A Beautiful Melody (17 page)

What a fucking awesome night. If it wasn’t for the fact that we have another show to do and I need to get some sleep, I think I’d still be out partying. I stumble up the hallway of the hotel with Lachlan and Jack, trying to be quiet but unable to stop our laughing over some of the things we got up to.

Their room is the first, so we all shake hands and clap each other on the back, ready to pass out for a few hours before going to do it all again.

I grin, I could really get used to this life.

Shoving my hand in my pocket to retrieve my
room key, I pause when the door to Naomi’s room starts to open. Of course, I’m expecting it to be her – I mean, why wouldn’t I? It’s her room. I set a smile on my face, thinking maybe she enjoyed our kiss so much that it was keeping her from sleeping.

Although my mouth drops open, when the person emerging from the room is Theo, his hair all mussed up and lipstick on his
face.

Narrowing my eyes, I point to my mouth. “You’ve ah… got something, right there.”

He glares at me as he wipes at it, takes a couple of quick strides over towards me, and snatches our room key out of my hand, using it to quickly open the door and step through without saying a word.

I push the door open before it closes on me and follow him in, holding my hands out to the side as I hiss, “You plan on filling me in
on what the fuck that was?”

His only response is to turn his head slightly and glare at me.
I look around the room, there are empty bottles and cans all over the place.

“What the fuck went on
in here tonight?” I ask, now becoming slightly worried, this is so unlike Theo. I was glad when he came into the party after the show and had a few drinks for a change, but I had no idea he left and did… well… it looks like he did a lot.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he states, walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

I follow him in, not giving a shit if he wants privacy or not.

“No. You don’t get
to refuse to speak. I just caught you coming out of Naomi’s room looking like you’ve spent all night fucking. You chewed me out tonight for kissing her on stage. Went on and on about how there are rules, and that getting involved with her would ruin the band. Then I get back, and from the looks of things, you had some sort of drunken bang session with her! What the hell is wrong with you? Can’t you just keep your fucking hands to yourself?”

“It wasn’t like that. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I Theo? It’s always been the same with you. You’re so fucking jealous of me that you’re happy to take my sloppy seconds,” I spit, goading him, pissed off that he’s sneaking around with her after yelling at me for doing something publicly.

“Shut your mouth Marcus,” he warns
, his fists balling at his sides as his nostrils flare and his jaw clenches.

This is where I do something really shitty. My excuse is that I’m drunk and I’m pissed off, so I want to hurt him, and I say the one thing I know is going to be like a punch to the guts for him.
“Did you really believe that I didn’t sleep with her that night? She’s fucking hot, and she was naked, and so fucking wet. She was gagging for it. I just gave her what she – ”

I do
n’t get to finish. My head snaps back and hits against the tiled wall, as Theo’s fist collides with my face. Pain spreads through my sinuses as a warmth starts to flow over my mouth, and I immediately regret my words. Especially considering it’s not true. I never took advantage of her. Naomi is the sweetest girl I’ve ever known. She could never be a mere conquest to me, she’s much more than that. It’s why I’ve never slept with her. She’s the kind of girl you settle down with, you don’t screw and leave girls like her.

Theo storms out of the bathroom, grabbing his wallet and keys and leaves the room.  Staring after him, I reach up and
cup my hand over my nose to catch the blood that is starting to pour down my face and drip onto my shirt.

“Shit,” I say, looking at myself in the mirror. I think he’s busted my nose. God only knows if I’ll be able to sing with it like this tomorrow.

The next night while we’re getting ready to go on stage, the dressing room is so filled with tension you could slice through the air with a knife. I force myself to focus on getting myself ready, but struggle to ignore the issues in the room.

I got dressed before I got here, but I change out of my ballet flats into a pair of suede ankle boots that have a platform heel on them, giving me a good five inches of extra height. They look great with the rest of my outfit, which is a
fitted black singlet and cropped vest, with a purple mini skirt that has these tulle ruffles coming off the back of it – I love it, it kind of makes me feel like I have a peacock tail.

Checking myself over in the mirror, I
tighten the side pony tail I’ve swept my hair into and spritz a bit more gel spray into my hair to set it all in place. I can see everyone in the room behind me, all the men are dressed in a similar jeans and fitted shirt combo. They’re a striking looking group and are very simple about their outfits.

