Love Notes (Rocked by Love #1) (13 page)

Jayne sat at Zander's kitchen
counter, sipping chai tea and flipping through a magazine. Patch slept on the
floor by her chair. Her cell phone rang, jarring a grumble out of the dog.
Luke's name appeared on the display. She hadn't seen that in weeks. He hadn't
bothered her, had only ignored her. Maybe he was trying to reach Zander. He was
holed up in the practice room, finishing up a video chat guitar lesson with
Dalton.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, I need tea
for tonight."

No greeting. She
shouldn't have expected on. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early.
Several hours earlier than when he'd requested things before. "What
kind?"

"There's a tea shop
in San Diego. They have a special throat coat tea."

She did the quick
calculation. "That's a three hour drive each way."

"So? I'm calling you
early enough to account for that."

"No. We have that
radio session this afternoon, remember? I'm going to that too."

"You can skip that.
You're not needed there."

"But Zander wants me
there. Even if he didn't, this falls under the ridiculous demands category.
There are plenty of throat-soothing teas that I'll be more than happy to get
for you at any local store. I'm not driving for six hours."

"Please."

The word gave her pause.
As did his tone. He'd never uttered that word to her. Not once. No
thank you
,
either. And certainly not in almost-desperation. Something wasn't right.

"Look. You're
obviously trying to get rid of me for most of the day. Not happening. I can
call the shop in San Diego and have the tea delivered to your door by private
service in three hours instead of me driving six."

More and more of their
encounters and his cold stares and harsh glares came to mind. All of the stupid
errands. All of the times he'd flat-out ignored her. And all the times she'd
try thinking the best of him only to be disappointed again. "You look at
me like you hate me. I've seen how you act with the guys, with the fans, and with
Irisa, and I know you're not the asshole with them that you are with me. I'm
sorry if I did something to make you hate me, but I've racked my brains trying
to figure out what that could be, and I don't have any idea. What did I
do?"

Silence. He hadn't hung
up because his breathing came through the line.

He didn't answer, didn't
care enough to answer. "Fine. If you want that tea, you can call the shop
yourself to make arrangements. But don't ever bother me for anything
again."

She ended the call and
realized her hands were shaking.

Irisa would need to know,
and Luke might even be calling her now to complain. Her phone rang again.
Irisa
.

A deep breath didn't help
her calm down. "Irisa. Hi. I was just about to call you."

"What's wrong?"

"Did Luke call
you?"

"No. Why?"

Her heart pounded in
steady, hard beats. "I'm finished with doing his ridiculous errands. I
don't mind helping out the guys, but when he calls me and demands that I spend
six hours driving to get him specialty tea, I put my foot down. He's not even nice
to me anyway, no matter what I do. No band member has ever treated me this way.
I'm done."

"Please don't quit.
I need you. I didn't know what was going on."

She blinked at the
distress in Irisa's voice. "I won't quit. I wouldn't do that to you."

"I'll talk to him. I
promise."

No need to now, she'd
told him off. But she knew her friend. Irisa would say something to him anyway.
"Thanks. I don't want to put you in an awkward spot, but I'm sure he'll
call you too, and I don't want you to think I'm not doing my job. I've put up
with this stuff for weeks." Tension eased and she remembered Irisa had
called
her
, not the other way around. "But that's not why you
called me. What's up?"

"I was going to ask
if you could go to the band's interview at KRIL this afternoon. I can't be
there; something came up. But if you don't want to be near Luke, you don't have
to go. The guys can do things on their own."

"I'll go. Zander
already asked me, anyway. He mentioned they would be performing the new song he
wrote." No way would she miss out on it this time.

Irisa let out a small
sigh. "Thanks. I'll let you get back to your day. See you tonight at the
show."

Jayne set her phone down.
Her stomach ached. The thought of seeing Luke in a few hours was like preparing
for battle.

Footsteps sounded behind
her. "What did he ask you to do? I came in on the 'I've put up with this
stuff for weeks' part."

