by Wynne Roman
“Let’s head back to the green room.” Noah slings an arm around my shoulders. “I need a shower.”
I slip my arm around his waist. “Boy, do you! And you’re the first, right?”
“Always, baby girl. Always.”
We laugh and work our way down the darkened hallway, avoiding the controlled chaos that is backstage. I notice Steve watching from a distance and wave my thanks again. He doesn’t wave back, but I don’t pay much attention as we step over cables, around boxes and totes and trunks. Finally, we reach the hallway leading to the dressing rooms.
“Ajia!”
“Knox!”
“Noah!”
Women cry out their names—every one of the band members—and come rushing up to us. I usually miss this part, because I head for the dressing room before the last song is quite over. This time I’m caught in the middle of it—and I hate the way the chicks descend on us like…I don’t know, some kind of sci-fi invaders or something. Those aliens in Independence Day.
Groupies grab at the guys, try to pull them into embraces and kiss them. We keep moving, and Zayne seems to be the only one into it tonight.
“Hey, sweetheart!” Noah waves at the girls and keeps walking, pulling me along.
“Hey, girls!” Rye grins with a salute. “Hope you liked the show!”
The chicks squeal and Knox turns to walk backward. “Good to see y’all here.”
Ajia’s back in the rear of our little parade and gets caught up with one particularly persistent fan. I turn the instant I hear the squeal—bad memories of Tits, I guess—and see her grab his arm and press her chest against him. He doesn’t hesitate, just pats her on the shoulder with a distant smile I’ve seen before. It comes out whenever the price of fame gets too high for him.
“Thanks for coming out tonight, honey.”
He somehow disentangles himself and follows us into the dressing room. I’m not quite sure how he did it, and I’m not foolish enough to think that the girls aren’t following us into what they consider party central, but I feel like grinning. Two days ago, he would have slung his arm around her shoulders and dragged her along.
Today, I staked my claim and he agreed.
The green room is full just like I expected, people milling about, drinking the booze, and eating the food spread out in generous supply. Southern California knows how to treat the talent. The alcohol is expensive and the snacks are more than chips and dip. I’m too nervous to eat, though, so it doesn’t really matter.
I’m yours for tonight,
Baby, it’s all right.
Ajia sang those words to me—and he didn’t fall into that groupie’s grip. Holy shit.
“Here, baby girl.” Noah shoos everybody off one of the couches and plops me down in the middle. “You want vodka and Sprite? They got the good stuff.”
I grin. “You know you’re corrupting a minor.”
Noah laughs. “Hell, baby girl, we corrupted you a long time ago.”
I share the laugh and salute him with a nod. “Guess you’re right, sweetie. Yeah, vodka and Sprite.”
“Here you go, kitten.”
Ajia hands me a drink before Noah can even move, and he sinks into the seat next to me. He’s got something for himself in his red Solo cup, but I haven’t a clue what.
“That how it is now?” Noah asks with raised eyebrows and a shit-eating grin.
Ajia shrugs. “Get in the shower. You stink.”
Noah laughs again and heads toward the bathroom. “Watch your back, asshole.”
I look curiously at Ajia. “Watch your back?”
He shrugs and takes a drink. “Guess I better not fuck this up.” He angles his head carefully in my direction.
I blink and nod, not sure how I feel about all this. Oh, I love the part with Ajia and me together—or almost joined. But Noah’s interference? I’m not surprised that he sees what’s happening, but I really don’t want anyone else getting involved.
“How we doing here?” Rye drops down onto the seat on my other side and looks at us with his own shit-eating grin.
“Good,” I say slowly and look between him and Ajia. And then I know. “Fuck.”
Rye raises his brows. “What?”
“You know.” I look at Ajia again. “He knows.”
Ajia shoves his hair back from his face. “He doesn’t know shit.”
I look between them. “He knows enough.”
Rye grabs my hand and tugs me against him. “Don’t worry, baby girl. My lips are sealed.” He zips his other hand over his mouth like he’s fastening it closed.
