by Cat Mason
“I honestly don’t care what you do, Miss Lachlan, as long as it leads to a unanimous decision for me to send back to Mr. Boyer and the board by tomorrow morning,” Vicki replies, uncaring. Reaching into her bag again, she retrieves three blue files and drops them onto the table. “Each of these folders contain one of the proposed options, expectations and conditions all explained in full detail. I encourage you to go over them and discuss as a group. If you have questions, I’m staying at the hotel in town. Room 137.” Straightening, she heads for the door. Stopping in the opened doorway, she glances back at us over her shoulder, smug as fuck look back in place. “When I return in the morning, either we move forward within the parameters of the terms you have chosen, or we draw up paperwork to begin dissolution.”
“Vicki!” Evan roars, both he and Greer charging after her. The door slams behind them, rattling the entire fucking house. A picture in the front room falls off the wall, slamming to the floor, the glass shattering.
“Well, chicks and dicks, seems we’ve come to the beginning of the end.” Quinn stands slowly, her eyes downcast as she skirts around me. “Cue your nostalgic playlists and prepare for pivotal moments of guilt-driven hindsight.”
“Quinnie.” My hand shoots out, snagging her wrist. Her eyes flit to mine, the deep blue lacking its usual fire. Yanking her hand free, she shakes her head before I can speak. Shoulders slumping in defeat, she turns her back to me and heads for the stairs.
“She’s not wrong,” Bristol admits, dropping her ass onto the footstool. Tossing her phone down beside the folders, she yanks both hand through her long dark hair. She sighs loudly. “Vicki stays on here with us baby-sitter style, it’s only a matter of time before shit goes bad.”
“That’s what she’s counting on,” I agree, nodding my head. “The bitch gets off on playing with us like toys.”
“And that leaves us where?” she asks, staring down at her feet. “Attached to a label that no longer wants or believes in us? Can you actually see any of us continuing to work with someone that’s basically saying they’re biding their time until they can legally toss us and cut their losses?”
“Boyer knows damn good and well we aren’t in a position to walk away right now,” I say, attempting to assure us both. “Not midway through recording an album that has the potential to crush sales from our debut. They’re playing us, B. We all know that.”
“Not all of us.” Pushing to her feet, Bristol brushes her hands down the front of her shorts. “How about we go up there, smack her upside the head, and drag her ass back down here by her wounded pride?” Pushing up the sleeves on her oversized sweater, she crosses her arms over her chest and waggles her eyebrows. “Someone needs to remind her that she isn’t allowed to collapse into her own personal pity party.”
Upstairs a door clicks closed. My mind, my heart, every important fucking part of me is already up those goddamn stairs with her. “I know exactly what she needs.” Reaching out, I give Bristol’s arm a reassuring squeeze before turning my attention to where it belongs. On my girl.
Chapter Seventeen
Pregnancy Prohibition
Quinn
Yanking open the curtains, I drop down onto the window seat. For the first time I can remember, staring out at the shoreline doesn’t bring its usual comfort. The water is choppy from the approaching storm, clouds darkening menacingly. A boat streams over the water toward the docks, sending ripples of waves into the beach. My eyes fixate on the footprints Tanner left in the sand during his run. The water rushes in, stripping away the traces of his presence effortlessly. The beach is left clean, sand appearing untouched, as if he hadn’t left his mark there less than an hour ago.
This is what we have to look forward to. Our music, the future of the band, everything we’ve built could be washed away as easily as footprints on the shore by unforeseen waves of uncertainty.
Hello, Rock Bottom. It has to be said, I’m a little disappointed there aren’t any flashing signs or a welcome center with vending machines.
I mean I’m willing to bet Hell has a damn food court.
“Where do we go from here?” I ask myself, flipping the hoop in my lip back and forth with my tongue. “How the hell do we walk away from this unbroken?”
“Quinn?” Tanner’s muffled voice is followed by the sound of the knob twisting and the creaking of the heavy wood door as it opens.
“Have you come to say everything’s gonna be okay?” I breathe, keeping my eyes on the beach. “Or that none of this is my fault? Because I’m not really in the mood to knee you in the sac again.”