She turned and faced
Zander. A scary scowl darkened his face. "He asked me to drive to a shop
in San Diego for tea."

"Are you fucking kidding
me?"

"I didn't think to
ask him that, but I'm sure he wasn't kidding."

"I'll rip his head
off."

She placed her palms on
his biceps. "It's okay. I flat out told him no."

He cupped her cheek.
"Then why do you look like you're ready to cry?"

"Because I asked him
why he treated me like I was worthless."

"Jayne—"

"I asked what I had
done—what slight or insult or oversight that I unintentionally did to make him
be such a jerk." Heat radiated off her face and her heart pattered hard.

"Honey. Calm
down."

"And you know what
he said?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. What a—"

"Jayne,"
Murmuring her name, Zander gathered her close.

She hugged him back,
cheek pressed into his shoulder.

His deep voice rumbled in
his chest. "It's not you."

Zander pounded his fist into his
legs, getting angrier and angrier with each passing minute. Brendan, Landry,
and Jayne sat with him in the radio station's studio. They were waiting on
Luke. And Luke was late.

An intern showed the
members of Assertive Ire into the room. Griffin, Ben, and Tyler, but no Seth.
Odd.

Zander leaned across an
empty chair toward Griffin. "Where's Seth?"

"He's not answering
his phone." At Griffin's hushed, serious response, a bad feeling formed in
the pit of his stomach.

"Luke isn't
either."

The DJ came in, downing
coffee. "We're still waiting on Luke and Seth?"

"Maybe they're
coming in together. Probably stuck in traffic." Brendan's suggestion could
happen. Luke and Seth were good friends.

"All right. Well,
shall we get on with the interview? Hopefully they'll arrive before your
performance." He settled behind his desk. "We're coming back in ten
seconds. Put on your headphones so we can take some calls."

Zander pulled on the
bulky headphones and glanced at his phone again. Nothing from Luke.

The DJ began, "And
welcome back to The Afternoon Jungle. We're here with The Fury and Assertive
Ire, co-headliners for the hottest ticket this summer. To start things off,
we're giving you a chance to speak to the guys. Ask them anything you
want." He rattled off the station's phone number. "We already have a
bunch of callers lined up, so let's get right to them."

He looked at the bands.
"Are you guys ready?"

"Sure." Zander
nodded.

"Let's do it,"
Griffin agreed.

"John in Los
Angeles, how's it going?"

"Hey man. Love your
show. And I love The Fury. I'm at The Caboose right now and I think I found
your missing member. Luke Thompson is here."

Oh no. Zander closed his
eyes. Please be wrong.

"Well, put him
on." The DJ gave Zander a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, I'm
here." Luke's voice slurred. "Who's this?"

"This is KRIL. Your
band The Fury is here with Assertive Ire giving an interview."

"Oh yeah, that's
right. You know, I have some things I'd like to say about The Fury…"

The DJ grinned.
"Well, sir, the floor is yours."

Zander pushed to his
feet. "Shit. No way. Get him off the air."

"He has a right to
speak."

Luke launched into a
tirade about unsatisfactory help, Brendan's gummy bear attacks, and Zander's
ballad. Then he said Jayne's name.

Zander's gaze shot to
her.

Face red, her blue eyes
met his—wide and panicked. Her hands gripped her headset. She mouthed,
Make
it stop
.

"Get him the hell
off the air." Zander ripped off his headset and slammed his fists on the
DJ's desk. "Now."

Luke's angry voice
continued, "I don't need any of you… My friend Seth was more than happy to
give me a ride to The Caboose."

The DJ's laughter mingled
with the sounds of the bar. "Classic rock and roll, man. What're you
drinking?"

"Shit." Griffin
stood up fast. "Seth can't be in a place like that. What's the
address?"

"I have directions.
I'm going to kill my brother." Ben, Assertive Ire's guitarist and Seth's
brother, joined him. They ran out of the room with Tyler close behind.

Zander grabbed hold of
the DJ's shirt collar. "I'm not kidding, man. End it, or I'll end
you."

"No way. This is
gold."