Theo isn’t even looking at me, and truthfully, I don’t want to look at him
either, except my stupid eyes keep finding their way over to him. I feel embarrassed – no, I feel mortified, after last night. I can’t believe I let things go as far as I did. I can’t believe I gave myself so willingly. I feel really cheap, and that isn’t helped by Marcus’s actions either. Kissing me like that on stage and then taking off with a couple of tramps, just made me look like a fool.

I drop my gaze and focus on the cosmetics in front of me, my stomach clenching in di
staste as I try my best to push last night out of my mind. We’ve got a show to focus on.

“Is anyone going to address the elephant in the room,” Lachlan asks
, looking between Marcus and Theo. “He can’t go out there looking like that.”

Marcus and Theo are sitting at opposite co
rners of the room. If I wasn’t so angry with the both of them, I might have realised that they weren’t speaking to each other either. But I did notice that Marcus’s face is swollen and bruised. He’s obviously pissed somebody off enough to cop a punch. I’m sure he deserved it. But he’s our front man, he can’t go out there looking all bruised and beaten.

“What were you thinking man?” Jack asks, his question directed toward Theo. And that’s when I realise – Theo is responsible for
Marcus’s face. It doesn’t take a huge amount of deductive reasoning to work out that they were most likely fighting over me.

Letting out a huge sigh, I stand from my seat. “You two – out,” I command,
as I head towards the door, expecting both Bailey brothers to follow me.

I walk towards the room where the party was held last night
while Theo and Marcus trail slowly behind me. The room is quiet and empty right now, a stark contrast to the night before.

Pacing the room, I look at the brothers
, my agitation apparent as I shake my head occasionally and touch my hair while I try to work out what I want to say. I feel strongly about both of them. But with each one it’s different. They’ve always meant something to me, and the past few months working with them has really seen my friendship with them grow as well as my attraction. As wrong as it is, under the right circumstances, I could see myself with either of them. But right now, after last night, all I feel is used. More than that, I feel confused.

“This needs to stop,” I start, still pa
cing in front of them. “I don’t know what the hell got into you two last night, but this needs to stop. I am not an object, and I am not a prize to be won. I am not a good enough reason for you two to fight. Do you understand me?” I stop between them and look at both of them as they stand quietly in front of me.

“You,” I direct toward
Marcus. “You do not get to hold my hand, put your arm around me, fucking sniff at me
, or
kiss me on stage anymore. Is that clear?” I state, glaring at him, until he nods his head in acquiescence.

“And you,” I say, moving in front of Theo, my words catching in my throat
as my eyes start to sting. “Don’t do that again.” My voice is shaky as I address him, and barely cracks an audible level.

He looks at me beseechingly and lifts his arm as if to touch me, but I step back, causing him to freeze, drop his hand and nod. “Ok,” he agrees
in a whisper.

I stand between them, my hands placed on my hips as I start to lecture them.
“This is only our first tour stop. If this is what happens after only a few days then what the hell is going to happen by the end of it? I need you both to leave me the fuck alone. No touching, no hugging, and absolutely no kissing. I will not allow your sibling rivalry over me to ruin this band. Rein it in. Family, and the success of this band is too important for you two to be fighting over any girl.”

I look from each of them, their eyes dropped toward the floor
as they listen.

“I’m serious. Both of you need to back up off me, or I swear, I will take my violin and run.”

They both snap their heads up, looking at me like I just slapped them in the face. But I mean it, I don’t want them to keep fucking with my head. It’s not fair.

Last night after Theo left
, I realised that there was a very good reason for that non fraternisation rule that was originally instated when I joined the band. Stupidly, we’ve all been skirting its boundaries the whole time we’ve been together. Its purpose was to stop things like this, to stop emotions getting in the way of what’s best for the band.

Years ago, I moved on from the Bailey brothers,
and I can do it again. I can be their co-worker and maybe I can be their friend. But I don’t think I can be anything more. It can’t possibly work. I would ruin their relationship and in turn destroy the band. It doesn’t matter how important Marcus makes me feel or how glorious Theo makes me feel. I need to put that distance between us. I need to be professional.

