The door slammed open and bounced back off the wall, only to be caught by a red-faced Rhett Grayson.
I stepped away from Jackson and tears began to well in my eyes. I blinked them away. I would not get emotional because of some idiot ex.
Rhett charged across the room and shoved Jackson up against the wall, holding him with a forearm under his chin.
“Did she say you could kiss her?” he yelled in Jackson’s face. “Did she say you could lay a finger on her?”
“Rhett!” I shouted.
Nixon and Jared ran in the room and stumbled to a stop when they found Rhett holding Jackson in what could be considered a chokehold. Nixon tried to catch his breath while Jared closed the door behind them.
“Cool, we didn’t miss it.” Nixon pounded his knuckle against Jared’s.
“Chill, man,” Jackson seethed through his clenched teeth and possibly crushed larynx. “It’s all in the name of show business.”
“Let him go, Rhett,” I tried.
Jackson looked at me over Rhett's shoulder, and I didn't think any of us missed the way his eyes trailed from my feet up to my legs and all the way to my chest.
Idiot.
Rhett slammed his elbow across Jackson’s face and let him drop to the floor. My ex quickly scrambled back up to his feet.
"Don't just stand there," I bit out to my cousin. We had to get this under control before Rhett got himself in trouble.
Nixon laughed. "What? I brought an ice pack." He tossed the blue package to Jackson, who immediately placed it on his flaming red cheek. If I had time, I would have questioned how he managed to come prepared with an ice pack. He must have known Rhett would cause some damage.
Jackson stood nose-to-nose with him, which was crazy because Rhett was still boiling with anger. "Unless she asks, you don't ever touch her again," he said with barely contained fury.
"Oh, she'll—" Jackson started.
“Think about what’s going to come out of your mouth, because I have no problem letting you go on television tomorrow with a few black eyes. Maybe even a broken nose.”
My dressing room door pushed open yet again. Gage and Alex had finally joined the party... the only one missing now was Sienna. Alex was wearing his usual jeans and t-shirt combination, while Gage surprised me in a full three-piece suit and tie. Gage the Lawyer was here.
“All right,” he said, his voice rough. “Fun’s over.” Gage, like the good attorney he was, moved in between the two testosterone-fueled bodies and guided Jackson to the door. It felt like he was the only real grown-up in this ragtag group of ours. “I suggest you leave before I write a formal letter about how you treat women. I have no doubt I can dig so far into your history your asshole will burn tomorrow.” Gage’s low voice sent a shiver down my spine.
"Ever—" Jackson started. I watched Gage's arms flex trying to hold back Rhett.
"Leave!" I called from across the room. Jackson nodded his head, and to my surprise, he actually listened. The door closed and then it was extremely silent.
“And here I thought being your lawyer would be easy,” Gage joked while clapping Rhett on the back. Then he walked directly over to the one who made his eyes go soft. "Hey, beautiful. I'll help you get all this downstairs." He scooped up Lola’s giant bag, and I watched as she got all dreamy-eyed. Gage in a suit was a sight to see.
“Do you need me to stay?” Rose asked, I could see she obviously wanted to escape with the rest. I shook my head and she dipped out before I could finish.
My dressing room cleared out quickly, leaving me alone with Mr. Angry. I stepped toward him and lifted my hands to place on his chest, but he abruptly stepped back, dodging my touch.
“Rhett?”
“What the hell was that out there?” he quietly asked. His fists were clenched at his side.
“That was—”
He didn’t let me finish. "I don't want to see shit like that again."
“You think I do?” I couldn’t help but feel defensive after what I’d just gone through.
“We’re a band, Ever. We perform together.”
“I agree, but you have no idea what kind of position I was put into. I couldn’t exactly refuse on live television.” He began pacing in front of me. “I was set up.”
“I’m supposed to believe that you had no idea any of that was going to happen?”
“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to believe!”
“He’s your ex.” His accusation was clear.
