CHAPTER 27

JARED

A hush fell over the studio as my last note faded. And that was it. The album was done. Our last session in the recording studio was a raging success, and after months of being holed up in here, all the disagreements and celebrations when we finally got it right, our jobs were done.

For now.

“Fuck yeah,” Dom yelled, performing the legendary drumroll that he did after the close of every last recording session. The sweet smell of a job well done mingled with sweat and excitement in the air, and I turned to find every last one of my bandmates smiling behind me.

Even Caleb had his guitar raised over his head as he whipped his hair forward and he cheered. “That’s what I’m fucking talking about.”

“Makes putting up with your asses worth it,” Matt said, his famous, gigantic smile on his face as he bowed to an imaginary audience. His fists were in the air as he turned around in a slow circle. Then they dropped as he faced us again. “But seriously guys, I’m calling it. This album is gonna be sick. Best yet.”

“I second that,” Dom said.

Gerry burst through the doors carrying a six-pack of beer and wearing a triumphant smile.

“I thought you guys deserved a treat after that.” He broke open the beers and handed one to each of us with a nod. “I’m sure that you guys are going to throw a rager to celebrate this later, but how about an impromptu party just for now?”

“We’re always up for that,” Nick told him, grabbing his beer and drinking to its neck before pulling it away. “You joining this impromptu party, Gerry?”

Our manager flashed a wry smile and pressed his lips together. “I’m afraid not, gentlemen. There are things that I need to take care of before I head home. You enjoy it, though.”

Caleb raised his beer to Gerry and played a power chord that made Gerry wince a little. “Thanks Gerry-bear. Maybe one day when we finish our tenth moneymaker for you, you’ll take some time to join us.”

Caleb played another chord and glanced at Dom, who effortlessly started a rhythm and then gave me a look. Our hive mentality took over, and Matt and Nick set down their beers to join in the ruckus we never failed to cause.

Wrapping my hands around the microphone, I brought my mouth so close to it that the metal scraped my lips and crooned the first words that came to mind with the easy rhythm that was coming together behind me. “Our manager, our beloved Gerry-bear. Won’t you stay for just one beer? You’ve been a part since the very beginning. Won’t you stay for just this one ending?”

I paused when necessary for the instruments between the words, and the song just seemed to carry itself until Gerry laughed and turned to the door. “I’m sure between you lot, you have more than enough women to sing to. You don’t need to make up songs on my behalf. Expend your energy on more useful conquests.”

Miming a mic drop, because let’s face it, I would never drop my actual mic on purpose, I laughed as Gerry finished talking and walked to the door. “You are a useful conquest, Gerry!”

He laughed on his way out, pausing only to look at us over a shoulder. “I know this is a huge moment for you, but do me a favor and keep your shit together while you’re out later, okay? Now is not the time to ruin all the positive publicity you’ve been building for all these months.”

Nobody looked at me, since they all now knew that I was innocent, but I knew it was in all of their minds. It was only a week ago that my situation with Madison threatened everything that we’d worked for, and even though they now knew that her kid wasn’t only not mine, but that there was no kid in the first place, it was still fresh in everyone’s memories. It was like everyone’s nasty little reminder about how quickly shit could go wrong. Everything could change.

Nick tossed Gerry a thumbs-up and one of his easy smiles. “No getting anyone pregnant tonight. Got you.”

I flipped him the bird, but he pretended to catch the motion and kissed his hand. “No hard feelings here, Larsen. The first Destitute baby remains to be made. The race is on, boys.”

A good-natured symphony of groans and “fuck yous” rose through the studio as we sipped on the beers that Gerry brought. As the others started stowing away their instruments and giving each other shit about who would conceive the first Destitute baby, I was looking around the studio that had been our home for a good three months now.

It was actually kind of starting to feel homey and comfortable, but yet, we were about to leave this sanctuary behind again. Very soon, we would be exchanging it for screaming fans, packed stadiums, and suitcases stuffed full of worthless memorabilia, because we rarely managed to visit the actual sites the souvenirs represented, and clothes were at risk of being stolen by fans who worked for the hotels that we stayed in.