“But Knox—”
“Ajia ain’t told me nothing,” says Rye gently, squeezing my hand. “I’m guessing at shit. If Knox’d open his damn eyes, he could guess, too. But he ain’t gonna, and you better do something about that before it all goes to shit.”
I nod. “A couple of days? Just enough to…you know.”
He grins and looks over my head at Ajia. “That what they calling it these days?”
I turn to see Ajia grin back.
“That’s not what I mean.” I try to sound serious, even firm, but I can’t help laughing. I love Rye as much as I love Knox and Noah, and I trust him just as much. “I just want us to have a little…private time.”
Rye nods, serious now. “I get it, baby girl. Just be prepared. This is gonna shake things up. You know that, right?”
I nod and feel Ajia lean close. It probably looks like he’s paying attention to the conversation between Rye and me—at least that’s what I hope it looks like—but I feel a gentle push of his shoulder against my spine. I’m not in this alone.
“Things are already shaken up,” I reply. “Thought I pretty much did that in Phoenix.”
It’s like the words suddenly echo between us. You’re on official notice that I’m a normal almost-twenty-year-old woman who intends to have a normal life. Even if that means…sex!
Rye blinks and leans back. “Guess you did that after all, Bree.”
“What’s up, kiddies?” Freshly showered Noah sticks his head between Rye’s and mine. “You taking care of the wife?”
Nobody has a chance to answer before there’s a ruckus at the door.
“What the fuck?” It’s Zayne with a startlingly slutty-looking girl plastered to his side. He looks a little wild, wound-up, and he waves one hand around like a drunken conductor. “We havin’ a party or what?”
I slant a glance in Ajia’s direction. “He’s fucked up.”
He nods and looks at the others. “You think he’s using again?” he asks under his breath.
“I’ve been noticing that he disappears,” says Noah. “Goddamn asshole.”
Rye sighs. “Thought he was still clean. If he’s using, it started on tour.”
“Fuck,” says Noah.
I push to my feet and hand my glass to Ajia.
“Kitten…”
“I have to,” I say as I walk away. “You know I do.”
And I guess they all do, because nobody tries to stop me.
“Hey, Zayne,” I say as I slip up next to him. His pupils are dilated, and I know he’s high on something.
“Baby girl!” he shouts and throws his arms around me. “You like the show?”
“Loved it!” I put all the enthusiasm I can into my voice and hold him close. “Y’all are awesome.”
“Especially the bass line?”
“Especially the bass player.” I give him my best grin.
His arms tighten around me, and he places a big, smacking kiss on the top of my head. “Jesus, I love you, baby girl.”
“And I love you, too, Zayne. But I’m kinda worried about you.”
“What?” He leans back and stares at me as Slut Girl starts to whine.
“Zayne! I thought you were gonna be with me tonight!”
He waves her away. “I am. Later. Right now I wanna talk to my wife.” He laughs like it’s the funniest thin
g he’s ever heard.
“Your wife?” screeches Slut Girl, and it’s like everything in the room stops.
I swallow a long, deep sigh. Fucking rock stars. “It’s a joke,” I say to her with a fake smile. It’s all I have. “I’m Knox’s sister, and I’m on tour with the band.”
“Your wife?” she shouts again, not seeming to get what I’m saying.
“Cool it, babe,” slurs Zayne and he plants another loud kiss on me, this one on my forehead.
“Zayne, you fucker—”
“You hogging our wife?” demands Noah from behind me, cutting off Slut Girl before she can get wound up, and pulls me out of Zayne’s grasp. He tucks me back against his chest.
“C’mon, man, you gotta share,” says Rye, coming up on one side of me.
“You don’t like our joke?” asks Ajia, slipping into place on the other side.
Slut Girl blinks and looks between us all. “What?”
“It’s a joke,” Noah explains. “Bree’s Knox’s sister. She came on tour with us. Cooks for us and shit, and we started calling her our wife. Just a dumbass joke.”
