Seductive Chaos (Bad Rep #3) (22 page)

I was right at the climax of the movie. Johnny Castle had just blown onto the scene and said his iconic line, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” and there was a knock at the door.

I frowned, not knowing who could possibly be coming by for a visit at this time in the morning.

I pulled my robe tighter around me and got to my feet. Whoever was on the other side of the door was extremely impatient.

“Hang on. Where’s the fire?” I grumbled, twisting the deadbolt and pulling the door open.

“Maysie?” I asked, looking down at my best friend.

She gave me a wane smile and reached out to give me a hug, which I returned, though I was still in shock at her sudden arrival.

“What the hell are you doing here? Are you moving in? Because if you are, you should have said something, bitch,” I teased, though I was sort of serious. She had mentioned when we had been in Raleigh that she was thinking of coming back to Bakersville to get some needed distance from the drama of the boys on tour.

But that had been the last she had mentioned it. Gracie and I had figured she had said it in a moment of frustration and Jordan had calmed her down.

But here she was, standing on our doorstep, looking anything but happy.

“Can I come in? It’s sort of cold out here,” she asked, stepping around me into the living room.

“Sure, sorry. I’m just surprised to see you. The last we spoke you were on your way to Chicago,” I said, closing the door behind her and following her to the couch. Maysie looked even more exhausted than she did the last time we saw her. I knew whatever reason she was here, it wasn’t good.

“Yeah, well, we got to Chicago-” she began, sitting down.

“Do you want me to get Gracie? How about a coffee? I just bought this amazing machine,” I broke in. It was in my nature to be a mother hen, even if I was abrasive in how I went about it.

“No, I’m fine. And don’t wake up Gracie. I can fill her in later.” Maysie waved away my offer.

With nothing left to do, I sank down beside her, ready to listen.

“I don’t see any luggage. Am I to presume you’re not moving in?” I asked.

Maysie shook her head. “No, I’m at Garrett’s.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. Though I shouldn’t have been. That was where Jordan had lived before going on the road.

“Yeah, with Garrett and Jordan,” she added and the world stood still.

Or at least it felt like it.

“Jordan and Garrett are back in town?” My voice cracked and I reached for my coffee. I took a sip, not caring that it was now cold. Because if Jordan and Garrett were back in town, then that meant Cole was back in town.

And I wasn’t sure I was ready for Cole to be back in town.

No. I knew I wasn’t.

“We all got in a few hours ago. We caught a flight from O’Hare at six this morning.” Maysie was twisting her fingers over and over again. She was upset. Seriously upset.

“That’s a really early flight. Are you on the run or something?” I joked, even if the last thing I felt like doing was laughing.

Cole was here.

In Bakersville.

Suddenly the small town felt even smaller.

How would I ever be able to avoid him?

“Pretty much,” Maysie stated, pulling me out of my Cole centered fixation.

“Just spill it, babe. Tell ole Vivvie what happened,” I coaxed.

“Their show in Chicago last night was a freaking disaster. I told you that the band hadn’t been getting a long. That Jordan and Cole had been at each other’s throats. Well it had been getting worse. And Garrett and Mitch were becoming just as fed up with the Cole ego show. He’s been monopolizing every interview. He’s been given press that the rest haven’t. It had been slowly building to a breaking point. I’m not saying Cole was doing any of this on purpose, but the boys were feeling slighted. Macho pride and all that.”

I nodded. I had picked up on the tension in Raleigh. Cole had never mentioned anything. We hadn’t had a whole lot of time to talk about band problems in between sealing my eyes shut with honey and telling him to get out of my life.

“It all seemed to center around this damn song the guys had written on the road. It’s an awesome song. It really is. I just don’t understand why they were fighting so much about it,” Maysie agonized, foregoing her finger twisting and started chewing on a strand of her hair.

“Well, I’m sure it wasn’t about the song really. If they were having problems, it was most likely the catalyst. Just the thing to push them over the edge,” I supplied.

Maysie arched her eyebrow at me, her lips twisting into a wry smile.

“Since when did you get so astute?” she asked, though I knew she was teasing.

