Chapter 34
Grovel – synonym for grand gesture time
Jett
M y bandmates are quiet as we drive back to Winter Falls. I expect them to push me, ask me what happened, and judge me. But they don’t.
When Cash parks in front of my house, I hop out. I turn to wave goodbye to them but everyone follows me.
“I don’t need any company.”
Gibson snorts. “You’re getting company whether you want it or not.”
Shit. I should have known the quiet was too good to be true.
“This is my house. You can’t barge in without my permission.”
He dangles a key in front of me. “My name is still on the lease.”
Damnit.
“I don’t know how Mercy puts up with you,” I mutter as I open the door and walk inside with my bandmates on my heels.
I aim for the stairs and my bedroom but Fender blocks me. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.
“It isn’t fun when you’re the one in trouble, is it?” Gibson mocks.
“I didn’t get drunk and say nasty shit to the woman I love.”
I’m probably an asshole for bringing up his drinking days when he’s working his best on staying sober, but I don’t want to have this conversation. I want everyone to leave so I can be alone.
He frowns. “No. You said nasty shit to the woman you love without the drunk part.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “Were you eavesdropping on me and Aurora?”
“No need to eavesdrop when she was yelling at you to get out.”
“I don’t know why she was pissed.”
“Seriously? You have no clue?” Dylan shakes his head. “I wouldn’t let my woman get mad at me in the hospital.”
I rear back. “Virginia is mad at you all the time. You’re overprotective and driving her nuts.”
“And she puts up with me because she loves me.”
“Aurora loves me.”
Dylan grins. “And do you love her?”
I rub a hand over my heart where it hurts from Aurora kicking me out of the hospital room. All I wanted was to make sure our baby is safe. But she got mad and threw a pillow at me.
“What did you say to her?” Gibson asks.
I collapse on the sofa as I think back to the hospital room. There was no relief when the doctor said the baby was fine. Terror had me in its tight grip.
“Dr. Edwards said the baby could be in danger from how much Aurora works.”
“Beep!” Gibson shouts. “Try again.”
“You were eavesdropping.” I lunge at him but Dylan blocks me.
“No fighting,” he orders.
I point to Gibson. “He offered to fight me earlier.”
Gibson peers around Dylan’s shoulder. “I offered to spar with you to stop you from spiraling into despair.”
I fist my hands. “Spar? Fight? Same thing.”
Dylan shoves me onto the sofa. “No, it’s not. Stop being an asshole.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m the asshole?” I pound my fist on my chest. “I wasn’t the one who listened in at the door of a hospital room where I didn’t belong.”
Gibson crosses his arms over his chest and glares down at me. “And you weren’t the one who listened in at the window when Mercy and I had our fight.”
I shrug. “You were drunk. I knew you wouldn’t remember what an idiot you were being.”
“You’re not drunk. What’s your excuse for being an idiot?”
I fly at him but this time Fender steps in my way. “Sit down.” I try to go around him but he picks me up by the back of my shirt and dumps me on the sofa. “I said sit down.”
“Being half a foot taller than me does not give you permission to throw me around.”
“Stop being an asshole and I’ll stop throwing you around.”
“I didn’t throw you around when you were an idiot about Leia.”
He grins. “Because you can’t.”
Cash pushes his way in front of Fender. “As much fun as it is to watch Fender use actual words instead of grunting, this isn’t helping.”
“Helping what?”
He frowns at me. “Helping you get Aurora back.”
“She didn’t break up with me. She’s mad but she’ll get over it. She’ll realize I’m right.”
My bandmates erupt into laughter.
“He’s hilarious.”
“Idiotically hilarious.”
“He thinks he’s right.”
“Such an idiot.”
“Hey!” I shout. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not here.”
“Dude,” Dylan starts but he doesn’t continue.
I throw my hands in the air. “What?”