“He is.” I took a deep breath and released it. The whole situation needed to be diffused ASAP. “I have a horrible history with him, Rhett.”
“Pipes…” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “You kissed him. On live fucking television.”
Now I was the one clenching and unclenching my fists. “I didn’t kiss him. I didn’t even want to be near him. Could you not tell how uncomfortable I was?”
He moved closer to me and spoke in a low voice. “All I saw was smiley, giggly, flirty Ever James. You practically invited him to do that.”
My hands were forcing him away from me in that instant, because if they didn't, I would slap him so hard across the face he would see double for a week. I opened my mouth to say… I didn't know what. So I closed it and then walked to my bag and started throwing items in. When I realized I was wearing a t-shirt and it was more than likely Satan's freezer outside, I knew I would have to change.
I didn’t warn him. I didn’t even look at him as I yanked off my thigh-high boots, ripped my t-shirt over my head and kicked off my shorts. I heard the hiss through his teeth when he finally got a good look at the lingerie I had been so excited for him to see in person. Now it was ruined. Stupid men.
I quickly pulled on my Alexander Wang wool leggings and an oversized cashmere sweater that fell off one shoulder. I crouched down to put on an exquisite pair of black suede ankle boots that I was kind of afraid of wearing because the weatherman had predicted snow.
"You don't have anything to say?" he finally asked, the worry in his voice evident. That's right, Rhett Grayson, a quiet woman was a perilous thing.
I finished compiling the few belongings Rose and Lola had left behind. The room was too quiet. Rhett and I were never quiet when we were together. Never. If we didn’t have anything to say, we were singing and humming and constructing lyrics. I was sure he could feel the black chasm the silence created between us.
“Just because I’m not talking doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say. It means I don’t think you can handle my thoughts right now.”
With that, I walked out of that suffocating room. If he was going to be a jealous asshole, I wasn't going to stay there. When I started down the hallway, I faltered when I noticed Mark was my designated personal security. I guess Beau still hadn't been informed of the stumble we had when we arrived.
Rhett normally would have been the first to inform him, but he was too busy being blinded by unjustified distrust to think straight.
“Where’s Beau?” I asked as Mark led me down the hall.
“There was an issue with the security cameras in your building that he needed to deal with, Miss James.”
I shot Beau a quick text just to confirm that was, in fact, the case. I didn’t want to have these doubts about Mark, but I just wasn't too confident in his protection abilities.
When we made it to the ground floor, I could hear the screams outside. It would be chaos, especially if cameras had caught Rhett, Nixon and Jared barreling into the building earlier.
Rhett and I still hadn't confirmed our relationship, but it was pretty much assumed at this point. Pictures had even been released of us kissing. Funny enough, one of those photos captured us on the rooftop of the recording studio. I guess we hadn't learned our lesson after Beau scolded us. I had decided we should just ignore any and all questions about the two of us. We needed to focus solely on getting our work done. Everything else was just noise that wasn’t condu
cive to creating an album.
When Beau’s text chimed in my purse, I pulled it out.
Fixing camera headache. Is there a problem?
Yes.
Not really… we’ll see you in a bit.
Rhett came stomping down the hall behind us. “Pipes, tell me,” he called out.
I looked around to see who was within hearing distance. No one except for Mark.
“Not here.” My teeth were clenched.
“You don’t get to be mad at me after you kissed your ex-boyfriend!"
"Excuse us, Mark." I looked at him, and he glanced at the door warily. I was feeding him to the sharks. "I'll knock twice when I'm ready to come out. Is the car ready?"
“Yes, Miss James.”
"This won't take but a minute." With that, I turned and glared at Rhett. The door opened and shrieks hit my eardrums. Mercifully, the door swiftly clicked shut.
“Did you know the whole time I was on that stupid show I was sweating bullets stressing about what you were thinking?” I poked him in the chest to make my point clear. “My stomach hurt at the idea of performing our music with anyone other than you, Nix and Jared.”