My eyes lock
, momentarily with Theo’s, causing my stomach to clench and my knees to go weak. All I can see are the memories of what he did to me last night.
Lord, give me strength
, I silently pray. Even though I’ve never prayed for a thing in my life.

Snatching my eyes away from him, I clear my throat.
“Let’s get back. I think I have something in my makeup kit that can cover that bruising,” I tell Marcus who starts to immediately object to wearing makeup. “Don’t start,” I demand. “Jack is right, you can’t go out there looking like that. I have to fix you up.”

We head back to the dressing room just as we’re
called to the stage. The others go ahead while I quickly apply cover up over Marcus’s face, trying to ignore the sadness in his eyes as he watches me, but finding that I’m completely unsuccessful.

“It’s all for the best Marcus,” I tell him
, dusting powder on him to set the concealer. “You’re never without a girl on your arm. You don’t need me there too.”

“Maybe I only want you on my arm. Maybe I’d give up every
one of those girls for you.”

I drop my eyes as I place the brush and powder back in my makeup kit, unsure how to respond to him.

“We’ve been through this already. You said you’d stop, and the first chance you got, you took off partying with a couple of groupies. It’s your life Marcus, you can do what you want. But I don’t have to be ok with it, and I don’t have to wait until you change your mind.”

“But Naomi, I…” he starts.

“You’re ready. Let’s go,” I say, deciding that avoiding any more conversation would probably work better right now.

We go out on stage and welcome the crowd. They don’t really know who we are, but once we’ve finished our first song they’re screaming for us, just like the
y were last night. Although this time, Marcus doesn’t change the set, and he doesn’t kiss me at the end. And when we return to the dressing room, there’s no fighting, just quiet acceptance of a job well done.

Dan knocks on our door shortly after we’ve returned. “Hey guys, great show,” he says to
all of us. Then to me he says, “Did you eat?”

“No.”

“Good. Meet me when we’re done?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I tell him, completely ignoring the way both Marcus and Theo stiffen.
I’m glad that Dan still wants to spend time with me. It gives me a great excuse to leave all the parties so I don’t have to watch Marcus and Theo fuck around.

***

“Looks like you two have lost her,” Lachlan comments a few moments after Naomi has left with Dan Stolle.
I don’t really respond. I’m too busy staring at the door where I last saw her. “Guess you can’t blame her – him being a big star and all.” He sniffs and clears his throat slightly as he focuses on his bass, plucking at the strings as he muses, “Hope he doesn’t convince her she’s better off without us all.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, turning my head to focus on him.

He bounces a shoulder and pushes his bottom lip downward. “Just that he only seems to want to talk to her.”

“He’s probably just trying to fuck her,” grunts Marcus
, who is busy trying to wipe that makeup off his face.

“Then I guess she’
s finished with you two then,” adds Jack, who’s been sitting quietly on a stool while we all sit around acting like someone just died. “Maybe when he’s finished with her, me or Lach will get a turn,” he laughs. Although, his laughter is cut short when Marcus steps toward him and kicks the stool out from underneath him, sending him sprawling on the floor. “Dude! What the fuck?!”

“You’re an idiot,” Lachlan laughs, looking at Jack as he rights himself and the stool.
“These two are like her fucking guardians or something. You don’t have a chance with her. Hell, I don’t even think these two have a chance with her – not going by the way she was acting around them both tonight.”

“What do you know?” I growl. Picking up my stuff and heading toward the door. “I’m out of here guys. Have fun at the party.”

“Hang on. I’ll come too.” Marcus says, getting up to follow me out. I simply look at him and nod, knowing that this is his way of making things cool between us.

We drive back to the hotel in silence and it isn’t until we pull up in the
parking garage that he speaks to me. “Listen. About last night. I was really pissed off when I saw you coming out of her room and I said that stuff just to get to you. I never slept with her. I…” He lets out his breath and shakes his head slightly. “I always saw her as the kind of girl I’d settle down with you know? I don’t know. I just really like her. I always have. I actually…I think I love her.”

“So do I
,” I admit, focusing on the symbol in the centre of my steering wheel.

“Fuck man.
What do we do about it?” he asks, looking over at me.

I shrug my shoulders. “
Nothing. She doesn’t want either of us,” I say, as I get out of the car and head up to our room. Marcus doesn’t follow, he just stays sitting in the van.