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Tyler squeezes my thigh hard, almost as if he’s imagining what it would feel like to lock his hand around Atlas’ throat. The bite of pain makes me gasp, flinching, and Tyler leans forward to kiss my forehead in apology before releasing me.
“I was with a band who bullied me for two years, and they walked away when I wouldn’t let one of them rape me,” I tell Atlas, rolling my eyes. “I will bend so far over to keep the peace I may snap eventually. There’s absolutely nothing spoiled about me.”
“So says the girl who stormed out of the room because of a little fucking. Grow up, Layla,” Atlas rumbles. His large body shoves away from the table, standing, as he looks over at Jordan. “Are we dismissed yet?”
“Yep, sounds like you got your answer,” Jordan says, lips pursed. “Those contracts will hit your emails today as well. Please be sure they are signed before boarding the bus.”
The glares from Mav and Atlas make me straighten, meeting them head on. I don’t know what I’ll have to do to get them to take me seriously, but not backing down seems like a good way to start. Stomping away, they slam the door to their room, making me bite back a flinch.
Draven has been surprisingly quiet, and I force my eyes to leave the guys’ room to look back at him.
“I can recognize talent, and you’re incredible, chick,” he says, staring at the table. His blue eyes flick at me, and there’s a myriad of emotions staring back at me. The one that I recognize that surprises me is self-loathing. “I fucked up and didn’t recognize the signs that my lead singer was spiraling. The drugs were never really an issue before so I didn’t realize how deep their claws were embedded. Burn out, mental health, so much can eat away at who we are, and I don’t want that to happen to you. I may be an asshole, I may not always get it right, but I’ll do my best to help.”
It feels as if he’s saying so much more, and I shiver as I nod.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Yep. I need to do something before we roll out of this city, so what time is the bus leaving, Jordan?” Draven asks, tearing hiseyes away from me. I feel strangely empty when he continues to speak to Jordan as if he didn’t just show me a piece of his soul.
“Five at the latest,” Jordan tells him, pulling out his own computer to start working.
Tyler leans forward, speaking into the shell of my ear. “I want to ask your uncle really boring technical questions for a while. Want to grab a shower so I can save you from the boredom?” he teases.
He’s right, I don’t understand the tech talk at all. I just want to know that when I turn on a device that it’ll work.
“Yes,” I grin, leaning my head back to kiss him. My stomach is happy, filled with a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and a shower sounds amazing. I hear movement behind me, making me sigh as I break away.
Draven is pulling on a long-sleeved T-shirt over the jeans he threw on when my uncle started banging on doors, and shoves his feet into boots. Single-mindedly, he gives a two finger salute to my uncle and walks out the door.
“You have quite the project on your hands, love,” Uncle Jordan says as he fires up his computer.
“I can tell,” I mutter, getting up to grab my things to shower. As I stand under the surprisingly nice water pressure, all I can think about is all of the ways this could go spectacularly wrong.
Fuck me.
Nine
ATLAS
“What the fuck are we supposed to do with her?” Mav hisses behind the door. Layla’s uncle is working in our tiny ass kitchen with Tyler, and I can hear Layla showering.
“Hush,” I mutter, blowing out a breath as I throw myself onto the bed. It smells like both of us, and I take a deep breath to let it center me. Cedar, amber, and a deep musky undertone. It’s been us against the world for a long time.
“We do nothing,” I say softly. “We stay the fuck away from her, play music, and find a way to coexist. Jordan has us by the short hairs because he’s right. There’s no other way to just blend our talents with a lead singer who doesn’t already have a core group of bandmates.”
Mav sighs as he lays next to me. “Her hair is lighter than I remember,” he says softly. “She holds herself with more confidence too, until?—”
“We knock her down like the assholes that we are,” I finish. “Ignoring her hurts her feelings, paying attention to her makesme notice things that piss me off. I bought her a soda because watching her try to cover up her shakiness upset me. Sure, Tyler was going to get it, but he wasn’t moving fast enough for me.”
“We still care too much,” Mav groans. “Everything we did was wrong five years ago, and it makes me angry. Walking out on our little Valkyrie’s wedding, leaving Roark hanging mid sentence. We lost our best damn friends.”
“We also gained one. As much as you can say Draven is a friend,” I grunt. The man is prickly on a good day. But he’s…
“Draven is family,” Mav acknowledges. “I don’t know where he stands on Layla, though. Should we be worried?”
“Let him play with her a bit.” I shrug. “He’ll get tired of her and Layla will learn to keep to herself. She can’t handle him.”
The shower shuts off, and I yawn. May as well enjoy one last shower in a real bathroom before we’re all cooped up in the same bus. While Jordan promised hotel rooms for us when we get to Cleveland, I never know what those will look like.
