The B Side

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Juliet’s very chemical make-up felt like it was imploding, but her hands were steady.

Somehow, that combination both made no sense and was the only thing that did make sense right now, as she and Darcy left through the hallway that was set up backstage, just for the fair.

The temporary crossover was long and boxy, and the exit in the distance would spit them out right near the back of Harrison’s mansion.

Which, in turn, would leave them with a very short walk to their car.

That was where she needed to go. She wanted to take Darcy out of here, away from this place. She wanted to get away from this place, for good. Forever.

She’d done it.

This moment that she’d thought about, fantasized about, been terrified of for so long. It had happened.

She’d kissed Darcy on stage. She’d officially come out.

She could still hear the fallout from the crowd, even though they were decently far away now, and enclosed in here.

She knew that it was impossible, but she swore she could hear the explosion happening on the internet.

The pictures and videos and announcements of what she and Darcy had just done.

The buzz that it was going to stir up already seemed so loud; it was echoing through Juliet’s very being.

“Juliet.” Darcy’s voice was low, echoing around them slightly, mingling with the echo of their footsteps. “Do you want to take a beat?”

“No.” She only allowed herself to pause for a second as she turned to look at Darcy.

Mostly for herself, just to take her in.

Take in those green eyes and those pouty lips and the steady love she could feel pouring out from her.

And with that love, she could also feel Darcy’s amazement and her concern over what had just happened.

Which – was fair.

“Let’s take a beat when we get out of here,” she added. “I’ve never been able to breathe here. And I want to fucking breathe.”

Funny, because Harrison’s property was so damn big, and so much of it was beautiful, open nature. But because it belonged to him , it was oppressive to her. Every breath she’d ever taken on this estate felt weighed down by him.

“Deal,” Darcy agreed, squeezing her hand.

And, in true Darcy fashion, she walked a little faster, tugging Juliet along, until they burst through the door, out into the night air.

Only for Juliet’s inhale to be abruptly, sharply cut off when she felt a clawing grip on her arm, yanking her back so sharply that she had to release Darcy’s hand to move with the motion, or it was likely her arm would be dislocated.

She knew it was Harrison even before she saw him, his grip remaining tight and bruising on her upper arm as she came face-to-face with him.

His cheeks were a deeper red than she’d ever seen, the vein in his forehead visible, and even with the pain shooting down her arm, she’d never felt so fucking satisfied at having been the cause.

For all of the pain he’d caused her, she relished seeing him suffer in any way, especially at having caused it.

“What the fuck was that about?!” His voice was so loud, it echoed above the din of the general fair sounds in the night air. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“ Don’t touch her,” Darcy bit out, a fire in her eyes as she stepped forward and placed herself angled in front of Juliet, reaching for Harrison, her hands in tight fists.

Some of Juliet’s satisfaction dropped, her eyes snapping to track Darcy’s movements as if in slow-motion.

Juliet’s heart leapt to her throat – uh, no. No, the fuck not.

She grabbed Darcy’s wrist with her free hand and tugged her back. From the physical signs of his anger and given how rough he’d been with her, it would probably take nothing for him to get physical with Darcy.

And she didn’t have a clue what would come over her if that happened.

But she knew she’d see red, and she knew the best thing for her was to be as controlled as possible right now.

If she went totally unhinged and berserk on Harrison, she knew without a doubt the free-and-clear-of-him future wouldn’t be possible. Not with Mr. Litigious.

She tried to pull her arm from his grasp, but it felt like she was locked in by some sort of machine. “Let go of me.” Even if Harrison didn’t answer, it felt so good to be able to bark an order at him without being afraid of whatever would come next.

He did not. Instead, he shook her, making her teeth clack together.

Still, she kept her hand firmly on Darcy, and she could feel Darcy literally vibrating, ready to pounce. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Darcy whip out her phone. “I’m calling the police. That’s assault.”

“Go ahead and call Jed; I’d love to see him,” Harrison spat back, referencing one of his best buds, Jed Atkinson, the sheriff.

