as funny as you think, Bryn,” says Jem, and then catches sight of me. “Hey, Cerys, forgot you were coming.”
I’m shocked by Jem’s appearance now I see him clearly. Bryn and Liam have a rugged look but Jem’s is one step further. I’m not sure if what’s hidden behind his intense brown eyes, or the gaunter face that makes him look older than his twenty-five years. The edgy attractiveness is there, the angled cheekbones and sensual mouth impossible to ignore, but his years of abuse are clear.
“Hello, Jem.”
Jem doesn’t reply; too preoccupied with organising the band as he turns to Jax, and says something about the evening ahead that I don’t understand.
I sit on the sofa with Liam and attempt to quell the discomfort. I want to get out before Ruby appears too. Liam touches my knee. “You okay?”
The claustrophobia grows when Ruby slams open the door and fills the small room with her attitude. Without looking at anyone, Ruby marches straight to the guitars in the corner.
“Where’ve you been, angel?” asks Dan.
Ruby drags short fingernails through her hair and hooks the strap of the red guitar around her skinny chest before pointing to her face. “Re-decorating.”
A muscle in Dan’s cheek twitches and he glances at Jem, who’s continuing his intense conversation with Jax. “We’re going straight home tonight,” Dan says to Ruby.
“Yeah, whatever.” She notices me. “Hey.”
No smile, no further small talk.
“Why the fuck is everyone still sitting here?” she asks. “Tweedledum and Tweedledee, get your asses into gear” She throws an empty water bottle at the brothers, and they stand like kids admonished by their mum.
Jax snorts at Ruby. “Such a polite girl, our Ruby,” he says and she gives him the middle-finger.
“Is your pre-show fuck done with?” she shoots back at Jax.
He clutches his chest. “You always think the worst of me, Miss Tuesday.”
“Don’t fucking call me that.” She grabs another bottle of water. “Come on.”
Ruby whirls out of the room in much the same way as she did the bar earlier, continuing to swear under her breath. If I thought her boyfriend was edgy, he’s as cool as they come, compared to her. It’s a long time since I’ve hung around with people who use variants of the word ‘fuck’ as an adjective at every opportunity.
