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“We’ll bring her back in just a bit.” Mack carried me against his chest and tightened his hold when I tried to get down.
“I can’t leave Jagger.”
Jagger cleared his throat. “Yes, you can. Hurry up and get your shit together, kid. You’re hogging all of their attention and I’m going to need some kind of gain from this bullshit hospital stay, so their attention will have to be it.”
“Jagger…” I choked on another sob. I couldn’t leave him. I was terrified if I blinked, he’d be gone.
Grandma swatted at Mack. “Get her out of here. It’s time for Jagger to get his ass kicked at poker. We’ll be here when you get back.”
Jagger cleared his throat. “Wait… I’m going to ask that y’all take her to Gran’s and force her to take a shower and eat, but don’t leave before you come back. I have questions to ask about JAX.”
Xavier smiled. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“What? You’re on tour. Not that I’m a stalker, or anything, but aren’t you supposed to be playing in Boston tonight?” Jagger’s cheeks went pink under the spots of bruising.
Jones shook his head and glanced at me before he looked back at Jagger. “The tour is on hold for now.”
“What? Why?” Looking at me, Jagger grunted. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but you can still tour without a tour manager.”
“Even if we could tour withoutthistour manager, we can’t right now. There’s a family emergency.” Xavier walked closer to Jagger and shook his hand. “We’re here if you need anything.”
Jagger’s eyes widened. “I’mthe family emergency?”
“Yeah. You come with Layla.”
“It’s that simple?” Jagger met my gaze. “Is it too soon to make a joke about you waiting until I’m dying to bring my favorite band into the family?”
I buried my face against Mack’s neck and cried harder. Even through my heartbreak, I still managed to lift my hand and flip him off.
“Okay, okay. This is too much.” Grandma groaned. “Take her home and put her in the shower. I keep the good booze in my dresser. Feed her a few shots before you let her come back here. Top right drawer. If you go in the top left drawer, what you see is on you.”
Mack grunted. “Yep, yep. Top right drawer, it is.”
“Stop by Yankee Joe’s on the way to the house. They sell Lala’s favorite pizza. Joe will know what she wants.” Grandma patted my head. “I don’t think y’all have anything to worry about but watch this one around Joe. She was always a sucker for that man and he’ll carry a torch for her until he dies, I swear. Everyone in town still talks about the time they got caught at the bowling alley. Hell, even I learned a new position from those rumors.”
I choked on another sob as I jerked my head up to glare at Grandma. “What the hell?”
“Jesus, Gran. That’s some shit I don’t need to hear about my baby sister.” Jagger faked a gag and then made a show of holding up his pain button and pushing it. “And on that note, I think I’ll go back to sleep.”
“What? What’d I say?” Grandma shrugged. “Anyway. Joe will take care of y’all. Handsome man, that one. He’s got nothing on y’all, but for Backtop, he’s a twenty.”
“We’re not getting pizza from Joe, Gran.” I sniffed and turned a watery gaze on Jagger. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t do anything stupid.”
He smiled. “Love you, too.”
“I think we should get pizza.” Jones growled out, still stuck on the topic of my ex. “We can take the time to show Joe that his services are no longer needed.”
“Can you make pizza?” Grandma asked it so sweetly that Jones answered with an honest negative. “Then his services are needed, singer boy. The man is a god with pizza. When you have a slice, you’ll understand why Layla acted so easy for him.”
Jagger snorted. “At this point, I think Layla might just be easy.”
Xavier leaned closer to him. “Nothing about your sister is easy.”
42
Mack
IcarriedLaylaoutof the hospital and settled in the backseat of the truck with her still in my arms. She’d stopped crying, but every breath she took was shaky with emotion. I could tell she wanted to talk but every time she opened her mouth, nothing came out.
