22. Hendrix
Chapter 22
Hendrix
“ W ell, that can’t be good.”
Gary stomped up to the RV as we pulled into the lot, looking about a half second away from a full-on conniption. His muffled screaming came through the windows, and when Arlo hit the button to open the door, he marched right on and slapped us both upside the head. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you? Fucking empty tour bus showing up and not a single fucking one of you answering your phones?”
“We had to pick something up,” said Arlo, who had shrunk in his seat away from Gary.
Our manager growled, shoving a hand through his thinning hair. “Don’t be a fucking idiot, Arlo. There is nothing on this goddamn planet that could have been important enough for you to pull this shit.”
A soft squeak sounded from the loft, and Gary turned wide eyes toward Meadow, where she was peeking down.
“Who the fuck is that? Is that why you were late?”
“She’s our—” Arlo began.
“New assistant!” I burst out.
Everyone stared at me in varying states of shock and confusion. I wasn’t sure why I said it, instead of just being honest, but some alarm bell in my head kept ringing, and I didn’t want Gary to know who Meadow was to us right now.
Beckett, bless him, didn’t ask questions and simply pushed on with my charade. “Arlo wanted an upgraded tour bus, and you know how impulsive he is. We decided to pick up the new assistant we hired on the way here.”
“You four are going to put me into an early fucking grave,” Gary snapped. “Any new hires should be going through me. New purchases too. Jesus, I thought we were over bullshit like this, but apparently you’re all still fucking children who can’t be trusted with anything.”
I wilted under the barrage. Gary’s approval had always been something I strove for, and I hated making him think poorly of us. He wouldn’t think any better of us if he found out that Meadow was pregnant with my baby and had my bond mark on her throat. Thinking we were ridiculously impulsive with a purchase and a new hire was easier to take than the truth of the situation.
Meadow crept down the stairs in her soft leggings and a blue cardigan, matching slippers on her feet. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea I would be a surprise.”
“I should fire you right now to teach the lot of you a lesson.” Gary looked her up and down, and I fought the compulsion to step between them. “You’d better be a damn good assistant after the stress you all put me through.”
Meadow glanced toward me but simply nodded.
“Get your asses in there for sound check. Now.”
Gary stalked off the bus, and I turned immediately to a glaring Meadow.
“What the fuck, Hendrix?”
“It was stupid, I know. I panicked.”
Meadow’s low growl had goose bumps rising on my skin. “I’m not your assistant. I’m your fucking mate.”
“You could be both,” Phin bravely suggested. “We can get you on payroll, and none of us are going to ask you to do anything.”
Meadow didn’t look remotely impressed by the suggestion. “Why didn’t you just tell him who I was?”
“Gary is…”
“A miserable tight-ass?” Arlo offered.
“Yeah, that. I figured an assistant would piss him off less than a pregnant bond mate.”
Our sweet little omega looked ready to explode. “I don’t care if he’s pissed off about me. He’s the one who told me to fuck off until the baby was born.”
A sensation like ice water poured down my spine. “ What ?”
“I emailed weeks ago, trying to get in contact, so I could tell you guys about the baby.”
Darkness encroached on the edges of my vision.
“Whoa, Hen, you okay?” Arlo was up and out of his seat, guiding me down to the floor.
“He knew?” I asked softly, bracing my palms on the floor to anchor myself against the wave of dizziness.
Meadow passed me her phone, where the email sat clear as day. He had brushed her off like it was nothing.
“Oh god.”
Phin looked over my shoulder. “Shit. What an ass.”
“Did he actually tell me to fuck off without mentioning a single thing to any of you?” Meadow asked.
I nodded. “We had no idea. We could’ve found you ages ago if he had told us.”
“Do you think he would’ve told us if we had said something about suspecting we had a pregnant bond mate?” Beckett asked.
I shrugged. Honestly, I had no idea anymore. I would have liked to think that Gary would’ve seen my suffering and made the connection to the most obvious solution, but I genuinely didn’t know.
