Chapter 20
20
MALACHI
The warmth of Jasper’s body pressed against mine as his head rested on my bare chest. I blinked, trying to cling to the remnants of sleep, but the persistent ringing of my phone yanked me into full consciousness. I groaned as I reached for it on the nightstand, trying not to disturb Jasper but failing.
“Mm, what time is it?” he mumbled, still half-asleep.
I checked the screen. It was Rina. I sighed, knowing the call was unlikely to be a good one since it was unexpected. “Too early for this,” I muttered before answering the call. “Hey, Rina.”
“Malachi! What the hell is going on?” her voice pierced through the phone. “Have you seen Star Nation’s latest post?”
“No, what happened?” I yawned.
“They posted a picture of you and Jasper kissing!” she shrieked. “And now there’s a huge scandal because everyone thinks you’re cheating on Savannah. The internet is going nuts! Malachi—” She hesitated, her tone softening slightly. “Is this how you planned to come out?”
My heart pounded in my chest as I sat up and stared down at Jasper. “No. No, it’s not. No one knows I’m bi,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat. “I’m not ready for this.”
“Ready or not, the cat’s out of the bag,” Rina stated. “We have to deal with this now. The fans are losing it, and the press is hounding me for a statement.”
Jasper’s phone started ringing. He quickly grabbed it and showed me the screen with Jesse’s name at the top. I shook my head to indicate not to answer it. He silenced it instead.
“I’m sorry, Rina,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “What do you need me to do?”
“For starters, get ahead of this. We need a statement from you and Savannah. And keep Jasper out of sight until this dies down. The last thing we need is to add more fuel to the fire.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “Got it. I’ll call Savannah right now.”
“Make sure you do. And Malachi,” she paused. “Come to my office right away. I’ll call Robert and get him to come with Savannah too.”
“Okay.” Robert was Savannah’s manager. I figured working together to put out our statements wasn’t a bad idea. “I’ll be there soon.”
The call ended, leaving me staring at my phone. My head was spinning, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Was I happy I didn’t have to pretend to date Savannah anymore? Was I relieved I didn’t have to hide my feelings for Jasper anymore? He sat up and I felt his hand on my cheek, guiding my gaze back to him.
“What happened?” he asked softly.
“ Star Nation posted a picture of us kissing,” I stated. “Now there’s a cheating scandal because everyone thinks I’m with Savannah. Plus, everyone is assuming I’m gay. Rina asked if this was how I planned to come out.”
Jasper’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I need to call Savannah and figure out how we’re going to spin this.”
Jasper’s phone buzzed again, Jesse’s name and picture popping up. “And Jesse?”
I bit my lip, worry gnawing at me. “This was not how I wanted everything to go down.”
He silenced his phone again. “Me either. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But Jesse has always been protective of you, and I don’t know how he’s going to react.”
“We’ll face him together,” Jasper said firmly, taking my hand. “We’ve hidden long enough. We deserve to be happy. Jesse loves us and sees you like a brother. He’ll understand eventually.”
“You’re not worried he’ll be mad at you?” I asked.
He lifted a shoulder. “I’m not sure I care anymore. I’m not a kid.”
“I know, but he’s my best friend and your brother. There’s some unspoken rule about that.”
“Does it matter since we’re in love?”
I thought for a moment, then squeezed his hand. “You’re right. We’ll talk to him. But first, I need to call Savannah and handle this media storm.”
Jasper nodded. “I’m with you, no matter what.”
“I hope so because the celebrity news sites are going nuts.”
“We should probably determine which side is my best side,” he teased.
I laughed at his attempt to lighten my mood and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
While having a picture published of me kissing a guy wasn’t how I wanted to come out as bisexual, it was the least of my worries since I wasn’t sure how Jesse—my lifelong friend and bandmate—was going to react to me dating his brother. Also, maybe I didn’t care that the whole world knew I was with Jasper because it was him. He was my heart.
When I called Savannah, she said she was getting ready to head to Rina’s office with her manager. We decided to just talk there because we didn’t know what to do. Rina and the label could figure it out and we’d do what they wanted. Except, of course, if they wanted us to keep fake dating.
Savannah and I were done pretending. She wanted to pursue things with Elliott, and I wanted to be with Jasper. It almost felt refreshing that everything was out in the open, except I hadn’t spoken to Jesse yet.
I knew he was going to be pissed, but I hoped he’d understand why we’d never told him. From day one of Surrender, back when we were in middle school, I was known as the flirt of the band. It helped us gain exposure, and I never wanted to let the band down. Plus, I never knew how to tell Jesse that I was bisexual, let alone that I was with Jasper. But we were older now, and Jasper and I weren’t only fooling around. We were in love, and that had to count as something in Jesse’s eyes, right?
