AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her head throbbed and all she wanted to do was sleep, but the doctor kept waking her every two hours to monitor her concussion. That, in turn, woke Ryker up every two hours. Jade finally just left Ryker sleeping in bed and went to watch TV in the front room. If she couldn’t sleep, at least maybe he could.
Surprisingly, no news had broken about the abduction or arrests in the six hours or so since they’d left. The cops appeared to be keeping everything well under wraps, for which Jade was thankful.
The doctor was set up in a different room in the suite and Jade hadn’t seen him since the last check-in. Same for Lyra. The doctor gave Lyra pain medicine and a sedative, so Jade hoped she was finally getting some restful sleep.
Roark sat on a loveseat nearby playing a game on his phone and occasionally cursing at it, but generally leaving her alone.
Around noon, the rest of the band and their guards showed up at the suite, suitcases in tow. They’d all met up at the airport and came straight over from there. They demanded answers after the cryptic text Jade sent them last night saying, “Lyra banged up but OK. Tawny/Rosé arrested. Going to sleep now, update tomorrow <3.”
“What kind of update was that?” Bex demanded. “I was worried half the night! What the fuck is going on?”
Jade explained the short version of everything, which rippled visible shock through the others.
Maggie wiped tears from her eyes and said, “I never suspected anything. How did we not see this?”
“I never liked her,” Polly said. “And you know Lyra didn’t either. Now we know why.”
“How’s Lyra doing?” Bex asked.
“The doctor gave her a sedative and she’s finally resting. She’s really beaten up. She’ll be sore for a while.”
“We need to call the label and tell them the rest of the tour is off,” Bex said. “There’s no way you or Lyra can go on stage. Plus, the fans would be pissed off if we had someone stand in for you guys in this situation.”
“We can’t do that,” Jade protested. “We have two more months on this tour. We can’t cancel that many shows or the label will have our heads.”
“We can talk to them about it, but they have insurance for that shit. They hired Tawny themselves. They’re the ones who brought on the psycho road manager. This is their fault,” Bex said.
“I should be back to normal in a few weeks. Lyra, too, if she’s up for it. If someone can fill in for a few weeks, we can probably finish out the tour.”
“We don’t even have a road manager right now to run a tour. The label will have to hire someone new. We need to call Paige and see what she thinks,” Maggie said, bringing up their band manager. “She’ll tell us what the possibilities are.”
The door to Jade and Ryker’s room opened and Ryker stepped out. He wore only boxers. “Babe, where are y— oh, hi ladies.”
“Holy hotness, batman.” Bex whistled at Ryker’s bare chest. “Somehow, the bruises make him even hotter.”
The bruises spanning the phoenix across his chest had darkened considerably and looked painful — but they definitely did not hurt the view.
“Damn, Jade. You’ve been keeping him to yourself? You need to share,” Polly said.
“Nope. Sorry, not sharing. This one’s all mine. Although, I won’t keep you from looking.”
“Ooooh nice, show us!” Bex and Polly started catcalling and whistling.
Ryker smirked and flexed a bicep for them, showcasing his muscles. “I’d give you more of a show but it would hurt like a motherfucker right now. Sorry.”
“Fine, but you’re on the hook for later, buddy,” Polly teased.
“I only answer to Jade. You’ll have to take that up with her,” he replied.
Polly said, “Jade, I don’t know what you did to this guy, but I like him better now. Can we keep him?”
Jade laughed. “That’s the plan.”
Ryker smiled and motioned for Jade to come to him. She crossed the room and slid into his arms.
He kissed her temple.
“Why aren’t you resting?” he asked.