“Good,” he fires back, sounding mildly amused by my warning. “I’m not sure I ever recovered from the last time.”
“Neither have I,” I admit, knowing that moment only poured gasoline on the flame that has burned inside me for him longer than I ever realized. “I doubt I ever will.” Sighing, I look over at him, my heart fluttering in my chest when his eyes warm.
“Babe.” Striding across the room, he grabs my hand, tugging me to my feet. His hands go to my face, head dipping down, eyes searching mine. “You’re making this so hard,” he breathes, pressing his forehead to mine.
Pushing up on my toes, I press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “The urge to make that’s what she said jokes is strong right now,” I whisper, covering his hands with my own. “So. Freaking. Strong.” Dropping his hands, he wraps his arms around me and gives me a squeeze. Leaning down, he nuzzles my neck. “Tanner?”
“Yeah, babe.”
“What do we do? I don’t have to read through those folders to know there’s no option that doesn’t end without us losing,” I blurt, stating the obvious. “Without someone getting hurt somehow.”
“We take our asses downstairs,” he replies without hesitation. Loosening his hold on me, he pulls back to meet my eyes. “Then we sit down as a group, go over the stack of shit Vicki left for us, and figure out our next move.”
“Okay,” I breathe, a tear slipping down my cheek when I squeeze my eyes shut. Dragging in a ragged breath, I nod before blowing it out slowly. “I just need a minute.”
“Yeah.” Pulling me against his chest, he wraps me tightly in his arms. “Me too, babe.”
Pressing my cheek to his chest, I sigh contently, taking momentary refuge in his embrace, letting the comfort that seems to find me while in his arms wash over me, hoping it provides some clarity and strength in this whole mess. Tanner doesn’t speak again, but even in the silence he has a way of grounding me when I need it most. Over the last few days it’s become very clear to me that I need this from him more than anything. Simply by being all that is him, he beats back everything spinning around in my head, momentarily saving me from being swallowed whole by my own panic. No one has ever made me feel so at peace with the simplest of gestures. Except Tanner.
And the ironic thing is he’s been right in front of me my entire life. Giving me that even when I couldn’t see how hard that had to be for him, knowing he wanted more from me and never acted on it for fear of what would happen to our group as a whole if he did.
He sacrificed his own happiness, beating it back, all to avoid creating waves for anyone else. If it wasn’t so sweet and selfless I would be pissed at him for keeping all that from me.
The truth is I have always cared about Tanner. There isn’t a time in my life when I don’t remember him hanging around the house with my brother and being a total pain in my ass. He wasn’t just my brother’s best friend, or our next-door neighbor. Tanner was family.
He’s watched over me.
Protected me.
Loved me.
The four-letter L word bounces around in my head, sending my stomach into a barrel roll for an entirely different, yet still absolutely fucking terrifying reason. Has Tanner been in love with me this entire time and I was too much of an idiot to see it? Could that change if the baby is Evan’s? I’m not sure I am ready for the answer to that loaded question. Especially not with all that is currently hoverin
g over us.
Pushing back my racing thoughts, I get my ass in check so we can head back down the stairs to face the mound of papers and discuss what the hell we are going to do. Not that I really need to discuss the options to know where this is heading. If you ask me, the decision has already been made.
In the front room, Bristol and Greer are sitting on the sofa, Evan on the opposite side of the room, the stacks of paperwork untouched. Bristol’s laptop sits in the center of the coffee table, the flash drive Vicki left currently lying beside it, waiting to be plugged in. “How bad is it?” I ask, sitting back down on the footstool I sat on while Vicki was here.
Bristol scowls in the direction of the leather wing back chair where Evan sits, sneaker covered feet propped up on the piano bench. “Go ahead, you big stupid bastard. Tell them what you’ve done.”
Cracking his neck from side to side, E laces his fingers and props them behind his head. “I quit.”
“You what?” Tanner blurts, going rigid beside me.
“Um,” blinking a couple times, I stare at him blankly. “Twat did you say?”
