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He was striking a little too close to my insecurities, so I ignored him and kept smiling. I tried to imagine what the new job meant, but I couldn’t get past the why. Why the hell had they done what they’d done? I’d left with a pretty solid feeling that I’d never see them again.
“You fucked one of them, didn’t you?” Matthew laughed like he’d solved the puzzle and clapped his hands together. “Jesus, you’re going to fail horribly.”
I turned to face him. “It has to be hard to watch me rise higher than you in the company you’ve been at for over a decade. How long have you been managing Miriam Dark? When’s the last time she sold out a venue or had a chart topper? Hmm? Yeah, I can’t recall, either. You managed to keep her at a mediocre levelwithmy help,Mattie. Without me, you’ll be lucky to still have a job in six months. You’d better hope Miriam has a stroke of inspiration and releases a few hits so you can ride on the coattails of yet another woman’s hard work.”
The doors opened on the floor we’d both worked on until that morning. Matthew walked off and put his hand over the doors to hold them open and openly glared at me.
I smiled. “Oh, this isn’t my floor anymore. Didn’t you hear? I’m the new tour manager for one of the biggest bands in the country. Get fucked, Matthew.”
That ride down to the ground floor felt a little better because I wasn’t jobless, but I was still so nervous that I wanted to curl up in a corner and hide. I didn’t have time for that, though. I had to catch a flight to wherever the guys were and set them straight. If I was going to be their tour manager, I was going to be their tour manager and nothing else.
18
Layla
“Hey,Grandma.What’sup?” I held my phone between my ear and shoulder while tugging my suitcases out of the car while the driver watched me from the side view mirror.
“I got your text message, Layla! You took a new, fancy job? I’m so proud of you!” Grandma’s thick southern accent was a breath of fresh air anytime I heard it, but right then, it was almost enough to make me want to cry.
“Thanks, Gran. It’s a big change and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.” The moment I managed to close the trunk, the driver took off from the curb. I flipped him the bird and shouted after him. “Thanks for your help!”
“Stop yelling at people, girl.” Grandma laughed. “You’re just like your momma.”
“And you, so I hear.” I pulled my suitcases onto the sidewalk and wheeled them both over to the side of the club I was meeting JAX at. My heart skipped a beat knowing they were inside but I ignored it. “I looked at the rest of the tour dates and guess what. The band is playing in Nashville in a couple of months. I could drive down and see you and Jagger for a day or you two could come up to see me. I could get you into a free rock concert.”
Grandma cackled at the idea of her at a rock concert. “Yeah, right. And ruin what little hearing I have left? No, thank you! Your brother has been talking about this band nonstop, though. I think he has a boy crush. Is that what the kids call it?”
I laughed at the idea of Jagger hearing that. “It’s definitely called a boy crush. You shoulddefinitelytalk to Jagger about his boy crush.”
“You’re trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you? You’ve always been a little troublemaker. Now, tell me about this band. Are they handsome?” Grandma interpreted my silence correctly and sighed. “They’re painfully handsome, huh? Way better than that ex of yours?”
I hadn’t gotten around to telling Grandma about Matthew so I knew Jagger had been gossiping. “Yeah. Way better. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m working for them now.”
“It didn’t stop you with Matthew.” Jagger’s voice joined the background noise and Grandma began teasing him immediately. “I’m talking to your sister about your boy crush. Which one do you like the best, Jag?”
The door next to me opened and the same security guard I’d slipped my goodbye letter to walked out and grinned when he saw me. He planted himself on the other side of the door and ran his eyes up and down the street.
“Your brother wants to talk to you about his boy crush, but this is my time. So, tell me how handsome they are and which one’s your favorite.”
I looked at the guard and then down at my shoes. “I think I’ll pass.”
“What? Why? Is it because they’re all three handsome? Let me tell you… When I was your age, I followed this tiny band around for a while. They weren’t famous, but they were hot, hot, hot. I couldn’t pick just one, either.” She let out a low whistle. “Best summer of my life.”
My mouth dropped open and I felt my cheeks heat. “Grandma!”
I could hear Jagger gagging in the background. He was probably getting visuals of whatever Grandma said. She was known for talking with her hands and she’d traumatized us more than a few times.
“What? Those were the good days with free love and everything. Everyone was doing it.” She sighed longingly. “I kept the whole band entertained that summer and they played their best concerts with me waiting for them in the wings… Maybe I should look them up.”
“Are you telling me that you were involved with all three of them, at the same time?” I watched the guard’s head whip around to me and I pressed my phone to my chest while blushing. “My grandma… I come from an interesting family.”
He laughed and nodded. “Sounds like it. No judgment from me, ma’am. Just glad to see you back.”
I studied him. “Why?”
He smiled and continued looking around. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Who are you talking to? Is it one of the hotties? Let me talk to them, Layla!” Grandma shouted so loud that her voice carried to me and to the guard.