“Hey, I actually paid attention in psych class. Unlike someone else I know,” I countered, swatting her knee. Maysie had been a lot more concerned with learning about Jordan Levitt than learning about Freud and Jung.

“You’re probably right though. Because they started arguing about this stupid song last night before their show. Cole insisted they had to play it. Everyone else said it wasn’t ready. So they got on stage and they weren’t the same. Their shows have been different lately. I don’t know if you picked up on that in Raleigh,” Maysie said and I nodded in agreement.

“I did,” I told her.

“Well, Cole took it upon himself to play the song anyway. He grabbed a guitar and sang the whole damn thing.”

I gasped. “You’re kidding! What did the rest of them do?”

Cole could be a self-centered bastard. He loved the limelight. But this seemed so out of character, even with his narcissistic tendencies.

“They walked off the stage. They left Cole out there by himself.”

I was stunned. I couldn’t imagine that the four guys I had seen play a hundred times before had degenerated to the point where they would abandon one of their own on stage.

“Shit,” I breathed out.

“Yeah. Then Cole and Mitch got into it and then Jose had Jordan up against a wall. It was horrible.” Maysie covered her face with her hands and I rubbed her back.

“They were kicked off the Primal Terror tour. Apparently their drama was in danger of overshadowing the actual shows. And they were told to head home. They have to meet the label execs in New York in a week to talk about where they go from here. Jose says they may pull the album and sever the contract.”

Oh my god!

“Jordan is blaming himself. He’s blaming Cole. He’s ready to say forget the whole thing. Honestly I don’t care if he never goes on the road again, but I know him. And I know that he still wants this as much as he ever did. It’s his dream. And even though he’s angry now, he’ll hate himself for losing the possibilities.”

I couldn’t keep the question lying at the forefront of my brain quiet any longer. It needed to be answered.

“So is Cole back too?”

Maysie pursed her lips. But thank god she kept any negative comments to herself.

“He’s here. He took a cab from the airport by himself. I’m guessing he’s at his apartment. I don’t really know,” Maysie informed me.

Cole was here. He was most likely broken and upset. I wanted to call him. I wanted to rush over and take care of him. I wanted him to need me. I wanted to be that person he could lean on when things got crazy.

But then I remembered my firm resolve to be absolutely
nothing
to Cole Brandt.

I chewed on my bottom lip. “Is he okay?” I asked, knowing I couldn’t go to the source to find out.

Maysie brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

“I don’t know. He’s been different. They all have been. Even Jordan. They say fame can change you. And I think that’s what was going on. Their star is rising and they start falling apart. I never thought it would happen. But it did. And truthfully, I’m thankful that Jose made them all go home. I’m glad they were kicked off that tour. The best thing for each and every one of them is to come back to Bakersville and get a little perspective.”

Maysie was one smart cookie.

“I think I am thirsty. Mind if I take you up on your offer for a cup of coffee?” she asked and I shook my head.

“Not a problem, babe. Let me fix you a mocha latte.”

G
racie and I went with Maysie back to Garrett’s house later in the day. My roommate had gotten up not long after I had made Maysie her cup of coffee and she had to launch into the entire story again.

Gracie was just as shocked as I had been. I was surprised that she hadn’t already gotten the scoop from Mitch. Typically she was the first person he would call when anything was going on. But her obliviousness to the situation made me wonder what was going on between the two.

Pulling up outside of Garrett’s home, I felt faintly sick. I wasn’t sure whether Cole would be there or not. And I hated to admit that my offer to hang out with Maysie there had something to do with my desire to see him. To make sure he was okay.

I couldn’t call him. I wouldn’t be weak enough to go by his apartment. But Garrett’s was neutral territory in a sense and I could feel less pathetic if I happened to run into him there as opposed to hunting him down.

Because despite everything that was going on his life, I had made the choice to cut ties. I’d feel like a bit ole’ pile of wuss if I caved in so soon. No matter what the reasons.

The three of us walked into the house and found Jordan, Garrett, and Mitch sitting in the living room playing video games.

Finding them like this, you would think nothing was wrong. A case of beer sat opened on the coffee table. Jordan and Garrett were cussing each other out as they tried to shoot each other while playing some combat role-playing game. Mitch was strumming one of Garrett’s acoustic guitars and none of them seemed overly concerned that their music career was set to implode.

