Memphis
“Gotta take a leak,” I tell the guys.
Josh puts his bass down. “Then I’m taking a smoke break.”
“Come on,” Phoenix grunts. “We’re in the middle of sound check.”
“Sound check is over in fifteen,” Storm chimes in.
Phoenix spins around. “That’s not the point.”
“Fine. I’ll just piss right here.” Pulling down my zipper, I glance back at Storm. “Did you know he was into golden showers?”
Storm chuckles. “It’s always the pretty boys.”
“Fuck off.” Phoenix waves me away. “Go.”
Raising my middle finger in the air, I jog off stage. “Didn’t need your permission, Urethra Franklin.”
Behind me Storm howls with laughter.
I’m heading into the greenroom when I hear Skylar’s phone ring and hang back.
“Hello?”
Unaware I’m eavesdropping behind the partially cracked door, she taps the speakerphone button.
Alexis’s voice comes over the line. “Hi, Skylar. This is Alexis. Do you have a moment to talk?”
“Hey. And sure, what’s up?”
“So, as you know, I’m looking for a new assistant. Chandler mentioned you would be a perfect fit and I’m inclined to agree. Do you want the job?”
Hell yeah, she does.
Skylar sucks in a sharp breath, no doubt excited.
However, the next words out of her mouth have me reeling.
“I would love to, but I can’t. I have some personal things going on.”
No. She has a needy piece of shit boyfriend that’s sucking the life out of her.
Alexis sounds equally surprised by her rejection. “Oh…okay. Well, then…take care.”
Irritation blazes through me and I charge into the greenroom. “What the fuck, Sky?”
She jolts. “What the fuck what?”
“I saw the way your face lit up yesterday when you talked about being on Alexis’s PR team. Why the fuck would you turn down her offer?”
She springs off the couch. “Okay, one? Stop eavesdropping.” Stepping forward, she pokes me in the chest. “Two? Me turning down her offer is none of your damn business.”
Seeing as she once snooped through my phone giving me shit about overhearing her conversation is not only comical, but hypocritical as fuck.
Only unlike her, I wasn’t digging for dirt.
Not exactly.
Turning a blind eye while he parties and fucks other girls is one thing, but letting him drive her life straight into the ground is another.
Despite what she said the other night, I don’t think she’s a doormat.
Far from it.
I think she’s intelligent, empathetic, and so fucking strong it would put the world’s greatest bodybuilder to shame.
She’s capable of doing whatever she sets her mind to.
Which is why her refusal to take the job she wants pisses me the fuck off.
“I can’t believe…” Disgusted, I shake my head. “Actually, I can believe it.”
Because she’s always chosen him over everything.
Including herself.
Curling her arms around her frame, she looks down at the floor. “You don’t understand what he’s done for me.”
“What the fuck has he done for you?”
He doesn’t appreciate her. He doesn’t let her chase her dreams. Hell, he doesn’t even satisfy her sexually.
I don’t know what to make of the expression on her face. “He—”
“What up, fuckers?” Storm greets us as he waltzes into the greenroom.
Before I can blink, Skylar grabs her stuff and bolts.
Storm looks between me and the door. “I take it the cobbler didn’t go so well.”
The cobbler fucking sucked.
“What’s your next move?”
I hightail it to the adjoining bathroom on the other side. “Taking a piss.”
I go to close the door, but Storm wedges his foot between it and the frame.
“I don’t need an audience,” I growl.
“No. You need your fucking head examined.”
“Why is that?”
He thrusts a hand in the direction of the greenroom door. “Because you’re looking at her like she’s yours when she sleeps next to him every night.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t think option one is a good idea anymore. You’re too emotionally…”
When I give him a threatening look, he clears his throat and tries again. “You’re getting too close to the fire, man. You’re gonna get burned.”
Too late.