More Than Exes (10 page)

“
I
can’t believe you’re taking his side!”

“I’m not taking his side!”

“You don’t know what he’s like! He’s been harassing me and the other guys all night. He—”

“I don’t care what he did! That’s not who you are! Or, at least, that’s not the Kyle
I
used to know. That Kyle was a good guy. Not the kind of guy who went around punching people he didn’t like.” She sucked in a long breath. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m not sure I like this new version of you.”

As the song ended, she stared at me like she’d never seen me before, like I was a stranger, and that hurt more than anything. Maybe I’d been wrong to hit Todd, but she wouldn’t even listen to me explain why I’d done it. No matter what I said, I would never be good enough for Alexis and she would never be on my side.

“This was a mistake,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“You and me.” I tried not to let my voice shake, hiding how hard it was to say those words. “It’s never going to work. We tried but…we’re just too different.”

“But…” Her lip trembled, and she looked away. “Maybe you’re right.”

The next song started, and she turned back to the stage to take another photo. I’d expected her to fight harder, to beg me to change my mind, but maybe she’d realized we were still as messed up as we’d always been. If we couldn’t make it through one night without fighting, what kind of chance did we have for the future?

There was nothing else to say. I left her there, letting the crowd swallow me up, just another tattooed guy in black. A guy who’d just walked away from the only woman he’d ever loved.

J
ared found me outside, sitting on the ground against the side of the club. He sank down beside me, and for a few minutes, we watched the palm trees blow under the handful of visible stars in the LA night sky.

Finally, he broke the silence. “I really fucked things up, didn’t I?”

It took a second for me to realize he was referring to the Becca drama. I’d been so wrapped up in my own screw-up, I’d momentarily forgotten about it. “We all do stupid things sometimes.”

“Yeah, but I’m the only one who nearly ripped the band apart.” He ran a hand through his hair, his telltale, stressed-out move. “We’re going to lose another bassist, and it’s all my fault.”

“If that happens, we’ll deal with it. And it’s not entirely your fault. Becca’s partly to blame, too.”

“No, I really screwed up this time.” He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. “I can’t keep doing this, Kyle. I can’t keep being this guy. I need to get my shit together.”

I hated seeing him like this. This Jared was different from the one on stage, the one all his groupies saw. Even though he acted the part of the bad boy, deep down he was a good guy, too. Problem was he didn’t believe it himself. As much as I wished he would go back to the old Jared, I wasn’t sure he ever would. He enjoyed being the villain too much.

I draped an arm across his shoulders. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah.” He slumped against me. “What happened with Alexis?”

I picked at a tiny hole in my jeans, debating how much to tell my brother. “I messed everything up with her. We, uh, hooked up and I thought things were going well, but then I punched Todd. Turns out he’s one of her friends.”

“You punched Todd?” He laughed. “Well, I’m sure he deserved it.”

“Exactly! I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn’t listen.”

Except…Todd hadn’t
really
deserved it. He’d insulted the band, but I didn’t care what Todd thought about us. He’d grabbed my arm and gotten in my face, but I should have walked away. I should have let it go.

“You were doing the world a service,” Jared said. “I wanted to punch him myself for that terrible Bob Marley cover his band did.”

“I must have left before that.”

He shuddered. “Trust me, it was painful. You don’t mess with a classic like that.”

“I shouldn’t have punched him. I let him get to me. It was stupid.”

He elbowed me. “Hey, what did you just tell me? We all do stupid things sometimes.”

Except, I wasn’t allowed to do stupid things. I was the one who was supposed to have it together. Jared was our leader, the mastermind who wrote most of the music and took care of the management stuff the rest of us didn’t have time for. Hector was the one who challenged Jared on his bullshit, the rock who was always there to support us through everything. And I was the mediator, the one who held us all together, who smoothed things over and fixed our problems. I couldn’t afford to make mistakes, not when the other guys were counting on me.

“Don’t be like me, Kyle,” Jared said. “Quick hook-ups in cars, punching people… That’s not you. You’re better than that.”

I dropped my head. His words hit a little too close to home. I’d been so hung up on being “bad” that I’d forgotten who I really was. I’d thought I had to be more like my brother to get the girl. I’d thought Alexis wanted me to be that kind of guy. But I was wrong. She’d loved me for who I was.

I’d blown it with her, but maybe that was for the best. Did I want to be with someone I didn’t trust not to break my heart again? Who hung out with guys like Todd? I wasn’t sure.

I sighed. “You were right. I should have stayed away from Alexis.”

“No,
you
were right. I’m the last person who should give relationship advice.” Jared toed a rock with his boot. “All these years you’ve never gotten over Alexis, and now you have a chance to start over with her. You have to try. Just talk to her again.”

“I don’t know. Maybe we’re too…broken.”

“You’re not broken, just…bent. Like that P!nk song with the guy from fun.”

He started singing “Just Give Me a Reason,” and I jabbed him in his side. “Stop that.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Seriously, though. She’s here and she wants you back. She even helped you find Becca. So she has bad taste in friends. No one’s perfect. But isn’t she worth fighting for?”

I wasn’t sure why Jared had changed his mind about Alexis, but maybe I should listen to him for once. I hadn’t exactly given her a real chance tonight. I’d made a mistake by punching Todd, but instead of owning up to it, I’d used it as an excuse to end things with her. All because I was scared of getting hurt again.

But if I continued this way, I’d never open myself up to anyone. Alexis was my first love. My
only
love. She was worth fighting for.

I stood up and brushed off my jeans. “Thanks for the pep talk. I’ll go find her.”

“Any time.” He checked his phone. “But it’ll have to wait. We only have ten minutes before our set.”

We hurried backstage to where our gear was being stored. Hector was already there, waiting. “About time,” he said. “Where’s Becca?”

