Taming the Storm

I’ll just have to suck it up.

“I’m sorry,” I utter. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful and whiny.”

“You didn’t sound like either, Lyla. I get your concerns. I do. They crossed my mind when Zane told me, but Jake wouldn’t make any decision that could jeopardize this tour for you. He rates you guys really highly. He wants the best for you, like I do.”

That warms me right up. “You’re right. Six weeks with Tom as our manager will be…fine. A piece of cake.” I’m trying to sound confident, but I don’t feel it.

“You’ve got this, Lyla. And I don’t think Tom will be…well, um, Tom. Not while he’s working with you guys. There’s a lot riding on this tour. Tom’s a lot of things, but he wouldn’t let Jake down.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” I agree.

Well, I’m not sure that I actually agree. I don’t know Tom that well, but on each occasion that I’ve met him, he’s hit on me every single time. Each time, I turned him down. He didn’t seem to like that so much. I got the impression that women don’t turn Tom down.

Well, this woman did.

I might recognize that Tom is hot, very hot, but I’m not about to change my views over a really hot guy.

Especially not Tom, the biggest mut the world has seen.

My virginia is closed for business. Virginia is my nickname for my vajayjay.

“So, you’ve got this?” Dina asks.

“I’ve got this.” I smile for no one’s benefit but my own. “I’ll let the boys know. Sonny will freak. Tom’s his idol.”

Dina laughs. “Yeah? Well, let’s hope Sonny never reaches the stats that Tom has.”

That makes me laugh. “I don’t know, Dina. Sonny is already well on his way.”

The door to the apartment opens, and the boys all pile in, pizza and beer in hand.

“The boys just got home. Talk to you soon?”

“Absolutely. I’ll check in with you and see how things are going.”

After hanging up, I slide my cell into my pocket.

I wait until the guys are all sitting on the sofa around me before I speak. “That was Dina on the phone.” This brings all eyes to me.

I take the bottle of beer that Sonny is holding out to me.

“So, what’s happening?” Cale asks.

The anxious tone in his voice is not lost on me. It’s been a stressful few days.

I pop the cap on my beer. “Jake got us a replacement manager.”

“And…who is it?” Sonny pushes.

I take a quick drink and then hold the bottle in my lap. “Tom Carter.”

Sonny’s eyes widen. “Tom Carter…as in Tom Carter of The Mighty Storm. That Tom Carter?”

This feels very reminiscent of my conversation with Dina not a few minutes earlier—except mine was a kind of horror at the realization that Tom would be coming on tour with us where Sonny is at a barely containable excitement.

“Yep, the very one.” I press the bottle to my lips again. Tipping my head back, I take a bigger drink this time.

“Holy shit!” Van yells. “Tom Carter! On tour with us! Man, it’s gonna be wild! Chicks, parties…chicks! It’s gonna be so fucking wild! The man is a fucking legend!”

Sonny looks shell-shocked. Then, he springs to life. “Damn straight, he’s a legend! He’s a pussy legend! We are touring with the best there is! Just think of the stuff he can teach us.” He gets this dreamy look in his eyes.

Honestly, he’s starting to freak me out.

“What do you think, Cale?” Van slaps him on the back.

Cale grins. “I think it’s pretty fucking awesome.”

“Amen to that!” Sonny leans forward, clinking his beer bottle with Van’s. He high-fives Cale at the same time.

I’m just staring at them, wide-eyed and sick to the stomach.

This is exactly what I didn’t want, but I knew it would happen the instant I told them who was going on tour with us. I’m not boring. I honestly have no issue with the guys having fun. They have tons of fun and sleep with plenty of women.

But Tom Carter’s version of fun will be in a whole other league to my boys.

He’s going to ruin them and the tour.

It’s going to be more about Tom and the boys getting laid than the music. Tom’s focus will solely be on groupies instead of making sure the shows on the tour run smoothly.

I know his rep. He’s a player, not a hard worker.

We need a manager who has his eye on us at all times, not one whose eyes are all over the next chick he’s going to bang.

This is going to be a disaster.

I’m going to have to take on the role of manager, making sure the shows run smoothly, and somehow try to keep my boys in line while under Tom’s influence. If I let Tom run the show, by the end of this tour, Vintage will be dead in the water, and I’m going to be left with three clones of Tom Carter.

This reminds me of that Friends episode where Chandler and Joey start dressing and behaving like Monica’s boyfriend, Richard, because they think he’s really cool, and they want to be just like him. Both even grow a mustache like Richard’s.

Well, this is what I’m envisaging right now—three Tom Carter clones, formally known as Cale, Sonny, and Van. Instead of cigars and mustaches, it’ll be women and more women until I can’t see my boys through the layers of women they’re buried under. Vintage will die before we’ve begun, and I’ll be back to singing in shitty bars for the rest of my life.

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