I force myself to smile, but I really want to smack Zayne for starting this stupidity in the first place and Slut Girl for not listening when I said virtually the same thing.
“What’s going on?” Knox shows up—almost too late, as always.
“We’re havin’ a party!” Zayne’s smile is expansive. “Bree’s bein’ a good wife, and I got myself a little action for tonight.” He leans toward Slut Girl. “Where you been, Knoxie boy?”
“Fuck.” My brother gets it.
“Let’s all go back to the hotel,” I say suddenly. “We can party in your room, Zayne.”
I’ve seen Zayne out of control one too many times, and that’s just from alcohol. He gets angry. Mean. He starts throwing shit. It hasn’t happened since the last tour, and I don’t want to see it happen on this one. Especially not when we’re so close to L.A. and the label. Hell, some rep might even be in the audience!
“Party in my room?” Zayne repeats.
“Yeah.” I nod. “You said you wanted to.”
“I did?”
I wait for somebody to back my idea up. Ajia is the first one to get it. “Sure, man. Don’t you remember? You said you wanted to find a girl—” he points at Slut Girl “—and bring her back for a little party.”
“Oh…” He nods like that’s the smartest thing he can think of. “Well, hell, yeah. What the fuck are we waiting for?”
“Baz’s got the limo out back,” says Knox. “Let’s go.”
“Y’all comin’ to the party in my room, too?” Zayne calls over his shoulder as Noah leads him and Slut Girl out of the room.
“Of course!” I sound far too enthusiastic, but I don’t want to take a chance that he’ll get all pissy about it. I shoot looks that say you’re going at all the guys. “Lead the way, sweetie. We’re right behind you.”
“Fuck me,” says Ajia behind me with a growl.
It’s not exactly the way either of us intended for the night to go. But this is Zayne, he’s family, and if he’s in trouble… I can’t be sure he is; I don’t know if any of this actually means anything. But I don’t care. I’ll make sure we do whatever we have to in order to get Zayne through the night.
I look over my shoulder and catch Ajia’s gaze with mine. This doesn’t change things, I remind him with a look of promise, and he nods.
I know, he seems to say—and I try to make it enough. For now.
CHAPTER 16
AJIA
Fucking Zayne. I’m gonna kick his ass if he’s using again. We all did shit on the last tour that got out of control. We got back to Austin kind of fucked up. Couple of days of non-stop sleep, checking into the real world again, and we agreed that kind of shit was gonna burn us out quick and dirty. I’ve already watched Mason, my buddy from high school, lose himself to painkillers and prescription meds; I don’t want to see anybody else go down any part of that road.
We agreed to cut out the drugs. Within reason, we’d kill our brain cells the old-fashioned way, with booze. Maybe a little weed now and then, and we’re all sticking to the bargain.
Or I thought we were.
I glance across Zayne’s hotel room to where he’s lounging on the bed, a bottle of tequila in one hand and that slutty-looking girl draped all over him. Bree sits on the end of the bed, trying her best to keep the conversation moving, easy and lighthearted.
It kind of hits me then that she’d been through this kind of shit before with us. And she knows what Zayne can be like. She’s still trying. I hate that. He’s got a point where he’s an ugly drunk and his highs make him an asshole. If he’s mixing shit, who the fuck knows when he’ll hit his limit?
Fuck.
This is so not what I had planned for tonight. It puts a bad spin on the whole fucking night. I hate that Bree’s taken this frontline protective role with Zayne. She feels obligated as the only woman, I guess. Or like he’s another brother. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’ve seen him in action. He could tear her to shreds and never even realize the hurt he caused.
Or care, until it’s way too late.
I wanted to slip away unnoticed with Bree, spend some time alone with her. Fucking? Maybe. But she’s a virgin, and I’m worried as fuck about being her first. Never been anybody’s first except for Lara, and that was a long, long time ago. So long I can barely remember it. I was a lot younger and stupider then.
Maybe I just don’t want to remember it.
Lara.