Oh, shit. Not this again.

“She’s not here?” I glanced around the backstage area. All of the other bands had already performed and were in the main part of the club, so it was nearly empty. No sign of Becca’s blue hair anywhere.

“I haven’t seen her since you came back with her,” Hector said.

Jared frowned. “Me either.”

“We still have a few minutes,” I said. “She’ll show up.”
Please show up, Becca.

Hector took off his Villain Complex hat, raked his hand through his curly hair, and shoved it back on again. “And if she doesn’t?”

I didn’t need to answer because we all knew what would happen. We couldn’t play without a bassist. Okay, technically we could, but it wouldn’t sound right. We might as well hand the prize to Todd right now.

“Let’s start setting up,” I said. “If she’s not here in the next five minutes, we’ll…figure something out.”

As I said it, Todd and his band walked off stage, carrying their gear and laughing. They stopped and glared when they saw us, their laser beam eyes seeming to hone in on me. I didn’t blame them for being pissed at me for punching their bassist. I’d be pretty mad, too, if I was in their shoes. But this could only lead to trouble.

“There you are.” Todd set down his guitar case and cracked his knuckles. “Payback time.”

“We’re a little busy at the moment,” Jared said, hefting his own case. “Rain check, maybe?”

“Looks like the perfect time to me.” Todd and his entourage moved closer, like sharks circling in for the kill. “If you’re too fucked up to play afterward, not our problem.”

How nice of Todd to pick the moment right before our set to try to beat us up. We were outnumbered, but Hector counted as at least two guys on his own, which evened it out. Our two bands stared each other down, like cowboys about to get into a shootout. We were all tense and ready to reach for our guns, but no one wanted to make the first move. I almost expected a tumbleweed to roll past us.

Hector smacked his fist into his other palm. “Bring it on.”

“Wait.” I couldn’t let our bands fight each other over my one lapse in judgment. Jared and Alexis were both right—that wasn’t who I was.

I wasn’t that kind of guy. I wasn’t like my brother. But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

Besides, we didn’t have time for this shit.

“I’m sorry I hit you, Todd. I’ve been having a rough night, and I took it out on you. It was inexcusable, and I apologize.”

Todd blinked, and then he burst out laughing. I thought we might be okay until it turned into a mocking kind of laugh.

“Damn, it’s going to feel even better when I pound your face in after that pathetic speech.” A wide, evil grin spread across his face. “You know, I saw you with Alexis earlier. But she’s coming home with me tonight ‘cause you’re such a pussy. And when I’m balls-deep in her, it’ll be even sweeter knowing I’ll have won the Battle
and
the girl.”

He laughed again, and Jared took a step forward, fists clenched. I put a hand on his arm to stop him. The thought of Todd sleeping with Alexis made me want to punch him again, to beat him until he couldn’t move—let alone
think
of touching her—but I wouldn’t let him get to me this time.

I shrugged, like his words didn’t affect me at all. “She can go home with whoever she wants, but hey, how about I buy you all a round of drinks after the show? What do you guys think?”

His eyes narrowed, like he didn’t understand why I wasn’t coming at him, fists flying. The other guys in his band looked confused, too.

“I could go for a drink,” the rapper said, and the others nodded.

“No.” Todd got up in my face again and poked a finger in my chest. “We’re settling this right here, right now.”

Well, I’d tried. I really had. But being nice to Todd only seemed to make him angrier, and Becca was still MIA. If we weren’t going to perform tonight, we might as well go out with a bang. I sucked in a breath and readied myself. I wouldn’t throw the first punch this time, but I wasn’t going to let him beat the shit out of me either.

“Kyle was right about you, Todd,” Alexis said from behind me. “You
are
an asshole.”

I spun around at the sound of her voice. She glared at him like she might shoot fire from her eyes and burn him down where he stood. Becca was at her side, her arms crossed. They looked like they could take on all four guys themselves.

“Hey, baby,” Todd said, flashing Alexis his pretty-boy smile. “You know I was just joking about all that. You’re still coming to my party tonight, right?”

“No, I’ll be celebrating with Villain Complex after
they
win.”

“Huh?” His face twisted, shifting from surprise to anger. “You’re going to pick these losers over us?”

“I am,” she said. “And I suggest you get out of here before I tell the guy running this show what’s holding up the final band.”

Alexis moved to stand beside me and flipped her red hair over her shoulder, looking like some kind of warrior princess ready to do battle. God, I loved this woman.

Todd’s buddies hesitated, dropping their shoulders, backing off. Maybe because they didn’t want to have to fight a girl. Maybe because they were outnumbered now. Or maybe I’d appealed to their decent sides earlier and they were starting to question if listening to Todd was such a good idea.

“Let’s go,” one of them said. The rest agreed, and they took off down the hallway, grabbing their gear as they went. Todd growled at us, but after one final look of pure hatred directed at me, he turned on his heel and followed.

As soon as they were gone, we all seemed to collectively relax, the tension vanishing from the air. My brother turned to Alexis and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too, Jared.” I detected a little quiver in her voice as she hugged him back. He whispered something to her that I didn’t catch, but she bit her lip and nodded.

Hector brought her in for a big bear hug next. “Damn, it’s been a long time, girl.”

“Yay, we’re all best friends again,” Becca said, rolling her eyes. “Can we get on with the show already?”

“Oh, now you care?” Jared asked. “Where were you five minutes ago?”

“I was about to take off, but Alexis convinced me to stay,” she said, glaring at him. “So let’s do this before I change my mind again.”

She grabbed her bass and stomped out to the stage. That one was a ticking bomb that I’d never be able to diffuse. At least for tonight, she was still part of the band—thanks to Alexis.