A Lush Betrayal (8 page)

“I’m heading over to the auditorium to get some pictures. What are you doing up so early? Kind of ruins your hard-partying image, doesn’t it?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, well, I needed sleep more than a party last night, and I want to go over some things with the crew before we do soundcheck later. You want a ride to the auditorium? We could break in the back seat of the limo together.” He wiggles his eyebrows lasciviously, but before I can respond, the elevator doors open and we are greeted by screaming.

The elevator is smack in the middle of the lobby opposite the large glass front doors, and there are women on the sidewalk outside the lobby. Those who are pressed against the glass can see the elevator opening and they go nuts when they catch a glimpse of Mike. The rest, behind them, get the obvious message that something is going down and start screaming as well. It’s deafening, especially when the front doors open and a poor unsuspecting older couple is hurriedly ushered inside by the security team lined up to keep the throng of horny women from coming in.

Mike smiles and waves out the windows as he walks to the front desk. I quickly lift my iPhone and start to snap photos of the whole scene.

“C’mon, Little D. I’ll get our car brought around back so we don’t have to drag you through the mob. They might hurt you to get at me.”

He grins. I roll my eyes.

“I do love my job,” he sings to himself as he waits for the concierge to take care of the car arrangements.

Five minutes later I’m being hustled into a big black car by two security guys and Mike. I hope it hasn’t been a mistake to agree to ride with him when he slaps my ass as I climb in the back seat. I sit down and say, “Hands off, killer.”

“You wound me, Little D.”

I snort. “You have to have a heart to be wounded.”

He laughs. “You want to stop at Starbucks?”

“God, yes,” I moan gratefully.

M
IKE AND
I are actually having a fantastic time when we arrive at the auditorium. He hits on me. I reject him. He thinks that’s funny. It works for us, and I think maybe we can get to be friends. I know the minute I take his advances seriously he’ll use me and throw me out like yesterday’s garbage. Luckily he is very much not my type, so we’re both safe.

We’re walking into the auditorium and Mike’s telling me a story about a groupie who managed to get into his hotel room and laid herself out on his bed wearing nothing but bacon since she’d heard it was his favorite. I am laughing so hard my coffee is about to come out my nose when suddenly Mike stops talking mid-sentence. I turn around and see him backed up against the wall, Joss’s hand pressed against his chest. They’re saying something to one another but it’s being snarled quietly so I can’t hear what it is.

I stop moving, stop laughing, stop everything, afraid that if I do the wrong thing, one of them will hit the other.

“Yeah, I think you’re a little confused about what’s your territory and what isn’t,” Mike says as he pushes Joss back and steps away from the wall.

Joss stands stiffly, hands fisted at his side as Mike moves around him.

“Oh, but I forgot, you think everything’s your territory, don’t you? Even if it means shitting on your buddies to claim it.” He turns to me and grimaces. “See ya later, Little D. Thanks for starting my morning off right.” Then he throws a triumphant look Joss’s way and stomps off.

I stand, looking at Joss, who is staring at the floor, breathing heavily. When he finally lifts his eyes, I see that torment again, the deep, dark pain I first noticed in the photos I took of him. He lifts a hand to me as if he’s going to explain, but as sorry as I feel for whatever he’s going through, I’m also a little freaked out. Who attacks his coworker when he walks into work first thing in the morning? It makes him look a bit insane.

“Uh, what was that about, Joss?” I ask.

He runs a hand through his hair, looking even more tortured. God, this guy is killing me. I want to heal him so badly, but I’m not sure if that’s in my own best interests. Tammy’s words of warning ring through my head.

“You know what? Never mind. I’ve got to get to work. I’m going to pretend all of that never happened, and maybe I’ll catch up with you later.” He swallows and nods his head in response before I walk away.

Joss

I
WATCH
her walk away from me, her gorgeous hair swinging in rhythm with her long legs. She’s got on a summer dress and cowboy boots, and I think leather has never looked so good on any human being before.

I sit down heavily on the concrete floor and lean against the wall I had Mike pinned to minutes before. I really fucked up. Seriously fucked up.

The last few days I’ve spent time with one of the most beautiful, engaging, sexy, and damn fun women I’ve ever known. She makes me feel again. Makes me forget the clusterfuck my life has been for the last twelve months. All I could think about this morning was that, for the first time in so long, I was happy to wake up, excited to start my day. Then she walked in with Mike, laughing and talking to him the same way she laughs and talks to me. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t stand to watch it the way I’ve watched her sister with Walsh. I snapped, I lost control, and now she probably thinks I’m fucking crazy. Who can blame her?

I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself. Am I doomed to spend my whole damn life watching my best friends have the very things I want most with the very people I want to have it all with? I know I wasn’t in love with Tammy. I realize I was in love with who she and Walsh were together. But with Mel, I feel something special, something that might really matter eventually. I’m not confusing her with something I want. I’m drawn to her. She’s someone I want to be around.

I hear Mike, who’s gone up on stage, play the opening riffs of
Slave to You
, and I know I’ve got to get it together. Unfortunately, that probably starts with apologizing to the asshole. The fact is that, if Mel wants Mike, beating the crap out of him won’t stop it. I wonder if she does want him or if she’s that charming and gorgeous with every man she meets. Maybe what I feel with her are my own delusions run wild. My judgment is clearly fucked, and my control is slipping.

