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CHAPTER 1
CASSIE
Aloud bang echoes through the house as the front door slams into the wall. I jump up, a beer bottle hanging from my hand as Tyler stumbles inside. He smirks as a woman buries her face in his neck.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I ask, glaring at him.
My heart sinks to my feet as he turns and kisses the girl. This isn’t the Tyler Finch I knew when we decided to start a band together. This is someone else entirely.
The woman runs her long red fingernails through Tyler’s dark hair, smirking at me as if she knows the way my heart lurches when I look at them. I stuff down every emotion I’ve ever felt, focusing instead on the rage as I walk toward them.
“What the fuck is going on, Tyler? It’s the middle of the damn night. We’ve been looking for you for hours.”
He sneers and waves the lit cigarette between his fingers in the direction of my beer. “It sure looks like you were out there looking for me pretty hard. You think that you’re perfect, don’t you?”
“No! I think that I’m trying to hold this band together while you insist on tearing it into pieces. You run around with a different girl every night and I can’t remember the last time you went more than a day without drinking. Do you even see what you’re doing to yourself?”
He scoffs and takes a drag of the cigarette. As he exhales, thin ribbons of smoke curl toward the ceiling. “That’s bullshit. The only person that you care about is yourself. We all know it.”
The woman shifts her weight, taking off one stiletto and then the other. “Baby, let’s just go upstairs. You told me you were going to show me your room.”
Tyler smirks and leans against the dark wall of the hallway, flicking his cigarette ash onto the hardwood floor. “I think that we should stay right here and have a conversation with Cassie. She clearly thinks that she’s the owner of the house even though I pay to live here too. What’s really your problem with me, Cassie? Is it the women?”
I cross my arms and glare at him. If looks could kill, I would have put him in the ground a long time ago. “This is insane. I don’t know what story you’ve come up with in your head, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Tyler snorts. “You just can’t stand the thought of someone being happy while you’re miserable.”
I gesture at him, not bothering to count the liquor or vomit stains on his white shirt tonight. “If this is what happiness looks like, I don’t want any part of it.”
The woman sighs, her stilettos dangling from one finger as she heads toward the staircase. Tyler grabs her by the waist andhauls her back against him, grinning when she giggles and wraps her arms around her waist.
This house is supposed to be the one safe space the band has. We spend our days performing and touring. We go to events where we’re bombarded with fans. We can’t even go to the grocery store without being photographed.
In this house, we were supposed to forget about being Gilded Cage and instead focus on being friends. People outside of the rock band.
For a long time, we were able to do that. We would go to the events and parties together, showing up as Gilded Cage. When we got home, we were free to be our own people.
At least, that’s the way it used to be until Tyler started his rapid descent into chaos.
I don’t know how to help him anymore.
Though it hurts, I’m at the end of my rope with him. I want the old Tyler to come back. I want to see that genuine smile and know that everything was going to be all right.
That smile has been gone for weeks.
“Just take me upstairs, baby,” the woman says, pouting at him.
Tyler sighs and steps away from her. “I don’t want to. Cassie’s killed the vibe.”
The woman slides her hand down the front of his pants. “The party doesn’t have to be over yet. We can still go upstairs and have some fun. Just forget the bitch.”
I see red. I consider lunging at her and tossing her out into the yard, but there are probably cameras out there. The paparazzilike to follow Tyler home these days, hoping for another scandal they can use.
“Get out.” Tyler takes another drag of the cigarette. He nods to the door as the woman’s bottom lip quivers. “You heard me.”
“Tyler, we were having a good time together. There’s no reason to go just because that bitch is trying to ruin our night. We can still go upstairs and have a good time. I promise I can make you forget all about her.”
“He saidget out.” I stalk toward her, grabbing her by the bicep and hauling her onto the front porch. “Forget this address. He isn’t worth it. Take it from someone who knows.”