I wouldn’t change it for the world. It was the life that I’d chosen and the life I fucking loved. Performing to packed stadiums—whatever that meant in terms of sacrificing personal comforts—was the fucking best. Most people would disagree that staying in five-star hotels across the globe was compromising personal comforts, but those people didn’t understand what it meant not to be able to cook comfort food on the fly, or to have to live out of a suitcase for months on end.

Then there was the tour bus. A couple of months on that thing would make anyone question our sanity for looking forward to touring. The cramped quarters, the sounds of snoring and fucking that you couldn’t escape, the smells… God, the smells were awful.

Nobody cried for the King, though, or the Emperor in my case. I understood that. And getting to stand up on stage and play our music to thousands of screaming fans every other night or so made it worth every damn thing that I’d never wanted to hear or smell.

As much as I loved touring before, knowing that Alicia was going to be with me this time made me look forward to it that much more. Having her, the woman I was dating, around twenty-four-seven should’ve bothered the fuck out of me, but it didn’t. It was going to be a change of pace, but for some reason, I found it weirdly refreshing.

My brother’s voice infiltrated my happy thoughts, and although I would have preferred to have this conversation with him in private, the others deserved to know and were bound to find out sooner, rather than later, anyway.

“You come to your senses after the other night yet?” Caleb asked me, pushing his hair off his forehead.

Dom’s brow furrowed as if he were trying to remember an argument that we’d had. “Did I miss something?”

“Nope, you missed nothing,” I said. “He’s going on about me and Alicia. Don’t worry about it.”

Dom’s eyebrows raised slowly as he looked me over “That’s still going on?”

“Is it, Jared?” Caleb asked, the challenge clear in his eyes after he told me to break it off weeks ago.

My eyes almost rolled of their own accord, but I wouldn’t give Caleb the satisfaction. “Yes, it is.”

Caleb opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then snapped it shut.

“What?” I asked.

“I’ve already told you ‘what.’ A girl like that, the only way you keep her around is if you don’t fuck her around.”

“I’m not fucking her around. We’ve talked, okay? We know where we stand with each other.”

Caleb snorted. “I’m sure you know where you stand, but this is going to end badly, bro.”

“Why are you so sure?”

Brown eyes raking mine, I could see every bit of truth and sincerity shining from his, as well as a flash of anger festering right beneath the surface. “Why am I so sure? I’m so sure because you’re you, Jared. It’s going to end badly, and that’s going to impact all of us.”

A part of me wanted to rip my brother’s throat out, but another understood where he was coming from. I’d never wanted to be that guy, but I was. And now that I was, I didn’t know how to just let it go.

“Maybe, or maybe not. I just don’t care. I’m having fun. I’m enjoying the ride.”

“Maybe not?” Caleb scoffed. “How does ‘I’m having fun’ translate into it not ending badly? I know you think you have an understanding with her, but get real for a second, man. That shit is bound to hit the fan eventually.”

“I have gotten real. I realized that the having fun thing wasn’t working anymore, so I changed it up.”

Caleb choked on the sip of beer he was taking, and his eyebrows jumped up. “Are you serious? You’re, like, legit dating now?”

Dom looked between the two of us and held his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. One of you needs to back the fuck up. What’s this about dating?”

“I’m dating Alicia.” I shrugged.

Matt look surprised, but then came over to clap me on the back. “You’re actually dating someone? I wonder if the souls in hell were prepared when it froze over, but congrats, man. She’s hot.”

Dom shrugged off his surprise and pointed his bottle at me. “Good luck with that. I think you’re going to need it. She’s a firecracker, that one.”

I smirked and arched a brow at him. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“And that’s exactly why this is going to end badly,” Caleb said, shaking his head as he sipped his beer. “You don’t know the first thing about being in a relationship. Lesson one. Girlfriends don’t like it when you make comments loaded with sexual innuendo about them, like the one you just made.”

Dom laughed, but nodded. “This is one conversation I never thought would see the light of day. Jared getting schooled on how to actually date a woman.”

