AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shaking his head, Mack stepped back. “Nope. I’m busy.”
She pouted but once again, she was quick to move on. Except when she stood in front of Xavier, he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at her. She reached out to touch him anyway and he grunted.
“No.”
Miriam rolled her eyes and looked him up and down. “No real loss there. I prefer my men a little moremanand a little lessbeast.”
I saw the shuttered look click into place over X’s face and growled. No one fucked with Xavier that way. Before I could stand up for him, Layla stepped forward.
“Excuse you? Last I saw, you prefer your men a little more… Well, shit. There’s nothingmoreabout Matthew, is there? Turning into an insulting bitch because a man doesn’t want you throwing everything in his face is beneath even you, Miriam. Insult Xavier again and I’ll make sure you never have a working mic during your shows.” Layla scowled at her. “Or lighting that’s fully screwed in.”
Xavier opened back up as he smiled down at Layla and gripped the back of her neck. “You’re fighting for me?”
“Of course, I am.” Layla blew out a rough breath and stepped away from his grip. She was trying to appear as professional as possible, but she’d already called someone a bitch, so I wasn’t sure how it was going.
“I guess I know which one you’re fucking.” Miriam shrugged the interaction off and looked towards me again. “So, Jones. Are you going to be a square like your buddies or are you going to go out with me? We had some fun in Austin once, didn’t we?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“We totally did! Oh, man. We were at the music festival and it was the hottest part of the year. We both got messed up and missed our shows. We rocked that tent, though.” She licked her lips. “I’ve never loved anything quite like cocaine and a big dick. Too bad I’m clean now.”
The fucked-up part was that I didn’t know if she was full of shit, or not. In our earlier years, the drugs and sex part of rock and roll had really taken over. It’d been an easy way to forget a lot of shit we didn’t want to remember. Over the years, I’d had too many situations like the one I was standing in then. If I’d ever fucked Miriam, I didn’t remember.
Matthew walked into the bar right then and he smiled when he read the tension in the room. I had no doubt that the little fucker knew what he was doing. Having Miriam around was the weapon he’d chosen to hurt us. “Alright. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. How is everyone? Getting reacquainted? I heard all about how Miriam knows you three and I’ve got to say, you guys are wild.”
Layla stepped forward and showed him her phone screen. “This is the stage setup they’ve had, but I was thinking-”
“Cute.” Miriam rolled her eyes and circled me. “Do you still hit those party tents at the festivals?”
Matthew shook his head. “You’re doing too much. Leave the setup like it was. It works. Just do your job, Layla. Nothing more.”
“You’re not my boss, Matthew. I was asking as a curtesy, but I think their setup is stale and boring and if you want to create new energy on stage, it has to change. Unless you brought your own tour manager along, I’ll be building the stage I want.” Layla shoved her phone back into her purse and took a deep breath. “They have forty-five minutes and not a minute more. I’ll drag them off the stage myself if I have to. I’ll switch over the setup in fifteen minutes and then the guys go on.”
“Forty-five minutes? Are you fucking kidding?” Matthew snorted and shook his head. “No. No way. They don’t play less than an hour and fifteen.”
“No one is coming to see them. People bought tickets to see JAX. Not an hour and fifteen of The Homewreckers and JAX. Take the forty-five or fuck off.” Layla tossed her hair over her shoulder and leveled a glare at Miriam. “You show up on time, you play on time, you get the fuck off my stage on time. Am I clear?”
Miriam shifted closer to Layla and grinned. “I like this new version. It’s so much better than the mousy little thing crying over seeing her boyfriend fucking someone else.”
Layla smiled back and the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. “If you saw a tear, it was for you, Miriam. I can’t imagine you’re very happy if Matthew is the man you’re aiming for. Thanks, though.”
Matthew frowned. “It didn’t take you long to give up that professional facade, did it?”
“Watch how you’re speaking to her.” Xavier stepped forward, ready and willing to knock Matthew’s teeth out. It was wild to think that he was usually the calm one out of the three of us.
“You’re going to be one of those girls who loves the drama, aren’t you?” Miriam popped a bubble with her gum and rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to stress so much. I don’t want to steal your boyfriends. I just want to fuck them.”
Layla turned around and walked away a few feet. When she turned back around, her face was set and any emotion seemed to be gone. “Back to business. I’ll be working tonight and tomorrow to make sure the stage is ready. I’d like to do a run through of the show with The Homewreckers tonight, if that’s possible. I’ve never seen y’all perform and I want to make sure I get everything right to highlight what needs to be highlighted.”
“I’m busy tonight.”
I growled. “It would take one phone call to end your career, Miriam. A rumor about being kicked off the tour would spread quickly and who knows what would get spread around. I suggest you work with Layla.”
If I was expecting a grateful look from Layla, I was going to have to keep waiting for it. She didn’t even glance at me before she rushed on. “Be on stage at seven. As for everything else, I think that’s it. I need to get to work.”
I watched as she rushed out of the bar, leaving us all to chase after her. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation we were going to have to have when we caught up with her. As it turned out, however, catching up to her was a lot harder than I could’ve imagined.
35
