Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Christian
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Salem snaps, gray eyes bright with fury.
Taylor, Huck, Logan and I all wince at once, stuffed next to each other on Taylor's couch.
His living room is a little more put together now—framed photos line the walls, most of them taken by the woman currently pacing in front of us like an angry cougar.
He brought his bike in, too, along with Huck’s.
Both two-strokes are chilling against the far wall below a grainy photo of the two of them at their parents' wedding almost eight years ago.
Their faces are all bruised to hell from beating each other up the night before.
I still wonder sometimes how the fuck they fell in love despite everything that happened. Tay and I might wrestle and argue, but I'd never hurt him the way Huck did. Though… I guess they hurt each other. Maybe that's their kink. What the fuck do I know?
Salem snaps her fingers in my face, pulling my attention away from the photo. “Are you listening, asshole?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I'm here.”
“Are you? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've lost your fucking mind!”
Taylor drags a hand through his black-and-blue strands. “Jesus, chill, Sally Mal.”
Her sharp gaze cuts to him. “How the hell are you just… okay with your business partner nearly draining your bank account?”
“I'm not,” he answers, glancing at me. “But what's done is done. He's not the only one who's been lagging on business. I've been lazy too. We have to fix it.”
My chest pinches at the look he just threw me, the fucking disappointment that flashed in his eyes.
“No, I have to fix it because you idiots are hopeless without me,” Salem growls, once again earning a grimace from everyone.
Her attention lands on her husband, who’s sitting quietly against the arm of the couch.
“Why didn't you tell me it was getting this bad? What happened to all the money we made on tour?”
Logan's ears turn red, and he opens his mouth to respond before shutting it. While he continues to flounder for an answer, Taylor speaks up.
“Last year kinda screwed everyone over big time,” he starts, chewing on his lip. “When you took off after the accident, and no one could find you… shit started going south.”
“South, how?”
Now it’s my turn. “You were gone. Logan was recovering. We had to cancel our performance for the monster truck rally last January because we couldn't fucking focus enough to practice. Some of our sponsorships lapsed.”
“Not to mention Huck and I were going through some shit,” Taylor mumbles, patting his pocket for a cigarette.
Rearing back, I gaze at him incredulously. Salem follows suit. “What kind of shit?” we ask in unison.
He waves us off as he pops a smoke between his lips. “Doesn't matter, it's done now. Point is, we were all distracted last year and TOT suffered for it.”
“You hiding shit from me, motherfucker?” I shove him on the shoulder and pluck the cigarette out of his grasp. Matty's parents would flip if they caught him smoking in here.
“I'm not hiding shit,” he huffs. “It's called being in a relationship, asshole. Ask Salem, she's got like three of them.”
I slump against the couch cushions with a glare toward the ceiling. “Still don't know how I'm the single one.”
Logan coughs, and when I meet his sideways glance, the slight curl to his lip tells me that he's very aware of what Dev and I did a couple of nights ago. Pervy fucker probably got off to it just like I do with him and Owen.
Does he think that just because I let Devon suck me off, we're in a relationship now? Pfft. Unlike him, I don't need to like someone to get off with them.
“Just a warm, wet hole to put your cock in. That's all I am, huh?”
Devon's words run through my head again, just like they've been doing since it happened. I shove them aside, along with the weird tremor in my gut that they bring.
“Can we get back on track?” Salem pulls out her phone as she drops onto Logan’s lap. “I have a solution, but I need to check with the band first to make sure it's still a go.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait.” Taylor grabs his chest like he's got a pair of tatas. “The band? What does that mean?”
Snorting, I pinch one of his nipples. “Still hot over Lux, carino?”
“Fuck off, no, I'm not!”
Last year, when we chased Salem to Australia, Tay fan-boy'd over Symbiotic's keyboardist harder than a teenage girl at a K-pop concert.
“I'll tell him you said hi,” Salem smirks, typing away on her screen. “They're filming a music video for their new single next week, and when they mentioned the premise to me, I managed to get you both a stunt spot. For pay, obviously.”
“Holy shit!” Taylor turns to me with his hand raised for a high-five, grinning widely. “Dude! We get to perform for our favorite band!”
“How much money we talkin'?” I ask, ignoring Tay's hand. “And where is it happening?”
“I'll get back to you on the money, but it's all going down in San Francisco next weekend.”
Taylor leaps to his feet. “No shit? Huck's grandparents live there. We can probably stay with them and save money on a hotel.”
“Wait,” I cut in. “Next weekend?”
“That’s what I said. Why?”
Fuck.
Fuck me.
Fuck my life.
“No reason,” I lie, wiping sweaty palms on my jeans.
Taylor squints at me. “Dude. What’s happening next weekend?”
Goddammit. “Marisol's going to kill me.”
“Oh, holy shit.” My best friend's eyes widen. “Her birthday is Saturday. Did you order the cake?”
All I can do is stare at him forlornly because no, I fucking didn't.
Salem gasps. “Christian. Mi amor. You were not about to skip your baby sister’s quinceanera?”
“I wasn’t skipping, I just… forgot.”
Taylor barks out a laugh. “You forgot a once-in-a-lifetime event? Dickhead. She’s been planning it since she was like eight. Didn't your mom hire a DJ and everything?”
“Shut the fuck up, I've been distracted, yeah? You moved out, Devon moved in. It slipped my mind.”
“Worst brother of the year. You can't miss it, man.”
“Hold up, pause,” Salem snaps, now glaring at her husband. “Devon moved in?”
Logan grimaces and rubs the back of his neck, but I press on because…
“How the hell am I supposed to be in San Francisco and a quinceanera?” I growl. “At the same time? I can't fucking miss it!”
Salem and Logan share some kind of heavy look that tells me she'll be punishing him later—and he'll probably like it, the kinky fucker—before she returns her attention to me. “We’ll make it work. We have Friday night for the video, Saturday for your sister’s big day.”
“Friday night?”
“Yep. Pepper said they’re shooting on Friday evening, and she's positive their manager will agree to it. We leave Thursday, set up Friday morning, and shoot the same day. Might cut it close, though.”
My stomach unclenches a little as I blow out a breath. “Okay. That might actually work.”
“See? Crisis averted.”
Logan pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I mean, you still might want to tell your family you'll be late.”
Ah, fuck me. I'm supposed to pick up the cake.
“Yeah,” Tay snickers, twirling his finger. “Go ahead. Call your mom. I can't wait.”
A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck.
I've jumped ramps going eighty miles an hour, flung myself fifty feet into the air. Crashed, broken bones, torn ligaments that took forever to heal. Nothing in this world scares me anymore…
Except for my mother when she's mad.
I swipe a hand over my eyes and try to breathe past the rising panic in my throat. How the hell am I supposed to tell her that she'll have to find someone else to bring the cake without telling her why I'll be late?
Sure, I could just mention the music video, but I already know she'll ask why we're doing it, which would mean also admitting that I fucked up.
Unless…
Oh.
Oh no.
No… yes.
A terrible idea forms in my head, twisting my stomach.
Devon. He owes me money. He slept with my girl. He’s living in my apartment, wearing my clothes. Giving me head. I don't like the idea of leaving him alone in my apartment for two days, anyway, and he fucking owes me.
Maybe it's about time that I cash in on his debt.