Still, though, he loosened his grip enough that Juliet was able to wrench her arm away from him. He’d turned to focus on Darcy more than her, though, jabbing his finger at her, pointing at her face.

“Listen, little girl, I can do whatever the hell I want, here. You’re on my property.

You’re at an event I paid for. That little stunt you two pulled was on my stage, with my name attached.

You keep your mouth shut right now. I knew you were trash from the moment I saw you.

This–” He broke off with a snort, his eyes dark and glittering as he inched closer to Darcy.

“This was all your fucking influence, huh? I should have known you had something up your sleeve. Hanging around for the last year, not making your own music. This–”

The rage – this fury that felt like a living, breathing creature inside of her – directed at Harrison wasn’t new.

It was so familiar to her that it had a home in her soul.

But she’d always had to push it back, chain it down into the cage it belonged in when it had tried to fly out of her in the past.

This time, she didn’t swallow it down, didn’t try to silence it. Because she didn’t have to.

Instead, she reached out and shoved at the wrist he had outstretched in Darcy’s direction. Mostly because she could see so clearly in her mind how he might reach out and take it further.

Juliet, unlike Darcy, was not well-versed in physical altercations. She much preferred emotional and mental tactics if the need arose, but she couldn’t deny it felt good.

When Harrison rounded on her again, she angled her chin up at him as she stated, “Darcy had nothing to do with this.”

Darcy would stick up for her in an instant. Juliet knew that she didn’t have to say a word here, and Darcy would support her, would defend her, would lead her out of here.

She’d never had that kind of steady, stable, trustworthy love before.

But she didn’t want Harrison’s ire focused on Darcy. For the first time, she wanted it on her.

“Oh, really,” Harrison drawled, crowding her in that way he’d always loved. Making a point of caging her in, making her really feel how much slighter and shorter than him she was. “You were in a relationship with Robbie for how long, and then this worthless–”

Juliet had no control of the way the words flew from her mouth, the fire raging through her veins.

“I’ve been fucking women since long before I knew Darcy.

” She scoffed, an angry sound that scraped roughly at her throat on the way out.

“You really thought you knew about everything I’ve ever done.

And that made you feel really powerful, huh?

Made you feel like you knew everything about me, that you had me under your thumb in every way.

You think just because you’ve controlled my career, you’ve had any idea what goes on in my private life?

You don’t have a damn clue. You never have. ”

She’d always held onto that. Held onto the fact that even though Harrison pulled so many strings at Copper Canyon, he couldn’t pull any when it came to her . This one thing, her sexuality, was all hers, and she’d wanted to throw it in his face for so long.

And it was everything she’d ever hoped for.

The way his eyes widened, then narrowed.

The way he opened his mouth, then closed it.

Like he couldn’t wrap his head around what she was saying. If she knew Harrison – and she did – it wasn’t even her sexuality that necessarily fazed him. It was that she’d always been this way and that she’d acted on it, without him ever suspecting.

Oh, that was going to eat at him for a very long time.

Satisfaction worked through her in a way she’d known would feel good, but couldn’t have feasibly known how good it would feel. Not until she saw it. Like she was filled with a kind of empowerment she’d never known.

“That’s – I know every inch of your contract with Copper Canyon; you can’t–”

“I can. And I did. Because I’m a lesbian, and no contract – not with you, not with a record label – can change that.”

It took him a few seconds to attempt to regain control over the situation. “I’ve already contacted my legal team the second you pulled that shit on stage, Juliet. Trying to pull my name through the mud, trying to sling the shitstorm that’s headed your way onto me? Not happening.”

“I’ve also been working with my legal team for months. Which is how I know for a fact that there’s finally no recourse you can take. That ‘shit’ I pulled? My contracts with you and Copper Canyon are officially over. I can kiss whoever I want, wherever I want. Darcy is my…”

Girlfriend didn’t even feel like enough. Definitely not right now, not with the enormity of what they’d just done together.