Law

by Jess Buffett

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2016 Jess Buffett

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-743-3

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For Byron, who has always been a huge supporter of my work. This one’s for you!

  LAW

  Scandals, 3

  Jess Buffett

  Copyright © 2016

  Prologue

  Law

  Five years earlier

  Tapping the tip of my pen on the edge of the desk, I impatiently watched the hands of the classroom clock ticking over and over. Our art and design teacher droned on in the front, completely oblivious to the fact that she had lost the class’s attention from the very beginning. With only a week left to not just the school year, but our very high school education, the senior class was just simply biding their time.

  Behind me, Dillon drummed a beat to whatever song he currently had stuck in his head, while beside me Zeck kept leering at two giggling brunettes who seemed to be taking turns blowing him kisses and making suggestive motions. No doubt promises for that evening's activities. I had to cover my chuckle with a cough when our teacher finally zeroed in on them and drew the attention of the class.

  As for me, well, I was desperate for the period to end so that I could head to the music department. I had the best news of my life to share, a meeting and possible contact with one of the largest record companies in England, and while we were meant to keep it a secret, there was one person I had to tell.

  Mister “call me Byron” Patterson.

  Technically our music teacher, and quite possibly the love of my life.

  Now, I know that people would groan and call me pathetic if they actually heard me say that out loud, but I couldn’t help how I felt. How I had felt, for some time now.

  Absently I brought my hand up to fiddle with the dog tags that always hung around my neck, a nervous habit I had had since I was young and one I saw Zeck notice as he shot me a curious expression. I shook my head at him, letting him know silently that I was okay, and I was relieved when he focused back on the two girls in our class.

  Dropping my hand down onto the table, I tried not to touch them again. They were the only thing I had left of my biological father, a man I had lost before I was old enough to develop proper memories of him. And it was a dead giveaway to my emotions.

  When the bell rang I sprang out of my chair and grabbed my bag from the floor, racing to the classroom door. I could hear Dillon shout out something about waiting up, but I wanted a moment alone with Byron. As ridiculous as it sounded, it could very well be our last day at the school, and I just needed to know if those longing glances and subtle touches were all in my head or something more.

  Knocking on the classroom door, my heart stuttered at the open and warm smile I was greeted with. “Well, if it isn’t one of my favorite students. What can I do for you today, Mr. Kolera? Everything okay?”

  Making my way into the classroom, I checked to see that it was empty apart from us. “Yeah, absolutely.”

  Eagerness raced through me, and it must have shown because Byron looked up from the paperwork he had in front of him again, and cocked his head to the side with a curious grin. “You seem excited about something.”

  “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I quickly shut the door behind me to give us more privacy and then turned back to approach his desk. Byron didn’t seem bothered by any of it, and I took it as a good sign. “We have a meeting this afternoon with a big record label.”

  Byron’s eyes widened, and the older man pushed back his chair and came to stand beside me. His face was lit up, and I nearly swallowed my tongue when large arms came to wrap around me in a hug. “What? Seriously? That’s bloody amazing.”

  I reveled in the feeling of Byron’s embrace, enjoying the feel of the other man pressed up close against me. I felt my cock thicken in response and had a moment of panic, though Byron gave no indication he noticed.

  Overheated all of a sudden, I pulled back and tried to ignore the flush that crept up my pale face. “Yeah. They loved our demo, said we had the right feel they were looking for and want to meet us. Said if all goes well then we could be in the studio recording by Monday, ay.”

  “I can’t believe it.”

  “Neither can we,” I admitted. We were still trying to convince ourselves that it was real.

  “So it all worked out with you and that new kid?” he asked, and I nodded.

  While Dillon, Zeck, and I had grown up together, we had discovered Alec after our third audition rejection outside one of our favorite cafes. The kid had been busking after school for a little extra pay, and the moment we heard him, we knew we had found something special. It hadn’t taken much arm twisting to convince Alec to work with us, and since then we had been inseparable.

  “Alec? Yeah, he’s a pretty funny guy. He blends well with us, gave us that something we were missing.”

  Byron nodded in understanding. “Clearly. I’m proud of you.”

  “Couldn’t have done this without you,” I told him, ignoring that fact that I must look like a beetroot right at that moment.

  “Yes, you could have,” Byron said with a certainty that caught my breath.

  “You really don’t know, do you?” I asked, bewildered at how clueless the man was to his own worth. To me and to the others. He had supported us, encouraged us, and picked us up when we were ready to give up. And he had inadvertently helped me discover a side of myself I hadn’t been aware of. He awoke something in me, and he didn’t even know.

  “What?”

  Stepping closer, I was right in his personal space, and I could see him swallow thickly as he registered the turn in conversation. “You don’t see how important you are.”

