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I open my mouth to argue, but she holds up a hand.
“Don’t. I heard you the first time. You tried, but all the first-class seats were taken. If you’d gotten over your stubborn pride in the beginning, we would’ve all been in first class from the outset.”
Again, she’s right.
I don’t bother opening my mouth to argue this time.
Besides, she keeps chattering.
“This is our one shot, Jesse. Sometimes you only get one, and we’d better not blow it.”
“I—”
“Shut up. I’m not finished yet.” She shakes her head. “This isn’t just your shot. It’s mine. All those years I thought a performance career wasn’t in the cards for me. The opera industry rejected me. So I was teaching the students of Snow Creek how to play piano and sing. I thought that was all I was good enough for until now. I’ve been given a second chance at a performance career, and no one—especially not my big brother—is going to screw this up for me.”
As if I couldn’t feel like more of a dick…
Not only did I take a young woman’s virginity, but now my sister and the rest of the band think I’m destroying their chance at the big time.
“Rory…”
“Not finished yet.”
I sigh. “Fine. Let me have it.”
“Callie texted me.”
“Oh?”
“She told me you were down at the bar last night. That you were with Brianna Steel when she and Donny went to bed.”
“So?”
Rory digs her phone out of her back pocket and scrolls through her texts. “Maddie texted me this morning. Frantic. Brianna didn’t come back to the room last night.”
“You heard Dragon. I got back at one.”
“Which leaves several hours for you and Brianna unaccounted for. What the hell, Jesse?”
“Nothing.”
Rory holds up her hand. “Don’t you give me that. Brianna Steel is Maddie’s age. She’s young and impressionable.”
I rise and head for the door. “This is none of your business, Rory.”
Rory stands and blocks my path. “You’re right. It’s not. Except when it affects the band. Whatever the hell is going on with you, Jesse, you need to nip it in the bud right now. And if you did anything…” She shakes her head. “My God, I’ve been at Murphy’s bar back home. I’ve seen how the awesome foursome hangs around the band. I swear to God…”
“I’m handling it,” I say.
“And then that belt buckle she gave you for Christmas. What are you thinking, Jess?”
I rise, pace around Rory’s suite, rake my fingers through my hair. “I’mnotthinking, Rory. Isn’t that obvious?”
She crosses her arms. “Yeah, itisobvious. This is our one shot, damn it. Why is your head not in the game?”
“Rory, for God’s sake. You and I have never talked about this kind of shit.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And I don’t really want to start now.”