“I’m not getting schooled. I know how to keep my woman happy.” I winked, causing Caleb to shake his head at me again. Dom joined in this time.

“In my wildest dreams, I never thought you would be the first one to fall,” Nick lamented, eyebrows drawn together as he pouted unhappily.

“Amen to that.” Matt grinned, making Nick seem even more depressed.

“I thought for sure it was going to be one of those two,” he jerked his head toward Caleb and Dom, “who were going to be the first to ruin our lifestyle. But you? Thought you were in it for the long haul, just like I am.”

“Ruin our lifestyle?” I scoffed, pointing my thumb at my chest. “How am I ruining the lifestyle?”

“Easy. First of all, you won’t be able to come out with us at night. No more spontaneous, drunken road trips to Vegas or anywhere else. She’ll go with us on tour, and we won’t be able to walk around naked on the bus.”

“Dude.” Matt laughed, gesturing toward Nick’s groin. “We’ve had this talk before. Nobody wants that thing out on the bus.”

“I definitely agree with Matt on that one,” I said, then argued my case. “For the record, I will be able to go out with you and do all that other shit if I want to. Alicia’s not like that. It just so happens that I’d rather spend time with her pretty face than your obnoxious asses right now. And this particular woman was going to come on tour with us anyway.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t going to be on our bus,” Nick grumbled. “And you wanting to spend time with her proves my point. With each man that falls, we’re just going to get more boring. We’re going to go soft.”

“Trust me, there is nothing soft about me when I’m around her.” I was about to launch into graphic detail, despite Caleb’s warning look, when my phone rang with an unknown number. “I gotta get this. Matt, do me a favor and convince him I’m not going soft or boring.”

Crossing the floor, I ducked out of the studio and answered the phone. “This is Jared.”

There was rustling at the other end of the line before a breathy, tearful voice came on. “Jared?”

“I already said that. Who is this?” My question was answered by sniffling, and my stomach clenched, bile rising at the same time that a bolt of irritation ran through me. “Madison? I mean Jenny?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You shouldn’t be calling me. I have nothing to say to you.” I snapped, gripping my hair in annoyance.

“Don’t hang up, Jared. Please. You and I, we’re destined to be together. The two of us, with our baby.”

This chick was insane. That was the only explanation for it. “There is no baby. And you and I aren’t destined to be anything but over.”

“There was a baby, Jared. I’m sure of it. I must’ve just miscarried and not recognized it for what it was. Just come to me. We can try again.”

An incredulous laugh burst from me. “Are you crazy? I mean, for real? You’re a gold-digging bitch, sure. But I never thought you’d go this far.”

I was being rather rude, but I’d had enough of this woman. Jenny apparently didn’t feel the same way. “I’m crazy about you, Jared. Don’t you see that? We’re meant to be together. I know that. If you would just see me, if you would just give me a chance, I know you’ll feel it, too.”

“I’m not going to see you. Never again. In case you were thinking about showing up uninvited at my place again, you should know that I have a ton of security around me now, and that if I so much as think I see you around my house, you will be arrested. And on top of that, I will sue you this time.”

“But you and I—”

It was time for her unhinged rant to be over. She was mellowing the high I was on from finishing the album, and trying to talk her down was a bad idea. It would probably give her the impression that I gave a fuck about her, which I didn’t.

Not a one.

“You and I nothing. Don’t ever call me again.” Pulling my phone away from my ear, I jabbed the end call button, blocked the number for good measure, and shoved my phone in my pocket.

The guys were laughing when I walked back into the studio, and I didn’t want to harsh the celebratory vibe, so when Caleb turned to me with a questioning look and asked about the call, I smirked and made up a lie.

This whole thing had caused all of us enough stress as it was.

“It was nothing. I thought it might be Alicia calling from one of her office lines, but it was a sales call.”

Putting the phone call behind me and the fucked-up Madison drama behind me, I walked to my half-empty beer and joined the guys in celebrating a job well done. This was the album we’d been working toward making our entire careers, and nothing was going to get in the way of my memorializing this moment like it deserved to be.

Especially not Madison Green. Jenny Green.

Who-the-fuck-ever she was.