“Damn it, E,” Bristol mutters. “She cunt hear you.”
“Shut up,” I grumble, shooting her a dirty look. Turning my attention back to Evan, I cross my arms over my chest. “What did you say?”
Seeming satisfied with himself, Evan flashes a bright smile. “I chased after Vicki, looked straight in that bitch’s eyes. Then, when I realized she didn’t have the power to turn me to stone, I told her I fucking quit.”
“Wait,” I blurt, looking around the room for conformation that I’m not hallucinating.
“You’re serious?” Tanner blurts. “You really quit?”
“Yep.” He nods. “I really quit.”
“As in you quit your job?” I shake my head.
“I did. Consider me officially unemployed.”
“Ah. Mhm. Okay. I get it.” Snatching the throw pillow from the chair, I push to my feet and storm toward him. “You stupid jackass! What the hell did you do that for?” I roar, hitting him in the face with the pillow. “How in name of glow in the dark pocket pussies does you quitting fix anything?”
Yanking the pillow from me at the same time Tanner and Greer grab my arms and haul me back, E drops his feet to the floor and pushes to his feet. “Choice needed to be made, Quinn,” he shrugs, towering over me. “I made it. No reason for you to get worked up. It’s done. Over.”
“Evan,” I blurt, tears burning my eyes.
“Let her go,” he says, looking between Greer and Tanner. “She’s not gonna hurt me.”
“Famous last words,” I warn through gritted teeth. “I should kick your ass.” Although, when they release their hold on me, I don’t move. It also doesn’t go unnoticed that Tanner holds onto me a breath longer than my brother, before letting go. He doesn’t step back to give me space when Greer does either. Not that Tanner’s actions are for E’s benefit. It’s his protective nature kicking into overdrive, due to the elevated tension.
And maybe a little possessiveness.
“Look,” Evan begins, pulling a hand through his long black hair. “Be pissed at me all you want. Nothing I can do about that. What I did had to be done. Whether you see it or not, it was the right choice. The obvious one. It’s the only option on the goddamn table that keeps AWOL together and under Frayed Edge.”
“But, you’re...” My words are lodged in my throat.
“Not leaving.” Bristol blurts, coming to stand beside me. “No one is.” Her eyes move to each of us, looking for our silent agreement before falling back to E again. “Checking out isn’t allowed.”
“Vibe was crystal clear,” Greer chimes in. “Vicki’s wanted E out for a long damn time.”
“Exactly,” Evan agrees, dropping his hands to my shoulders. Eyes warming, he gives me a grin. “Didn’t matter if she fired me, or I quit, I was out no matter what. That woman has her own agenda. Not one clue what that is yet, but she sure as hell wasn’t using me as an excuse to force you to break your contract with the label. You guys talk this shit out and decide to walk from Frayed Edge, that’ll be your choice. Whatever the end result, I didn’t want it to be because of me.”
His words don’t make me feel any better. None of it does. Evan walking away from managing our security hasn’t fixed anything. It won’t change the choices that have to be made, or remove Vicki from the current problematic equation.
What it does is give Vicki a win. I guarantee that bitch is off somewhere, toasting with the blood of a sacrificial goat or something.
“Guess you’ll have to suck it up and be an unemployed slob on my couch, instead of going to stay with your mom in Redondo Beach,” Bristol tosses out, not sounding the least bit worried or upset about the situation.
“And upset Vicki when she realizes that she didn’t get rid of me?” Squeezing us both to his chest, he drops his chin to the top of our heads. “Aw, shucks, guys. It’s not even my birthday.”
“Consider it a severance package.” My words rush out of me on a whoosh of air when he squeezes us again. “Quitter.”
“Fair enough.” Turning us loose, he nods his head. “Hopefully I can dig deep and find a way to cope with crushing Vicki’s dreams.”
“Okay.” Taking out her phone, Bristol swipes the screen and starts tapping away. “Tage is finishing up with Bob and Jimmy at the roller rink. He can be here in an hour with food and beer.”