Gibson wipes tears of laughter from his eyes. “You think you’re right. You told Aurora it was her fault she almost lost the baby. Then, you ordered her to quit her job. Told her that her job isn’t as important as yours. And, to top it all off, you told her she could go back to work when the baby is older.”
Dylan scratches his beard. “I don’t know. Maybe Jett is a lost cause.”
“Hold on. I didn’t say any of those things.”
Gibson grunts. “I was listening at the door and you definitely said all of those things.”
“I…” I trail off as my mind rewinds to the scene in the hospital room. Did I say those things? Did I blame Aurora for nearly losing our baby? I wouldn’t. I said she’s been working too hard. And then I said she nearly lost the baby.
“I didn’t mean it was Aurora’s fault.”
Gibson squeezes my shoulder. “I know you didn’t, but she doesn’t.”
“She was lying in a hospital bed terrified about her baby. The last thing she needed was for you to start spouting bullshit about her job,” Dylan says.
Cash shakes his head. “Aurora loves her job. She’s the only thing keeping the band on track most of the time. Her quitting won’t solve anyone’s problems.”
“But she works so damn hard. She gets calls from Mike all day and night. Not to mention the gazillion emails she has to answer. I hate seeing her stressed. I hate how she doesn’t have time to care for herself. I want her to be happy, to have fun.”
“Because you love her,” Gibson pushes.
I open my mouth to yell at him. I’m more than fucking done with him telling me I love her. But there’s no more denying it. I do love Aurora. She’s my world. She’s my everything.
Which is why I freaked out when she was lying in the hospital bed. All I could see was my world crashing down around me. My world ending when Aurora and Little Bean were no longer in it. I wouldn’t want to walk this earth without them.
They’re my family. My everything.
“Yeah, I love her and our little girl.”
Fender groans. “A girl? You’re fucked if she resembles Aurora.”
“I know, man. I know.”
“But first he needs to figure out how to get Aurora to forgive him,” Dylan points out.
“Easy,” Gibson says.
My brow wrinkles. “Easy?” Nothing about this situation is easy. “How is it easy?”
“You said it yourself. She works too hard.”
“And she nearly decapitated me for it.”
He grins. “But what if she didn’t have to answer calls and emails from Mike? What if she was the boss?”
“I already tried to convince her to start her own management company. She wasn’t interested.”
“Because she’s afraid we’re committing career suicide by firing Mike,” Cash says.
“I don’t give a shit about Mike,” Gibson grumbles.
Dylan nods. “None of us do. And we don’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore. We’ve made our fortunes. As long as we can continue to make music and play in front of our fans, I don’t care what number our song is at in the charts.”
“Me either,” Cash agrees.
The rest of my bandmates nod in agreement. Our days of chasing number one are apparently behind us.
“There are more important things in life than platinum records,” Gibson says.
“And Leia said she’d love to work with Aurora and help her set up a company,” Fender adds.
“Are we in agreement?” Cash asks. “We’re going to fire Mike?”
“Hold on.” I hold up a hand. “What if Aurora doesn’t agree?”
Gibson smirks. “This is why we’re firing Mike before you tell Aurora.”
Cash digs his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll handle it now.”
“You’re going to fire our manager of over a decade on New Year’s Eve?” I ask.
He shrugs. “It’s as good a time as any.”
Gibson chuckles. “And here I was worried about my first New Year’s Eve sober.”
“You okay?”
He waves away my concern. “I’m fine. You’re still a dead man.”
“What do you mean? Isn’t firing Mike enough of a gesture?”
“Dude,” is all he says.
“What do you suggest?”
He smirks. “I have a few ideas.”
Good. Because I’m all out of ideas. My mind is too busy coming to the realization that I love Aurora.
I shouldn’t be surprised. The woman has tempted me since the first time she flashed me her smile. I’ve dreamed about having her in my arms and in my bed for a decade.
I finally have her right where I want her. I’m not letting her go. Ever.
If I have to grovel to get her to forgive me, I will. Aurora is worth everything. I won’t lose her.