Fuck. I don’t want to think about her, either. Not tonight. Not her or Mason or Jill or any of it, but I’m not stupid. If things go anywhere with Bree, it’s going to come out. Rye knows it all, Knox and Noah know enough. And if Bree’s thinking about getting involved with me, she maybe even deserves to know about my past.
But not yet. She wants a chance for it to be just us, without outside interference? Me, too. We’ll keep our secret from Knox until the time is right, but before then I’ll have to tell her the ugly truth about who Ajia Stone really is.
What a piece of shit loser she thinks she loves.
I make myself look back at Zayne. He’s kissing the slutty-looking girl, his hand stuck up under her too-tight skirt, and Bree’s trying to look anywhere but at what he’s doing.
That’s enough.
“C’mon, kitten.” I cross the room and reach for her hand. “Think it’s about time you got outta here.”
“Ajia—”
“What the fuck, dude?” Zayne has a sudden moment of awareness. “You stealin’ the wife?”
Jesus. Why’s he suddenly stuck on that? Yeah, it’s been a joke between us all for weeks, but it doesn’t come up this much.
“She doesn’t need to see this, man.” I point to him and the girl.
“What?” His tone sharpens.
“Remember what happened in Phoenix?” I demand with a fierceness that surprises even me. “And in Austin right before we left?” I have to force that one out, but it’s only fair. I was responsible for both fuck-ups.
Zayne blinks like he’s thinking about what I said. “Oh!” he says finally. “The girl with the tits. And the one who was sucking you off!”
He had to fucking say it out loud. “Yeah, man. That.”
He frowns at Bree. “You don’t like to watch, baby girl?”
She stiffens, and her fingers tighten around mine. I gotta admire her ability to recover, though, because she laughs like it’s nothing. “Not with you, Zayne. You’re like my brother.”
He nods like that makes some kind of twisted sense, and the slutty girl starts rubbing her hand over his crotch. Holy hell!
I lead Bree away before anything else can happen. I give Knox a look.
“I’m taking Bree to her room. She doesn’t need to see that shit.” I jerk my head toward Zayne. “You got a problem with it?”
Knox is on the room’s other bed
, messing around with a girl he brought from the venue. She’s not as slutty as Zayne’s girl, but she’s a one-and-done girl. No question about it. What the fuck is he thinking, doing this again? And in front of Bree? Especially after the shit storm in Phoenix.
He stares at me with a fuck-you expression.
I give him back the same look. “You wanna take her?”
“Knox,” Bree snaps and tightens her fingers around mine again. I don’t think anybody else can tell. “If you don’t stop being a fucker about this…”
“What?” he demands. “What’re you gonna do?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her scowl is stern. “You think I’m gonna tell you? I’m not! You won’t expect it, and then one day—wham! Something is gonna blow up in your face, and you’ll know it was me.”
Noah laughs from his chair across the room. At least he and Rye were smart enough not to come back with women. “You better listen to her, dude. You know better than to fuck with our baby girl.”
“Fine.” Knox agrees reluctantly, but he’s not happy. He glares at me. “I’m calling your room in ten minutes.”
“You know the number,” I call over my shoulder as I pull Bree toward the door.
“And hers, too!”
“Go for it, man.”
Her room’s a couple of doors down, with Knox’s in between hers and Zayne’s. I’m on the opposite side at the other end of the hall. I’m not usually a paranoid motherfucker, but I can’t help wondering this time.
Bree opens her door and steps inside, then turns back to face me. “Are you coming in?”
I shake my head. “I want to, baby.” I reach for her, cup her cheek in my palm and stroke my fingers over her soft skin. “You know I do. But I can’t.”
“Knox.” She scowls.
“Doubt if he was kidding about calling us. He’s gonna check up on you.”
Her eyes soften. “Will you kiss me at least?”
I smile and step into her room. The door clicks shut behind me. I catch her mouth with mine and bite at the fullness of her bottom lip. She gives me a soft moan, and her lips part under mine. I slip my tongue forward, and she welcomes me in her mouth.