  “Law.” The sound of my name on the other man’s lips made me shiver. “What—”

  Pressing forward, my hands came to rest on his chest as I removed the distance between us and cut him off with a chaste kiss.

  Byron seemed momentarily stunned and then he was bringing up his hands to rest them in my hips as his lips began to move against mine. Our lips parted, and I moaned when his tongue slipped between them, deepening the kiss. Elated and extremely turned on, I slid my hands into his hair, eager to feel and taste more of him.

  More abruptly than it had started, everything ended and Byron pulled right back, separating us entirely. “No, Law, we shouldn't.”

  Taken aback by the man’s sudden change, I frowned. “Why?”

  Byron’s expression was pained. “Because I’m your teacher.”

  I smirked. “Not for long.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he insisted, leaving me more than a little confused, given that only seconds before, his tongue had been down my throat.

  “Sure it does,” I pressed on. “And I’m eighteen. So what’s the problem?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, the move serving to create a barrier between us, and my stomach churned at the meaning. “The problem is that you’re young and you have this whole journey you’re about to experience … and none of this is appropriate.”

  “Byron, I—”

  “Mr. Patterson,” he said, effectively cutting me off.

  I blinked in surprise. “Si
nce when? You’ve always encouraged us to call you Byron.”

  The empty, hollow look on the normally vibrant hazel eyes gutted me. “And maybe that was a mistake.”

  Heart sinking, I shook my head in denial. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yeah, Law. I do,” he said carefully, tone void of any emotion.

  I swallowed down the sob that wanted to burst free. “I thought…”

  Byron—no, Mr. Patterson—was shaking his head at me with a look of pity that only served to make me feel worse. “You should go, Law. You have a huge afternoon ahead that you have to plan for, and you shouldn’t be wasting it here talking to me.”

  I nodded, too numb to say or do anything else as I turned my back on him and exited the classroom.

  Dillon and Zeck caught up to me just as I reached the school gates, the eldest of us, Dillon, reaching out to stop me with a frown. “You okay, mate?”

  I cleared my throat, shaking myself out of my daze. “Yeah, all good.”

  “You sure?” Zeck asked after studying me for a few seconds.

  “Of course. Just, ya know, nervous about the meeting.”

  My reply was answered with identical and slightly terrifying grins.

  “Nothing to be nervous about,” Dillon announced with a slightly maniacal laugh. “We’re gonna rock their worlds and then once those contracts are signed, we’re gonna begin the ride of our lives.”

  “Too right!” Zeck shouted.

  I focused on the energy and positivity my friends were practically vibrating with, pushing away all the negativity even if only for a little while. I was sure later on, when I was alone, I’d go back to feeling like shit again. For now though, I had bigger things to concentrate on.

  Seeing Alec waiting impatiently for us on the corner up ahead with an enormous, cheesy grin, I let it all go and just embraced the moment.

  “Hell yeah. Look out world, here comes Right Time!”

  Chapter One

  Law

  “We can’t go back!”

  The crowd cheered, thousands of our screaming fans shouting for more as we finished off the final song for our two piece encore performance. That was it. The show was over. Hell, the tour was almost over with, just one more concert left in two weeks’ time. We had gone all the way around the world and back again to finish up with two shows in London, and even though every part of my body ached, my ears rang so loudly I could barely hear my own thoughts, and I was desperate for a bottle of water, I had never felt more alive.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I felt this way every time we performed. The rush, the adrenaline, it was damned addictive.

  Being a member of the boy-band Right Time had led to some pretty crazy and amazing heights.

  The boys and I ran off the side of the stage with our dancers, congratulations and applause being offered from backstage crew. Off to the side sat the area where a group of fans who had been lucky enough to either purchase or win VIP passes sat impatiently waiting for us to join them.

  Fortunately, management always made sure we had a chance to clean up and compose ourselves before the meet and greet. Not that we had an issue with it, but these people went through a lot sometimes to get there, and the least we could do was not stink them out with our sweat and grime.

  “What a bloody rush, ay?” My band-mate Dillon shouted as he threw an arm around my shoulder, his long dark hair only half covering the fact that he was grinning like a loon.

  “Seriously ace, boys,” I agreed, the excitement still pumping through me. “Still, we all need fuckin’ showers, we stink.”

  Alec jumped me from behind, putting me in a headlock, laughing as I fake gagged. “Very true. Better hurry though, lads. Don’t want to be disappointing the fans.”

  Making quick work of it, I showered and dressed in my room, meeting the lads out in the hall. Our bodyguard Jas stood waiting silently for us as our manager Phillip gave us the same run down he always did before these things. Smile, keep it simple, lots of hugs. This time though he tacked on, “don’t answer any questions about your sex life”, for good measure.