Shit. He tightened his
hold, digging the fabric into skin. "I'm not kidding."

Face turning red, he
nodded and ended the call. "So, that's what's new from Fury. We'll have a
live studio session after this commercial break."

Zander shook his head. He
expected them to perform after that? "Fuck that. We're leaving now."

He and Jayne rushed down
the hall with Brendan and Landry close behind. They took off for their cars.

Zander slammed the car
door behind Jayne. Missed calls and texts from Irisa lit up his phone.
"Irisa's on her way to the bar. She'll probably get there first."

Fury pulsed with every
heartbeat. He squeezed the steering wheel and floored the accelerator.

A crowd waited on the
sidewalk outside the bar. When he and his band mates and Assertive Ire stepped
onto the pavement, they erupted in shouts and cheers.

Zander grabbed hold of
Jayne's hand and forged a path through the crowd to the door.

People stepped back,
clearing the way to the bar. At the end, Luke stood, arguing with Irisa and
Dom. Then Dom's arms circled Irisa's waist and he pulled her away to the other
side of the room. Ready for a fight, Zander stormed over.

Luke glared at him.
"What the hell do you want?"

Zander stepped forward
until they were nose to nose. "We're gonna talk, you and me."

"Get the fuck out of
my space." Luke shrugged away.

The bands' voices all
mixed together, yelling over one another. Ben pushed forward and grabbed Luke's
arm. "Where the hell is my brother?"

"I don't know,
man."

A female scream pierced
the air. "Seth's not breathing! I need an ambulance!"

Griffin, Ben, and Tyler
took off for the back of the room. The woman screamed again. The crowd swarmed
in all directions.

Zander stepped in front
of Luke again. "What the fuck were you thinking going on air like that,
saying what you said?"

Luke pushed him back a
step. "What's going on with Seth?"

"Someone here is an
EMT. They're working on him." Jayne shouted over the crowd.

"You're the last
person I expected to see here." Luke towered over her. "You're the
last person I want to see here."

Zander guided her to the
side, and then shoved Luke hard in the chest. "Watch yourself around her.
She's my number one priority. You touch her, you hurt her in any way and we're
done. She's in my life now, like it or not, and if you want to be too, then
you'd better adjust fast. I know what you asked her to do today. What the fuck
is your problem?"

"Screw you."

Sirens wailed in
deafening volume, and then blue and red flashing lights illuminated the bar.
The crowd scattered under the police officers' directions, making way for the
paramedics. Zander pushed away from Luke. The paramedics loaded Seth onto a
stretcher and rushed him out to the ambulance. Faces grim, Griffin, Tyler, and
Ben followed.

Watching Seth being
wheeled out, Zander felt helpless and angry. In need of comfort, he wrapped his
arm around Jayne. An officer approached them. "Tell me what
happened."

He and Jayne relayed
their story about arriving at the bar, then Irisa and Dom joined them. In the
corner of his vision, Luke gave his statement.

Behind them, Jake
finished giving his.

Zander leaned down to
Jayne's ear, murmuring they needed to speak with Jake. He kept his arm around
her and moved toward the man who had always been one of their biggest
supporters.

"Jake, I'm
sorry."

"I don't know what
the hell happened. First Luke's drinking in here, then a mob shows up, then
your band and Assertive Ire show up, then the whole place explodes. And Seth
bringing drugs into my place? Not cool."

"I agree. Not cool
at all. Bill me for all of the damages."

"I'll do that.
Thanks."

"We wouldn't have
gotten to where we are now without your support in the beginning. Whatever you
need, man. Again, from the band, we're sorry."

Jake clapped him on the
back and then walked away. Zander turned and faced his band mates standing
twenty feet away in a pool of debris. They'd hit rock bottom. Squeezing Jayne's
shoulder was the only thing keeping him from pounding his fist into Luke's
face.

Luke stormed out of the
building.

Holding onto Jayne,
Zander returned to the group. "I told Jake to bill me for all
damages."

Ringing echoed from
Irisa's purse. She pulled out her phone.
Oliver Somers
. "Great.
Just what I need."