Jasper and I had a plan. I would drive Jasper to Jesse’s so they could discuss the matter. Meanwhile, I would head to Rina’s office and agree to do whatever Savannah and our managers thought was the best way to handle the matter. After I was done meeting with Rina, I would head back to Jesse’s so I could work things out with my best friend. Except, when I arrived at Rina’s, it didn’t go that way.
I walked into the conference room and saw Jesse, Elliott, and Silas sitting around the table. Before I could ask why they were called in, Jesse sprang from his seat, his face twisted with rage.
“You didn’t think to tell me you were messing around with my brother?” he shouted, charging toward me.
I had no time to react before his fist collided with my jaw, sending me stumbling backward as pain radiating across my cheek. The room erupted into chaos as Elliott and Silas shot up from their seats to intervene and Rina shrieked.
“Jesse, stop!” Elliott yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to pull him back.
I recovered my balance, but my anger flared. I lunged forward, grabbing Jesse by the collar and pinning him against the wall. “You think this has been easy for me?” I shouted, my voice shaking. “You think I wanted to lie to my best friend? You have no idea what it’s been like!”
Jesse struggled against my hold, his eyes wild with anger. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Why did you do it behind my back?”
Before I could answer, Elliott stepped in again, forcefully prying us apart. “That’s enough!”
I released Jesse, my chest heaving. He straightened his shirt, still glaring at me.
“We’re supposed to be brothers,” he said, his voice filled with hurt. “How could you do this?”
“We are brothers,” I replied.
“Well, you did a hell of a job fucking that up.” He shook his head. “I need to get out of here. I can’t look at you right now.”
Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the conference room. I stood there, stunned and hurt, my hands shaking from the confrontation and my heart pounding in my chest. Was he only upset about Jasper, or was it also because I didn’t tell him—or anyone—that I was bi? I wasn’t sure.
Rina cleared her throat, breaking the heavy silence. “We need to focus on the issue at hand. Savannah will be here soon. We need to release a statement within the hour.”
“All right. Is it from me or the band?” I asked, still wondering why my bandmates were there. I didn’t mind, since we’d been friends for so long. Even though I’d hidden my relationship with Jasper from them, I was okay with them knowing the truth now. Hell, everyone was about to find out anyway.
“Since it affects the band, I asked them to come in,” Rina clarified. “We all need to be on the same page.”
I was surprised Silas was there and he didn’t look hungover or high or anything. As for Jesse … “Well, I guess one of you can let Jesse know.”
Elliott put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “No, man. You need to talk to Jesse. This isn’t over.”
Silas nodded in agreement. “He just needs time to process everything. We all do.”
I rubbed my cheek where Jesse had clocked me. “Yeah, I’ll talk to him. You two are cool with me being bi?”
Elliott tilted his head. “Why would that matter to us?”
“Because of the band. We may lose fans now if they don’t like the idea of me being with a guy,” I replied.
“Fuck them,” Elliott spat. “We’re here to play music, not to get strangers’ approval for who we date. If they can’t handle you being yourself, then they’re not real fans.”
Silas nodded. “Exactly. Fuck them.”
Relief washed over me. “Thanks, guys.”
At that moment, Savannah walked in with Robert. She looked around, taking in the tense atmosphere and the absence of Jesse.
“Hey,” she said softly. “What’d I miss?”
Rina waved a hand dismissively. “You know, just band drama. But come in. I was thinking the best way to handle this situation is to release a statement saying you and Malachi broke up recently, but didn’t want to cause a rift in the tour. It’s the cleanest way to manage the fallout.”
Robert spoke as we all took our seats around the table. “I think that’s a solid plan.”
Savannah and I exchanged glances, both of us nodding in agreement.
“That works for me,” she said. “We’ve been wanting to end the fake relationship, anyway.”
“Good,” Rina breathed, visibly relieved, and opened the laptop in front of her. “I’ll start drafting the statement.”
“Actually,” Savannah interjected, glancing at Elliott before looking back at Rina. “There’s something else we need to tell you.”
“Oh?” Rina looked up from her computer screen.
Savannah locked eyes with Elliott as they sat side by side. “Elliott and I are together.”
Rina’s eyes widened in surprise, but it was Silas who reacted the most. “Wait, what? Since when?”
Elliott chuckled and grabbed Savannah’s hand as she said, “For a little while now. We wanted to keep it quiet until after the tour, given Malachi and I were supposedly dating.”
I nodded, a small smile tugging at my lips. “Yeah, and I knew, and I’m totally fine with it. We all deserve to be happy.”
Silas blinked, processing the information. “Well, damn, seems everyone has a secret. But, hey, if you’re happy, then I’m happy for you.”
Rina sighed, shaking her head slightly but smiling. “All right, as long as everyone’s on the same page. Let’s get this statement done.” She looked at me. “And you need to smooth things over with Jesse before tonight’s show.”
I wasn’t sure it would be that easy.