“Pi—” he started.
“No!” I yelled, as quietly as I could. “Don’t Pipes me right now. If you hadn’t barged in there on your jealousy train, you would have realized how wrong you have it. You would have discovered that your girlfriend was set up and played for the enjoyment of everyone but herself. You would have seen a disgusting man put his hands on a woman that did not welcome them at all!” My hands gestured wildly. “A woman that had asked him during the commercial break to lay off! And if you hadn’t acted like such an asshole, I would have run into your arms for comfort since you’re the one person who was supposed to always be on my side.” I hugged my arms around myself.
I knew I had finally broken through because Rhett’s glare melted away and now his eyes were wide and worried. His hands were in their usual location when he was stressed, but they seemed to pull at his hair more roughly than usual.
“Instead,” I continued, “you said I asked for it.” There was venom in my voice. My fists clenched and unclenched. “All because I went out there and played their little game with a fake smile on my face. Oh, I must have asked for him to put his lips on mine. Maybe you missed the part where I pinched the shit out of him! But you're right. I wanted him to kiss me, because all along I've been wasting my time with you just so that I could go back to my druggie ex-boyfriend."
“Babe…” Rhett’s voice rasped. I knew he was hurting because he never called me ‘babe.’ In that moment, I didn't care.
I looked down at my phone to see two missed texts from Beau.
Tell me the truth.
Now I know there’s an issue, what’s up?
I knew Rhett was standing there wanting more from me. I knew he was feeling the ass chewing I had just given, but I didn’t want to look at him right then. I busied my fingers with a reply to Beau.
Me: I just think the security needs some adjustment. I’ll talk about it when we get there. I’m okay right now.
I hoped that was the truth. Without continuing the conversation with Rhett, I knocked twice on the metal door and shoved my way out.
— TWENTY-TWO —
Rhett pushed through the door behind me, and I almost leaned back against him from the shock of the number of people crowded in the street. I remained upright though, keeping a tight grip on my purse strap. Lights were flashing, people were screaming, and a few girls were openly sobbing when they noticed Rhett.
“I’ll take you one at a time, Mr. Grayson. Let me get Miss James in the vehicle first,” Mark barked over the roar of the crowd. “Please wait inside.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be right behind you two,” Rhett shouted back.
“I advise against that, Mr. Grayson.” A vein in Mark’s forehead was protruding. Rhett was stressing him out.
“This is wild.” Rhett gestured to the crowd. “I just want to make sure she makes it through okay.” Rhett’s voice could barely be heard through the screams.
I was tired of losing my hearing from the noise so I continued walking. Mark caught up to me quickly and created a barrier with his arms as we pushed through the bodies. I could feel Rhett’s hand on my lower back and the heat from his body behind me. If it weren’t for our image, I would have batted him away. Everyone assumed we were together, and I didn’t want to cause any breakup rumors. Although I was still confused by the applause I had heard when Jackson kissed me. Did they have any loyalty at all?
Regardless, I let Rhett’s hand stay where it was molded against me. I wasn’t enjoying his closeness at the moment. Not one single bit…
And I couldn’t let myself think about Rhett back there getting groped and touched by everyone he passed. He was keeping the hands from my body, but who was keeping them from his? I bit the inside of my cheek because I couldn’t kill anyone.
The guys escorted me into the waiting SUV. Gabe was in the front passenger seat, and I mumbled a quick ‘hello.’ My phone was ringing in my purse, and I was able to grab it before the last chorus played out. The crowd was now banging on the windows and shoving their camera phones up against the glass, trying to get any pictures they could.
“What’s happening, Bonecrusher?” I could see Mark escorting Rhett to the other side of the car.
Beau sighed on the other end of the line, obviously still bothered with my nicknames. “Tell me what’s going on. Now.”
