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“My sister,” Layla says. “She had this insane manager who didn’t care aboutThe Darkest Nightsor their mental health. The night I met my sister for the first time, she almost passed out on stage. I was opening for her.”
“We were all so worried about her that night,” Atlas sighs. “It wasn’t just Prescott who was the problem, it was our tour schedule too. It was insane. We didn’t have a chance to breathe. It looks like we’re averaging like three shows a week right now?”
“This is more than I usually do,” Layla admits. “My sister insisted I cut down to one a month when I was playing with her,and then it was two a week when I went solo. I usually have a pretty low stress level too, regardless of how awful my band members became.”
“It’s not every day a mob boss takes an interest in you,” I snort. “Sorry, too soon.”
Layla giggles anyway, shrugging. “It’s really not. A part of me is happy to be out of Chicago, but the other…”
“You’re worried about Jordan,” Tyler says knowingly, drying his hands.
“Yes,” she says, blowing out a breath. Her hair flies up with it, making me hide a smile. She’s so expressive, it doesn’t bug me the way everything else about her used to.
Atlas and I are assholes.
“The radio station wants us to come in later this morning,” Tyler explains. “It was supposed to be this afternoon, but I let them know we were coming in earlier. This will give us time to unwind, change, and make it out there.”
“Sounds good. Now that I’ve eaten, a long shower and some song writing sounds good,” Layla says. “I almost have enough new material to record, so I want to polish it up and make sure it’s good enough.”
“I’ve never found any fault in your lyrics,” I tell her honestly. It’s true, I know she’s a hesitant songwriter, but her words strike true. The music is a collaborative effort, and there’s no shame in that. “If you want to jam together to put words to music, I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem.”
I glance at Atlas to see if he’s going to make me a liar, but he’s staring intently at Layla. Interesting.
“I’m in,” he says simply, making Draven stare suspiciously at both of us.
“So am I,” Draven says slowly. “Maybe this afternoon if you’re up for it?”
“After lunch,” I add firmly. “You admitted this is a faster pace than you’re used to, so it’s important to stay fueled.”
Atlas nods. “Zero fainting,” he growls. “Watching you drop unconscious yesterday wasn’t my idea of fun. You need to take better care of yourself.”
The bus pulls up to the hotel, and Atlas gets up as if his ass is on fire, to grab his stuff. Layla looks confused and I don’t blame her for it. Draven catches up to me as I lumber off the bus with my bag.
“Are you fucking with her?” he hisses. “If you’re messing with her, it’s cruel. What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into Atlas, but you heard me last night,” I tell him. “I want to fix things. We fucked up five years ago, I just didn’t realize how badly until last night.”
Draven doesn’t seem to know what to think as we walk into the lobby, and Tyler follows us to check into our rooms. Watching him, I realize there’s something wrong after a few minutes. He’s arguing with the staff.
“What do you think is going on?” I ask softly. Layla is standing slightly in front of me, Draven is next to me, and Atlas is striding across the room to find out. Sounds about right, because he doesn’t have much patience.
A few minutes later, he looks resigned as he walks back to us with Tyler.
“The hotel chose to upgrade us to a premium suite with two rooms because they’re fully booked. Unfortunately, that means we’re sharing space for the next two days,” Tyler sighs. “We’re all adults, we can make this work.”
“No loud fucking,” Draven growls. “I swear to God, guys.”
Layla turns bright pink, making me smirk. I can’t help it, she looks so uncomfortable. Hiding my face, I grunt in agreement. I don’t want to hurt her, and throwing my relationship with Atlasin her face would do that. I always knew this, I just didn’t give a shit before.
“Agreed,” Atlas says softly, holding up his key. “There’s at least two bathrooms which is a plus, a huge balcony, and direct access to the roof. The receptionist said we’d have to go up there to practice.”
“What is with hotels and their fucking roofs,” Draven mutters, throwing up his hands dramatically.
“Fresh air is, ah, great,” I tell him before breaking down and laughing. Even Layla’s lips twitched a bit before she managed to control it, as we walked across the lobby to the elevator.
It’s not anywhere close to perfect, but I think we may be making progress.
Twenty-Two
