Chapter Twenty-two #3
Evan grabbed Tim by his shirt and hauled him to his feet. Before he could strike again, Jesse jumped for him. He threw his arms around Evan’s waist and pressed his body against his back.
“Ev, stop! You’re going to hurt yourself.”
Evan stood motionless. Reluctantly, he loosened his hold on Tim and let go, but not without a final shove that made Tim stumble to his knees. Jesse felt Evan’s tense back muscles relax a fraction, and tightened his embrace around him.
Evan laid his hands over Jesse’s and glared at Tim. “You want to come after me? Go ahead and try. I’d like to see if you can survive my attorneys.”
The mention of attorneys snapped Greg out of his panic.
He spun toward Tim, his voice and expression harsh.
“Going after Evan would be the worst thing you could do, Tim, whether it’s talking to tabloids or a lawsuit.
You never fully understood what I meant when I would tell you that at all costs, we at Phoenix protect our artists.
I hope you understand now. Unfortunately, because of your discrimination against Jesse, I’m going to have to let you go.
You know Phoenix has a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination based on age, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, and the intolerance you’ve shown is a direct breach of that policy.
I ask that you have your office cleaned out by seven o’clock tonight. ”
With what strength he had remaining, Tim stomped around Greg and out the door.
Silence pervaded the room, no one knowing what to say or do, except Jesse as he kept Evan in his arms. After a long moment, JJ clapped his hands together, the loud crack making everyone except Evan and Jesse jump.
“Well, it’s good times again.” He walked up to Evan and slapped his hand down on his shoulder. “I really appreciate you inviting me to join you on this album, mate, but you could’ve warned me about flying elbows. You almost clocked me a good one.”
Jesse felt something warm and wet touch his hand. He peered over Evan’s shoulder and gasped at seeing blood trickle from a gash across the index and middle knuckles of Evan’s right hand. “You’re hurt!”
Evan glanced down at his hand. “It’s just a scratch from his teeth.”
Not feeling the same indifference toward the injury as Evan, Jesse clenched Evan’s wrist and dragged him to the sink in the kitchen area. He got the water running, held Evan’s hand under the flow, and gently rinsed the cut.
Evan gazed at Jesse’s face, so concentrated on cleaning the wound. “I’m sorry, gorgeous,” he said softly.
Jesse jerked his head up, surprised by the sudden apology. “For what?”
“I shouldn’t have stepped in like that. You had wanted to deal with Tim yourself, but I jumped in and took over. I should’ve let you handle it.”
Jesse turned his attention back to Evan’s cut hand. “Yeah well, that may be true, but I’m not really thinking about that at the moment. What did you mean when you said you had given him the ‘courtesy of a warning’?”
A tentative smile touched Evan’s lips. “I guess I should’ve told you how on your first day in the studio, I warned him that if he ever offended you again, I’d punch his teeth down his throat.”
“Yeah, that might’ve been good to know,” Jesse grumbled.
“Are you mad?”
“No. Right now the only thing I want is to get you home, strip us both down, and have you throw me to my back on the bed so I can wrap my legs around your neck and you can screw the hell out of me.” Jesse looked at him from under his eyelashes, a mischief filled grin on his lips.
“Do you have any idea how turned on I am right now?”
“I think I’m starting to figure it out.”
Jesse brought his lips to Evan’s in a tender kiss that hinted at the many more once they were alone. He drew back slowly and began carefully drying Evan’s hand with a paper towel. He inspected the wound closer. “It’s not as bad as I thought, but it still needs to be bandaged.”
“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Greg said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jesse said, leading Evan toward the door. “We have bandages at home. Let’s call it a day, guys. I don’t think any of us can concentrate on making music now and we were having a bad day, anyway.” He paused as they came upon Greg. “I’m sorry things happened that way with Tim.”
Greg laid one hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “It’s okay, son.
I’m still confused about why and how this happened.
I knew there was tension between you and Tim, but I guess it went a lot deeper than what I realized.
I wish you would’ve come to me about it in the beginning.
We’ll have to sit down tomorrow and you’ll have to catch me up on all that’s happened between you two so I don’t get any surprises down the line.
” He turned his gaze to Evan in a reprimanding look. “You too.”
Evan nodded, though by his expression it was obvious he had no intention of doing so. As Jesse led him away, Evan turned to JJ. “I’ll call you in a little bit and we’ll set up dinner plans.”
JJ flipped a thumbs up and watched them disappear out the door. He glanced at Greg. “Looks like he’s finally found something that means more to him than music.”
Greg exhaled a deep breath. “Frightening, isn’t it?”