Meadow got onto her knees next to me, the burnt edges to her scent melting away as she reached out, white roses and lilac infusing each breath and pushing away my dizziness. “I didn’t come all this way to let you pass out on a bus. Come here.”
I didn’t protest as she yanked me closer, tucking my head into the curve of her throat, her purr erasing my worries. I gathered her onto my lap and held her like my life depended on it. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell him eventually. He was just so mad, and I didn’t want him to say something about our situation that we would all regret.”
“Hush.”
Meadow indulged me for a couple more minutes, before the others started to get antsy.
“He’s coming back out,” Beckett warned. “Meadow, you should probably stay on the bus, and we’ll come get you after sound check.”
He and Phin helped Meadow to her feet, and we scrambled out, running straight past him so he didn’t have a chance to yell.
I felt the impact of being separated from Meadow immediately, like my body had gotten a proper taste of what it was like to have her close, and now it was going to punish me for not being stuck to her. I couldn’t have her by my side on stage, though. Keeping her away from the press, away from the fans knowing who she was, would be in all of our best interests. We all knew how relentless they could be, but Meadow hadn’t signed up for any of that.
We got through sound check without any incidents, and Gary seemed a lot more relaxed by the end.
“Why isn’t your assistant here, assisting you?”
“We told her to get settled in,” Phin replied.
Gary raised an eyebrow. “She’s staying on the tour bus with you?”
“That was the plan, yeah,” Arlo said.
“I see. So, less assistant, more prostitute.”
My spine snapped straight. The tone he used turned my stomach. There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with sex work or the people who did it, but it wasn’t fair for him to apply an incorrect label to my mate. “That’s not what she is.”
“Uh-huh.” Gary rolled his eyes. “Then tell me why Arlo smelled like pussy when he came off that bus.”
I bit down on a growl. I didn’t want Gary talking about Meadow in any context, let alone in a way that he clearly thought was insulting. “Mind your business, Gary.”
Gary’s jaw dropped. I had never actually spoken to him with anything but respect before. “Excuse me?”
“What she and Arlo do has no bearing on her job with us, and it’s not your business to comment on.”
He marched over, grabbing me by the neck of my T-shirt and yanking me down to his height. “ Everything about you four is my fucking business. Don’t you forget that, just because there’s a pretty set of holes living in your tour bus now.”
My fist connected with his face before I even processed the movement. Gary tumbled backward, clutching his nose, blood streaming down his chin.
“Fuck. Shit, Gary, I didn’t mean to. I got?—”
“I don’t wanna hear it. I could sue your punk ass into the ground for this.”
My stomach dropped.
“If this bitch is going to cause problems, I’m going to fire her, no matter what you four say. Get your shit together or she’s gone. Medic!” Gary tottered off, and the nurse on staff took him aside to tend to his nose.
I stared down at my shaking hands, and a moment later, the others were around me.
“He deserved that,” Arlo insisted. “That’s no way to talk about anyone.”
“I still shouldn’t have done it. He’s never going to get on board with her now.”
“Then maybe we need a new manager,” Beckett suggested.
Maybe…The thought lasted for a half second before the guilt nearly swallowed me whole. “We can’t. He’s been there since we were nothing. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“Fuck fair,” Arlo grumbled. “He’d better get on board.”
Footsteps caught all of our attention, and I turned to see Meadow crossing the stage toward us. A few things crossed my mind upon seeing her: 1) thank god she was here, 2) please don’t let Gary see her, and 3) our security was shit, since they clearly let her in without any proof she was with us.
“What the hell happened?” she asked. “Why did you punch him? You can’t do that. I can’t have a baby around someone violent.”
“Gary was talking shit about you,” Phin told her. “Not an excuse, but Hen isn’t exactly stable yet.”
Meadow frowned.
I was already a disappointment to her. Not that I expected I was anything else, or probably would be anything else. If I didn’t get my shit together, Meadow wasn’t going to want anything to do with me. As unprepared for matehood and fatherhood as I was, the idea that either would be taken away from me made me queasy.
“I’ll do better,” I promised.
Her expression softened. “Okay.”