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"It's not empty," I pointed out. "We're here. And Mel and Tilly." I nodded over to where they sat curled up on a couch to the side of the room, and smiled. I couldn't remember having seen my sister look happier than she did right now. It was like a cloud of darkness was lifted from over her. Ending her relationship with Grayson was the best thing she ever did. Not to mention getting back together with my best friend.
Mel gave me a finger wave, then turned adoring eyes to Jude. Other people might have thought they was sickening, but I thought they were adorable. I’m a romantic at heart. But don't tell anyone. I have a big badass rock star reputation to uphold.
"Yeah," Tilly said, "we're here, but Strike's over there talking like you guys broke up or some shit. Aren't rock bands supposed to have reunions on a rooftop or something?"
"See, somebody gets it," Strike said into his microphone. "Let's take a break. We've been practicing for an hour."
"Closer to half an hour," Cord said, "but I'm getting hungry anyway." He swung his strap over his head and placed his guitar carefully down on the floor. He snaked an arm around Harper, who came to lend her backing vocals and hang out with Cord, and the pair disappeared up the steps.
"Don't mess up the couch this time," Strike called out after them.
Cord responded with something that sounded like an insult, but didn’t even glance back.
Strike grinned. "Sorry Jett, I couldn't help myself."
Jett grimaced at him. Or the idea of Cord and Harper getting intimate on the couch. The two had a hard time keeping their hands off each other. Honestly, I didn't think they were trying to. They both seemed perfectly happy to touch each other every chance they got.
I couldn't blame them. I also couldn't seem to get Hayley out of my head. When I asked her out, it never crossed my mind that it might be anything more than dinner. Even when we were flirting and I walked her home, I didn't expect the night to end with us falling into bed together.
I mean, I wanted her, but I didn't think it was mutual, not really. She was always so contained and hard to read. Or maybe she didn't plan to invite me in until she did. Although, I'd never known her to be particularly spontaneous. That wasn't to say I found her boring. No way. She just wasn't excitable like a lot of other people. She got on with things and never complained. Not that I'd ever heard anyway. Sure, she teased me about Jude and Mel making a mess, but that was nothing she couldn't deal with with a hand tied behind her back.
Strike waved a hand in front of my eyes. "Axel, Axel, earth to Axel. Come in, bro. Are you awake?"
I swatted his hand away. "Yeah, I'm awake. What do you want?"
"You had a silly grin on your face," he said. He cocked his head at me. "Axel Gregory, did you meet somebody?"
I slipped my guitar strap off my head and lowered my bass down beside Cord's guitar.
"I meet lots of people every day," I said lightly.
They were all looking at me with either speculation or suspicion. Strike in particular.
"I know that look," he said. "That's your, ‘Axel got laid,’ look." He glanced over his shoulder at Mel. "Sorry, but if you're gonna hang around with us, you're gonna hear too much information. A lot."
She shrugged and took Jude's hand when he offered it. "Nothing I can't handle, but I think we can go upstairs and get some food."
"Us too," said Tilly. She and Jett followed Jude and Mel up the stairs.
Jude gave me a sympathetic look over his shoulder. He knew Strike wouldn't give up until he got some answers from me.
To my surprise, Nate stayed too, thick arms crossed over his massive chest. He'd be a scary dude if he wasn't so nice.
Strike looked like he was thinking hard. "You picked Hales up at the airport, didn't you? Was she pissed off the rest of us blew her off?"
Did he have to use the expression, blew her off? Now I was remembering her on her knees in front of me in the bathroom this morning. It was a very pleasant memory, but one that made my ball feel heavy.
"No, she was fine." I took a step toward the stairs but found Strike in front of me, just about in my face.
"Yeah? Really?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "She's not gonna take a hit out on Jude and Mel?"
I laughed. "No one is taking a hit out on anyone."
"I hope not, because if anyone knew how to do that, it would be her." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "And Roman, from what I've heard about his family."
His nephew, Asher was drummer for another of the label's bands, Wolf Venom, but from what Roman said, the rest of his family had fingers in some dubious, possibly illegal, pies. Which I was very happy to stay right out of, thank you very much.
"Like a said, no one is taking a hit out on anyone." I put a hand on his chest to encourage him to step out of the way.