But there was one major change in this familiar scenario. Cole was noticeably absent. Typically he would be right there with his best friends, shouting inappropriate commentary or getting wasted.

The void I felt by his absence was intense.

Garrett looked up when we entered and lifted a hand in greeting and then promptly let loose a string of curses when Jordan shot his character on the screen.

Maysie dropped her purse on the pool table in the corner and went to sit in Jordan’s lap.

“Hey ladies. Guess you weren’t expecting to see us around so soon,” Jordan said wryly, kissing the side of his fiancée’s neck.

I guess he was going to acknowledge the giant elephant in the room before it had a chance to trample us.

Gracie seemed oddly uncomfortable and I couldn’t help but notice the way she and Mitch purposefully didn’t look at each other. There was something definitely going on between the two and when I had a chance I would be finding out.

Gracie sat down on the Lazy Boy across the room and I made myself comfortable on the couch beside Garrett.

“Yeah, I was pretty stunned to find Maysie on our doorstep at ten-thirty on a Sunday morning. My first thought was she had wised up and left your sorry ass,” I teased, trying to lessen the tension.

“Not a chance in hell,” Jordan growled, kissing Maysie long and hard on the lips.

“Ugh, see what you’ve started, Viv!” Garrett complained, tossing the game controller on the coffee table and handing me a beer. I took it with a “
Thanks”
and gave him a pointed look.

“As if you and Riley are any different,” I challenged.

“I wish Ri would let me put my tongue down her throat in public!” Garrett joked, smacking Jordan on the back of the head, interrupting him as he devoured Maysie’s face.

“Maysie told us what happened,” Gracie said, her eyes flitting over to Mitch who was looking stanchly at the guitar in his lap.

“Yeah. We’re in deep shit right now. Even more if the label decides to not release our album,” Jordan muttered, releasing Maysie who slithered off his lap.

“So if Pirate Records decides not to release your record, what will happen then?” I asked.

“We have no fucking clue. Except that the music on that album will never be heard by anyone. Ever,” Mitch said bitterly.

“It’s bullshit,” Jordan said sharply.

“So what’s the next step then?” Gracie asked, accepting a bottle of iced tea that Garrett had thoughtfully offered her with a smile.

“We just have to wait and see what the label says next week. We’re flying up to New York next Tuesday. Until then we’re supposed to ‘sort our shit out,’” Garrett mimicked, obviously unhappy with the idea.

“And how exactly are you planning to sort your shit out?” I asked, noticing that throughout this entire conversation, not a single one of them had mentioned Cole.

Jordan shrugged. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. Things we have to work through. I’m not really sure where we’ll end up at the end of all this.” He said it lightly but I could tell he was worried. Maysie rubbed his back, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Do some of the things you need to work through include Cole?” I asked bluntly. Sitting there in Garrett’s living room without one of the main players felt strange and more than a little wrong.

I was frustrated on his behalf. Hurt and secondary betrayal stung my veins. Not that he deserved any consideration on my part, but I couldn’t help it.

Here were his best friends, his bandmates, and they existed in their group as if he were already gone.

Garrett gave me a strange look. I couldn’t quite decipher his expression. Garrett was a hard guy to read. He hid his emotions behind a blasé demeanor. Until Riley came into the picture, I hadn’t been entirely sure he was capable of feelings it all. He had spent most of his time numbing them with weed and booze.

“Cole is a big part of the problem, yeah,” Garrett said after a beat.

“Really? Why is that?” Gracie gave me a look that clearly said I needed to shut up. It really wasn’t any of my business and the glance Mitch and Jordan threw my way said as much.

But I wanted to know. I wanted to hear from them what exactly the problem was.

Garrett popped the cap off his beer and tossed it into the now empty case on the table. “Let’s just say some people forget too quickly where they came from.”

I felt my face get hot and an unreasonable irritation spread wildly through my insides. It wasn’t right that they were sitting here gossiping like old bitches behind Cole’s back. It wasn’t cool that they were holding onto their anger without having the decency to talk to him about it.