I haul my ass off the cold, hard floor and head to the stage to try to repair a day that already feels ruined at only ten thirty a.m.

B
Y NOON,
I’ve placated Mike, worked out some lighting issues, and signed off on details for the next stop on the tour. Tammy’s stomping around, giving me the evil eye, and I wonder if Mel told her about this morning. Honestly, I can’t worry about Tammy right now. She’s usually pissed at me for something and it’s exhausting. My late mother probably would have slapped me for thinking it, but I wish Tammy and Walsh would get married already and he’d knock her up so maybe she’d quit working for us.

Walsh and Colin haven’t shown up. Walsh is at an AA meeting, and Colin’s probably eating pizza and smoking weed in his room. One of the conditions of the tour was that Walsh would be given time to attend an AA meeting in each city. Tammy arranged our stops to make sure that happened, although as part of his recovery, it was up to Walsh to get the information on the meetings and set them up himself.

One thing we’ve all learned from Walsh’s recovery is that he spent too many years letting Tammy and me run his life. He was like a giant child. I orchestrated his career while Tammy handled everything else, effectively eliminating him from his own existence, and freeing him up to drink himself to death. Tammy and I had fun at
that
group therapy session, I can tell you. It’s tough to hear that what you thought of as loving someone was actually enabling them to destroy themselves.

These days, I stay as far from Walsh and his life as I can, and Tammy tries to control her inner boss and let him pull some of the weight on his own. I know it’s hard for her though. She’s not shy and retiring, and he’s never been super competent.

I shake myself out of my thoughts about Tammy and Walsh when I see Mel approaching where I’m sitting in the first row of seats, watching the stage as the crew sets up. I’m also doodling some new lyrics on the iPad, and I click the screen lock button quickly when she sits down next to me.

“Feeling any better?” she asks quietly.

I clear my throat. “Um, yeah, sorry about that.”

“What exactly
was
that?”

“You were there. You heard it.”

“No, actually, I didn’t. I didn’t hear you guys except for Mike saying something about territory. I mean, what the hell did he do to set you off? Or were you waiting for him, already pissed?”

I sigh. On the one hand, I’m really happy she didn’t hear me threatening Mike if he ever touched her. On the other hand, I’ll now have to come up with a lie. I’m not a very proficient liar, and I’ve lied enough in the last year for the rest of my life.

“I’m always pissed at Mike,” I say. It’s the truth at least.

“So you attack him regularly then?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Nah. Only on Mondays and Fridays and every other Saturday.”

“God.” She shakes her head but laughs. “Well, hey.”

I look her in the eye.

“I know I’m just the summer intern or whatever, but that didn’t seem real conducive to a positive tour experience. If the press got ahold of stuff like that, it’d be be a mess. I’m just sayin’.” She smiles, and my heart clenches with want.

“You’re right, and you’re way too smart to call yourself a ‘summer intern.’” She blushes. “Really. Thanks, Mel.”

She gives me another one of those brilliant smiles of hers and I have to admit—to myself anyway—that I’m putty in her hands.

I
T’S THIRTY
minutes later when Tammy finally corners me. I should have known it was coming. While she’s usually pissed at me or ashamed to be near me, there was something different about this morning’s vibe. A new level of intensity. I’m walking down a hallway backstage when I hear her call my name.

“Joss.”

I turn to see her following me. “Yeah,” I answer without stopping.

“I need to talk to you,” she says brusquely.

I stop and lean back against a wall, crossing my arms. “So talk.”

She steps to me and leans in, whispering. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What exactly are you referring to, Tammy?” I’m not being obtuse. I really don’t know what she’s going on about.

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes. As gorgeous as she is, it’s not a good look.

“With my sister, Joss. What are you doing with Mel?”

I stare at her in shock. After all these months, she’s finally had a reaction to something I did.

In the beginning, I tried to talk to her. I sent letters, emails, gifts. I apologized, I begged, I made a general fool out of myself. I knew it had been a drastic mistake, but I needed it to be a mistake we’d made together. I couldn’t stand the feeling that I had somehow done it
to
her instead of
with
her. She refused to talk to me, to look at me, to answer me. She slept with me then walked away and never spoke about it again.
Now
she has a reaction and I can’t imagine why, unless she’s jealous. It’s almost comical. The minute I’m finally feeling like I might be able to move on, she gets jealous.

I smile. I know it’s not a nice smile, but she deserves it. “I’m not doing anything with Mel, Tammy, but I certainly can if you’d like.”

“You’re a fucking asshole, Joss, and don’t for a minute think I don’t know you’re only doing it to punish me more. How could you? How could you screw with her like that just to get back at me?”

“Holy shit, Tammy. Have you finally completely lost your ever-loving mind? You can’t be for real, because that’s got to be the most self-absorbed thing I’ve ever heard someone say.” I feel adrenaline bursting through me as my temper skyrockets. It’s been too long with no place to put this shit. “You know what? Fuck you, Tammy DiLorenzo. Fuck you. My whole goddamned life does not revolve around you or what happened between us. And for your information, your sister has plenty of assets to put her on any guy’s radar. In case you somehow missed it, she’s unbelievably hot and smart, and unlike her older sister, she’s a nice person. So go to hell, Tammy, and unless it’s about work, don’t fucking talk to me again.”

I stride off, kicking a wall on my way, but not before I hear Tammy screech in frustration and slam a door as she leaves the hallway. All I can think is,
This is going to be a damn long tour.