“And lemonade,” I grumble, rolling my eyes. “Because I’m not jealous at all of the fact you assholes get to have all the alcohol.”
Looking up from her phone, Bristol blinks slowly. “Should we enact a pregnancy prohibition?”
“A what?” Greer asks, brows knitting together.
Holding up her right hand, she sucks in a breath. “Herby and henceforth no man may engage in the consumption of beverages alcoholic in nature while under the suspicions of possible paternity when in presence of the maternal persons in question.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Let’s not get crazy here,” Evan blurts, holding up his hands. “I do all my best thinkin’ when I’m drinkin’.”
Bristol looks to me, the both of us fighting the urge to laugh. “That’s sadly true,” she admits with a slow nod of her head. “I’m not sure your brain even runs without booze.”
“See,” E blurts, jerking a hand toward Bristol. “Think things through. You wouldn’t only be hurting me. Is this really worth depriving yourselves and the whole world.”
“The whole world?” Tanner chuckles. “Bit extreme of a reach, don’t ya think, man?”
“How about we get back to the paperwork,” my brother blurts. Grabbing a folder from the stack, he flops down in the blue chair, kicking his feet up onto the stool. “I can’t stand to see a grown man cry.”
“Thanks,” Evan grumbles, dropping back into his chair. “I think.”
“Okay.” Taking a deep, calming breath, I head for the couch, making myself comfortable on the middle cushion. Grabbing a folder for myself, I extend the other to Bristol. “Let’s get to it.”
Preparing to dig in, Bristol and I get comfortable on the couch. I grab the remaining two folders, extending one to her. Walking around the coffee table, Tanner drops down beside me, stretching his arm behind my head on the cushion and leaning in to scan the page when I flip open the folder. Blowing out a breath, I start to read the terms, attempting to stay realistic, yet optimistic. Not that any of that shit will matter come tomorrow when Vicki shows up, demanding to know what we’ve decided.
Chapter Eighteen
All Those Feels
Tanner
Lying in bed with Quinn, I ignore the fact that the sun is shining in my face like I’m facing an FBI interrogation, and that the gulls have managed to end up squawking on the porch just outside her bedroom windows. Rolling onto my side, I carefully push the hair from Quinn’s face, happy as hell to lie here like this and simply watch her sleep.
Lying partially on my arm and the pillow, she curls into
me, every muscle of her body completely relaxed. Something you don’t see often. Her long brown lashes fan out over her cheeks. Lips I’m dying to kiss, barely parting with her even breathing.
She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“Tanner,” she breathes sleepily, eyes still closed, body unmoving.
“Yeah?”
“Are you watching me sleep?”
I touch her cheek, tracing the curve of her face with my thumb. “Mhm.”
Her lips pull into a small smile. “Creeper,” she breathes, opening her eyes to give me those gorgeous blues.
Easing her to her back, I tuck her tightly against me. My hand slides beneath the t-shirt she stole right off my body to sleep in, tugging it up above her belly, I expose the bottom half of her naked body. “We haven’t talked about the baby much,” I say softly, letting my mind wander into territory we both seem to be avoiding lately.
She studies my face a long minute before nodding. “I know. I keep waiting for the right time.” Sighing, she covers my hand with hers. “I think we both know that time won’t be in the delivery room.”
“Probably not,” I agree. “Especially since I’m pretty sure Bristol is going to be hanging up banners and using every move in her former cheerleader arsenal.”
“B was never a cheerleader.” Quinn snorts out a giggle. “Neither was I, unless you count that one time at Rusty’s Halloween party.”
Sliding my hand up her ribcage, I pull her chest to mine. She comes willingly, arm coming around me, legs tangling with mine. “Won’t be forgetting that party any time soon,” I tell her. “As bad as his nose looked last time I saw him, bet he won’t either. I didn’t even hit him that hard.”
Her eyes flash, realization washing over her beautiful face. “It was you?” she asks, shifting to bring her hands up, grabbing onto my shoulders. “Not Greer?”
“Not Greer.”
A mix of emotions pass through her eyes, finishing with understanding. “You were jealous.”