Rhett’s door opened and the car filled with screams. He quickly slid inside, and just as quickly I scooted away. “I can’t exactly talk about that right now.” Rhett eyed me, and I could see the question in his eyes. Probably wondering who was on the other end of the line. Was it Jackson? Was it some other guy I could be hiding? Because Lord knew I had so much time for another relationship in my life. I rolled my eyes at him, when what I wanted to say was, ‘You’re acting like an idiot.’
“I need to know that you’re okay right now and they’re handling things as they should,” Beau’s husky voice demanded through the line.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing that needs to be—” My car door jerked open and enormous hands ripped me from my seat.
All I heard were earsplitting screams. Were those my screams or the screams of the fans that had swarmed my car? I might have yelled for Rhett in that moment of complete terror, but I couldn't even hear my thoughts through the noise and my panic.
I kicked wildly, but there were too many bodies around me. I was sandwiched in between complete crazed strangers. I had no idea who was pulling me backward, but their hands were painfully digging into my armpits. Surely my security was on top of this?
I heard rational people shouting to let me go, while others were trying to take goddamn selfies with me. I grabbed for anything around me, and more than one piece of clothing slipped through my fingers. All I could see were screaming faces. People had phones pointed directly at me, but no one was trying to actually help.
A few of the screams were definitely coming from my mouth. I was having some out-of-body experience where so-called fans tossed my body around like a rag doll. I felt my hair yanked in several directions, and my head jolted backward. My coat was pulled from my arms, and I was almost positive I was missing a very expensive shoe. The panic was rising inside of me. Vomit rose in my throat when I felt my sweater rising.
Seconds later—though it felt like hours—I witnessed Rhett exploding out of the SUV through my open door. “PIPES!” he roared. His elbows were flying as he brawled his way through the crowd to get to me. “LET HER GO!” He was a few feet away and had acquired an adrenaline-powered strength. Bodies were falling around him. “QUIT FUCKING TOUCHING HER!”
My arms flailed as I tried to free myself from the firm hold someone had on me. Rhett's fist went flying past my head and connected with what could only be bone. The most insane part was all I could think about were his guitar-play
ing hands. He couldn't risk his incredible hands.
The intensity of Rhett's punch forced my abductor to release me, and I tumbled back onto the concrete. Thankfully, Rhett scooped me up instead of continuing his fight. I clung so hard to him my fingerprints would be engraved in his skin permanently. My face buried in his chest, I inhaled his familiar scent. It was comfort. It was home.
I hid behind his leather jacket and bawled hysterically.
I was still angry with him, but I wanted to climb inside of his body and stay safe there forever. I wanted a place where people didn't scream for my attention. A place where they didn't rip me out of cars because they felt they had a right to my body. A place where television hosts didn't kiss me just because they wanted to.
But I also wanted a place where my boyfriend didn’t blame me for another man kissing me without my permission.
Gabe finally entered the fray and held the car door open while Mark helped us inside the vehicle. Rhett tried to scoot onto the seat with me in his arms, but I pushed away and sat on the floorboard, away from prying cameras.
I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face as the sobs continued to come. I couldn’t control them, and I didn’t understand why that incident had affected me so much. It wasn’t like it had been my first crazy fan encounter. Not even the first this week.
"Pipes…" Rhett attempted to pull me up onto his lap, but I held on to my knees and remained in a fetal position. I wasn’t going back up there.
I didn’t know how he managed to squeeze his large body between the seats on the floor, but I felt his chest against my back. His legs and arms wrapped around me in a protective cocoon. He shushed softly in my ear and whispered words that finally began to quiet me.
“What the fuck just happened?” Mark shouted from the driver’s seat.
“You tell me?!” Gabe replied in the same tone.
“We’re fucking fired, dude.”
“What do you mean we?” Gabe shouted. “You put her in the vehicle. You didn’t lock the goddamn doors!”
Ever Lonely (Ever James Band Book 1) Page 30