Dom drew her closer.
"I'd be happy to answer it for you."

"Me too."
Zander snatched the phone from her hand. "Oliver, it's Zander. Irisa's
busy right now. What do you want?"

"Zander,"
Oliver sputtered. "I saw pictures of you guys. What's going on?"

Unbelievable. The
meddling idiot. He shook his head at the group and banged his fist on the wall.
"My band is fine. Griffin's is not. They're at the hospital with Seth and
won't be playing tonight. You might want to be a little more concerned about them.
We're on our way to sound check and it's on your head if we're late." He
tapped the phone's screen to end the call, then held it out to his sister.
"Done. Now let's get the hell out of here."

"Thank you."
She stepped closer to Dom as his phone buzzed.

Zander nodded at them and
then walked toward the exit. "Where the hell was Luke going?"

"He's stopping by
the hospital on the way to the arena." Brendan kept pace beside him.

"If he doesn't show
up…" He stopped walking. "I'm not kidding this time. If he doesn't
show up, he's out of the band. I'm done dealing with him."

Landry looked at Jayne.
"Luke had some interesting things to say about you."

She grasped her pendant.
"I don't know why he doesn't like me."

"That seems to be
his biggest problem." The bassist shook his head. "Makes me
wonder…"

"Look." Zander
slid his arm around Jayne. "If Luke has a problem with Jayne, then he has
a problem with me. And if Luke has a problem with me, then he'd better be ready
because we're going to deal with it once and for all."

An empty feeling weighed Jayne down.
The arena was alive with sound but she couldn't muster any energy or spark.
None of the band could. After everything that had happened that afternoon, the
concert itself almost seemed silly. Who cared about a show when a man was
fighting for his life and the members of her band were tearing each other
apart?

Luke arrived and the
tension in the room increased by a thousand percent. He walked by her, looking
through her, not making eye contact, not acknowledging her any way at all.
Zander observed, and followed Luke. They exchanged words and glares about
something she was too far away to hear.

Tears prickled the backs
of her eyes. She ducked into the restroom to calm down. She blamed herself for
Zander and Luke's relationship plummeting—all the times Luke had been unkind to
her, and the extra tension she'd caused between him and Zander. Too much had
been said. The band looked on the verge of a breakup.

She couldn't allow it to
happen.

She needed to find Irisa.

When she came out of the
restroom, Irisa walked in her direction. Jayne took a deep breath. She wrung
her hands together. "Can I talk to you?"

Irisa's eyes widened.
"What's wrong?"

"I can't do this
anymore. There's too much discord."

"You're
quitting?"

"With other bands, I
have to deal with some of the same issues, but it's not as bad. For whatever
reason, Luke hates me."

"He doesn't
hate—"

"He does. And for
whatever reason, it's messing with the band's dynamic."

Irisa reached for her
hand. "We need you."

"I need you as a
friend more. If I stay, there won't be a band to manage. You need an effective
assistant who doesn't make the band mates crazy. I can't give you that. You're
my friend, and I care about your brother. I want this band to be successful.
That's why I have to go."

"Have you talked to
Zander?"

Her insides shook at the
thought of having that conversation. "Not yet. You hired me, so I wanted
to come to you first."

Irisa nodded. "I
know you're right. I just didn't want it that way." She looked as
exhausted as Jayne felt. "I'll tell him after the show."

"I'm sorry." In
trying to save the band, she was letting down her best friend.

"Me too."  A
tight smile formed on her lips. "You might as well go on home now. Get a
start on recovering from our craziness."

Jayne glanced toward the
hallway leading to the exit. "I don't want to leave you hanging."

"Everyone's pretty
emotional today. It's better that you go now."

"All right."
Blinking back tears, she walked down the hall. And realized Zander had driven
her to the venue. She rounded the building, heading to the cab station.

Gray, overcast skies
settled a gloomy mask over the city. Tears burned her eyes. Biting her lip
couldn't hold them at bay. Drawing deep breaths, she wiped at her cheeks.