  Clearly the comment was more directed at Dillon and Zeck, who had both found themselves at the center of unwanted attention lately with Dillon’s girl falling pregnant, the quickie wedding, or Zeck getting caught in a European sex scandal that rivaled the controversy that was Fifty Shades. Still, a shiver ran up my spine, my gut coiling in panic at the thought of someone asking me that question.

  I had tried so long to hide that part of me. Making sure I was seen with the right and equally famous women, spotted at the trendiest clubs with a lady on my arm, I had done it all to make sure no one discovered the truth about me.

  Boy-bands were always labeled, and people always asked how many of us were gay. According to the statement initially announced by the label we had signed with … none. And it was something we were told to stick to. I didn’t think any of the big honchos actually suspected, but they weren’t interested in finding out either. A serious don’t ask, don’t tell policy reigned in the industry. And it sucked. At least for me.

  Shaking myself out of those morose thoughts, because now was neither the time nor the place, I followed Phillip to the “green room” with the others close behind me.

  As I stepped into the room we were met by squeals and the sounds of giggling by both men and women. I looked up and smiled brightly at the fans gathered in there as a woman in a headset, whose name I couldn’t remember, began running around trying to organize the sudden chaos that had been caused by our arrival.

  Behind me, Dillon snickered. Even though the man was now very much taken and in love with Ashlyn, he still enjoyed the affect we had on people.

  When the headset lady—Veronica her name badge said—directed me over to a small group that consisted of one adult man with his back turned to me and three teenage girls practically vibrating, I groaned. Oh man, this was gonna be loud.

  I opened my mouth to greet them, only for the man to turn around, and then it was like I lost my voice as my heart leaped into my throat.

  Gaping for a moment, I eventually croaked out, “Byron?”

  Fuck, that was embarrassing.

  He stood at six foot one with a muscular swimmer’s frame encased in tight blue jeans and a simple fitting t-shirt, and short light brown hair. Byron’s hazel gaze pinned me where I stood. A little older since the last time I saw him, Byron still held his age well, looking more twenty-something than the thirty-six years that he would be now. Looking at the five o’clock shadow along his strong jawline, I had the insane urge to step forward and lick him.

  The thought pulled me up short, and I blinked in surprise.

  What the fuck?

  The young girl standing closest to Byron let out a strangled sound, her wide eyes darting between us. I could just imagine what was going through the young girl's head given she and her friends had our all-access backstage “super fan” passes.

  “OMG. He knows your name, Uncle Byron?”

  Byron flushed, glancing down at his niece before he flicked his gaze back to mine. “Ah … yeah, Emma, I do.”

  The girl began to ramble while her friends stared on in awe. “How? Why? When did you become so cool?”

  “Hey, I’ve always been cool.” I chuckled at Byron’s offended expression, grateful that he was momentarily distracted. The man’s gaze had always left me feeling open and exposed.

  “Well, I mean sure, you are the cool Uncle Byron who bought my friends and me these really awesome tickets, but this…”

  “But this is like a whole new hemisphere of awesomeness,” another one of the young girls finished, almost breathless in her shock.

  I had honestly never felt so self-conscious before that moment. Not because of the girls. As shallow as it sounded, I was used to the lust filled expressions on women’s faces of varying age groups. Byron was another story. I wondered what he must be thinking, of me, of the situation. Even after all these years the man still had it in him to
make me second guess myself. A nervous tension I felt only in his presence. It was ridiculous. I was ridiculous.

  “Holy shit, Mr. P!”

  The abrupt cursing had me turning to Dillon who, with an enormous grin, greeted our former music teacher with a solid hug, thumping the older man on the back. My band-mate was immediately followed by Zeck just as enthusiastically, all the while I stood there completely and utterly dumbfounded.

  What was Byron doing there? I mean, I knew he had obviously brought his niece to our show, but Byron had to have known we’d run into each other. Had to have known what that would do to me. Or perhaps he had forgotten. Was that even possible? For me it was just like yesterday.

  “Good to see ya, teach,” Alec added with a small wave, having only met Byron briefly before we found our success.

  “It’s good to see you all, too,” Byron replied, notably refusing to make eye contact with me.

  Was he nervous? So, the man did remember. Or at least some version of it.

  “Wait. So you really know them?” Byron’s niece asked incredulously, as though she just couldn’t believe it.

  Byron glared at her, and I hid my smile behind a cough. “I told you I did.”

  Snort. “Well yeah, but I didn’t think you were serious. I thought you were, ya know, trying to be all cool.”

  “We’ve established this, Em. I am cool.”

  “Extremely,” Zeck agreed, clapping Byron on the back. “If it weren’t for your uncle I doubt we’d be here right now.”

  “And what a right shame that would be, ay lads,” Dillon added with a wink to the girls, who all but melted.

  “Seriously?” Emma gazed at her uncle with absolute adoration. “Are they serious?”

  Byron looked like he was going to disagree, and I cleared my throat, finally finding my voice.