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Chapter 31

Jet

The minute Jet stepped through the crew entrance to the venue, he was met by a headset-wearing PA and led through the dark, cinder block hallways to his dressing room.

She opened the door for him and, to his surprise, the room was empty. “Where are the other guys?”

She smiled but couldn’t meet his eyes. “They have a separate space. I was told they’ll meet you for sound check, which is at four p.m.”

He nodded. “I’ll be there.”

The PA closed the door behind him and Jet took a look around. Yep. There was the water he liked. The snacks he preferred. Everything just the way his rider prescribed.

Except booze. He didn’t know if that was consideration on Barker and the guys’ part, or a dig about his past behavior, but he didn’t care. He appreciated not having to deal with resisting temptation along with all of the other tension he was feeling.

He took a deep breath and was struck by how loud it seemed in the quiet room. The silence seemed magnified by his solitude, and he realized how little time he’d actually spent alone in the past few years. Truly on his own, with no crutches. No people to entertain him, no substances to smooth out the stress.

Maybe depending on himself was something he needed to work on in the future. He could thank Abby for that, he reflected. She’s the one who gave him the confidence to realize that standing on his own two feet was even possible.

Being with her brought him back to a time when he was so much more than a disappointment and a fuck-up. Back to when he was a shooting star, made of potential, burning bright alongside the only star that could ever outshine him– Abby.

Hell, when they were together, he felt like they were those two bright kids again, with their whole lives ahead of them and the future laid out in front of them like the yellow brick road, glowing and plain to see.

He heard the door open behind him and turned, expecting to see the PA popping her head in, possibly to give him a time check. Instead, he saw Rome.

“Hey, man. Come on in.”

“Hey, Jet. Good to see you, thanks for doing this.”

“No problem.” Jet gestured toward one of the couches along a wall as he sat down on the other. “Take a load off.”

Rome plopped down onto the leather sofa. “So, Harry contacted you? All the filming paperwork was in order.”

“Signed, sealed, delivered,” Jet confirmed. “But I bet Harry told you that.”

“Yeah,” Rome agreed.

“So why are you really here? Did the guys send you in on a recon mission, to see if I was falling apart?”

Rome squirmed in his seat, his eyes fixed on his hands. “It’s not like that.”

“Sure it is. But I’m cool with it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My dad used to have this saying. ‘It’s called a track record.’ So, I get it. My track record is shit. I have a long way to go before the people in my life can trust me.”

Rome nodded. “Wow. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard you talk like this.”

Jet laughed, the rueful sound ringing through the small room. “Dude. That’s almost exactly what my brother said the first night I was home. Fuck, man. How big of a shithead was I?”

Rome shrugged. “Pretty epic.”

Jet shook his head. “That was rhetorical. But thanks for your honesty.”

“Anytime.”

Rome stood and moved toward the door. He stopped at the last minute, though, his hand on the knob, and turned back to Jet. “Seriously, though. You’ve changed. It’s not just talk, I can tell. I think the rest of the guys will be able to see it, too.”

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