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I step back and slam the door in her face, twisting the lock before she tries to come back inside. Matt and Ben are still out looking for Tyler. I sigh and pull out my phone, sending them both a message.
When I tuck my phone back into the back pocket of my ripped jeans, Tyler rolls his eyes. I stand a little taller, already preparing myself for another battle with him. He sways on his feet as he takes another drag of his cigarette.
“There you go again.” He wrinkles his nose, his upper lip curling. “You think you can control my life. I was going to have fun with her and then you just kicked her out.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You told her to get out, Tyler.”
He scoffs and stumbles toward the stairs. The cigarette is pressed against the wall, the end smashing against the dark paint. I scowl and take a deep breath. He’s drunk beyond all reason right now. There’s no point in losing my shit when he isn’t going to remember any of it.
“Let’s get you to bed.” I walk over to him and hook my arm around his waist.
Tyler groans but he leans on me as I help him up the stairs and down the hall to his room. My heart aches as he sits on the edge of his bed and kicks off his shoes. With a groan, he tosses an arm over his eyes and falls back against the bed.
I grab the little trashcan from the bathroom and put it beside his bed. His soft snores fill the room by the time I have the blankets tucked around him.
I wish he could see that he’s destroying his life.
From the doorway, I watch him for a moment longer. Tyler’s chest rises and falls steadily. The blanket shifts a little lower as he rolls onto his side and clutches the pillow to his face.
I step back into the hall and shut the door behind me. The moment I can’t see Tyler anymore, the first tear rolls down my cheek. Once the first one falls, there’s no stopping the rest.
My mascara smears as I wipe away the tears. I’m mourning the loss of the person I used to know. The one in that bedroom doesn’t deserve my tears, though.
As I walk downstairs, the front door opens. Ben and Matt walk in, both looking furious. They lower their hoods, their glares identical as they look at me. I sigh and nod to the living room.
“He’s out of control,” Matt says as he sinks down onto the white leather couch. “Someone needs to rein him in before this is ruined for all of us. You can see that, can’t you?”
“I know.” I run my hand through my hair before reaching for my beer. My stomach ties itself into knots as I take a sip. “I don’tknow what we can do, though. He’s hit the self-destruct button and there’s no taking it back.”
Ben rolls his eyes. “We all know that you’re the only one he might listen to.”
“He’s not going to listen to me.” I take a seat in one of the suede chairs by the front window. “I tried talking to him after he went streaking through Times Square after the show last week. He told me that I was welcome to go fuck myself and leave him alone.”
“We have to do something. The label is going to drop us if he keeps acting like this.” Ben links his hands behind his head. He leans back in the chair, staring at the dim pot lights above us.
Matt scoffs. “There’s no talking to him right now. He doesn’t care what his actions are doing to us. For Christ’s sake, he was an hour late for the show last week because he was in bed with some girl.”
I groan and down the rest of my beer. Tyler didn’t used to be this person. I don’t know what part of him snapped, but it did.
“Cassie, you have to talk to him.” Matt leans forward and braces his forearms on his thighs. “He’ll listen to you.”
“I can try to talk to him tomorrow night. When he wakes up and he’s close to sober.”
Ben snorts. “I don’t think he’s ever even close to sober these days.”
“Probably not.” My chest constricts as I look between the two of them. “If I’m going to be the one to talk to him, the two of you need to be out of the house. If you’re here, he’s going to see it as an attack.”
Matt nods and gets up. “We’ll get out of here after dinner so you can talk to him. Tonight, I’m going to bed and I’m going to try to pretend that I didn’t spend my entire night looking for that asshole.”
“I’m sorry.” I sigh and pick at a loose thread in my jeans. “We’re going to figure out a way to get him back under control.”
“We better.” Matt heads for the hall. “We have a European tour coming up soon, Cassie. We can’t afford for him to keep fucking up.”
Ben leaves the room with him, the sound of their whispered voices carrying down the hall. I can’t quite make out what they’re saying, but I’m sure it has something to do with Tyler.
I rub my collarbones, trying to ease the tight feeling in my chest. This version of Tyler is made up of the worst parts of him.
It’s hard to like the person he’s becoming now, especially when I used to love the person he was.
