Wild Chase (27 page)

“Come on, Avery, I said I was sorry about this morning. I’ve never let anything like that happen before. And technically, I was working on music related business,” Jesse says, throwing the rental car keys on the counter of the hotel room kitchen as he and the other three guys walked into the shared suite. The other guys had already forgiven him for missing an interview this morning, all except his best friend.

Adam scoffs and grabs at his crotch, “Yeah, we’re sure you were making sweet, sweet music—all night long!”

Jesse turns with a sly grin on his face and laughs with the drummer.

“Dude, you have NO idea. If you thought her singing voice was hot, you should hear her when she—,” Jesse begins, but Avery quickly cuts him off.

“What was so important that we had to have a group meeting, Jesse? I know it’s not to hear about your night, so, out with it,” Avery states in a hurry, sitting down on the couch. Kennedy tosses his jacket on the couch and sits down beside the lead singer.

“Yeah, man, I’ve got plans with Vic for dinner so can we hurry this along,” the well-groomed guitarist adds.

Adam and Jesse make their way to the sitting room and find seats quickly.

“All right, well I wanted to revisit a previous idea that we discussed before we came out here.”

The rest of the band eyes Jesse, unsure of what he’s talking about.

Jesse sighs, “When the label came back and told us about the album again. We talked about maybe bringing in another person to the band.”

Adam nearly flies out of his seat, “Hold the fuck up, bro. That was before hand. We were running out of time and didn’t have many other options for beefing up the album. Things are different now. We don’t need another fucking guy.”

Jesse holds out his hands, “Dude, calm down. I’m not talking about another guy. I’m talking about Melanie.”

The room goes silent for a moment.

Avery’s heart slams against his chest.

“You know what, that’s not such a bad idea,” Kennedy pipes up, shocking the other guys by breaking the silence first.

Jesse nods at the guitarist, “You get what I’m saying? She’s brilliant, talented, and she’s got the look to blend right in with us. Our music is better with her; even our fans will hear that.”

“Yeah, but she’s a she,” Adam says, eyes wide and hands out as if that’s all he needs to argue his case.

Even Kennedy rolls his eyes, “You heard yourself, the label is planning on getting a demo from her, and we all know they will offer her something. I’d rather have her music genius on our side than ripping our album sales a new asshole when she finally breaks in.”

Adam looks up for a moment, contemplating things. He nods slowly and then looks to the other guys, “You have a point there. She’d be some bad ass competition.”

The three of them nod simultaneously in agreement.

“Are you guys forgetting a huge fucking detail?” Avery suddenly fumes, sitting up and resting his elbows on his knees.

Three heads swing to meet his cloudy eyes.

“What?” Jesse asks, slightly annoyed with his best friends tone.

“Your current relationship with her might complicate things in the long run,” Avery warns, trying to unclench his teeth.

The other guys, immediately understanding Avery’s point of view, start to bob their heads, but Jesse just rolls his eyes.

“I really don’t see what that has to do with anything. It’s not like that. She and I aren’t dating. Besides, this band is my life; I would never jeopardize it for a girl. I don’t care what happens between us, it wouldn’t change anything. I think that she could be an incredible asset to Vengeful Honor. For now, this stays between us. We can give it more time, wait and see if we all click or whatever, but I’m not dropping the subject. I won’t change my mind. I want a contract drawn up so that we can get her before someone else does,” Jesse says firmly standing up and grabbing his phone from his pocket.

“You’re thinking with your dick on this one,” Avery says, secretly knowing that it’s the right move for the band, but also understanding how much more complicated it could make things.

A grin spreads across Jesse’s face as he peers down at his cell.

“Say what you want, McGuire, but you know I’m right. Now, if you guys will excuse me. I’ve got some sweet, sweet music to get to tonight.”

Turning his head to the side Avery narrows his eyes and swipes a tongue across his teeth. When he watches Kennedy and Jesse grab their jackets, he stands up and storms off to his room, ignoring the vibrating phone in his pocket.

“Holy shit, she could cook for us! Oh, hell yeah, I’m fucking game!” Adam suddenly yells to an empty room.

“I thought you said that your favorite song changes daily?” I ask with a gentle laugh, listening to Jesse hum the tune to the same song he’s been singing since the radio interview almost two weeks ago. Turning his attention from the soundboard, he cocks his head at me in the cutest way.

“Well, for your information, Miss Taylor,” he draws slowly on the last syllable of my name, “I can’t help it. For some extremely sexy, adorable, beautiful reason, I just can’t get this song out of my head.”

Blushing, I feel the color creep up my cheeks. I would be lying if I said that waking up to Jesse singing those lyrics in his raspy morning voice as he nuzzles at my neck wasn’t one of the best feelings I’d ever felt. We’ve spent almost every single night together for the past two weeks, and every single day working in the studio. Aside from the nagging guilt in the pit of my stomach and a severely grumpy Avery, the time with Jess has been amazing.

“GET A FUCKING ROOM,” yells Adam from the couch. I turn to argue with him and he’s giving me a huge grin.

“Either that or give us a show, at least. If I’ve got to listen to any more of that corny shit I’m gonna blow chunks.”

I stick my tongue out at him and he does it back, teasingly adding a few dirty gestures. Who would have thought that the big, horny, teddy bear of a drummer would end up being like a brother to me?

“Why don’t we just focus on finishing this song please? I think we’ve wasted enough time today. You guys are fully aware that the label requested that we add two additional new songs to the album, so we have a lot more work to get done,” Avery scowls, throwing down a notebook and rising out of his seat. I pause, turning back in my seat and keeping my eyes down. He and I haven’t said more than two words to one another since the interview. I can tell he’s furious, but about what exactly, I’m not sure. If it has to do with Jesse and me, he has no right to be! Our war of silence tips the scales in favor of that last notion though. Somehow, I know that once we start the conversation it will end up with explosions and fatalities, and I’m not ready to do it. Not yet.

“All right, man. Calm down. Let’s finish this one up and we can get started on the next track,” Kennedy says, slapping Avery on the back, “You all right? You’ve been on edge all week.”

I don’t even have to look up to know his eyes quickly dart to me before he answers.

“Just stressed out about getting all of this done,” he finally mutters, flopping back down into his seat and grabbing for a set of headphones.

Mike just shakes his head and starts up a conversation about the new track with the guys. I sit up and listen in, giving my input when needed. Before I know it, the rest of the day slips away. We finally finish the one track and are already halfway through the new one. After the late night Chinese take-out disappears, one by one, each of the guys start to say goodnight until the only three people left in the studio are Jesse, Avery, and I.

It’s been such a long day, and ignoring the insane tension radiating from Avery’s side of the room, I try to focus all of my attention to the task. I can’t get this part of the song to blend the way I want it to. Something is just off. Flicking my pen noisily back and forth I sigh and rub my forehead as I glance back at Jesse, who yawns loudly from the couch and rubs the back of his neck.

“I’m going to head on back to the hotel. I think I fell asleep there for a few minutes. You guys sticking around?” he asks, sounding exhausted.

I smile and nod, trying to hide how tired I am, but I can’t leave until I fix this chorus.

“Yeah,” Avery huffs, lost in his own little world.

“All right, well I’ll see you back here tomorrow then. Night, Bro.”

Suddenly, my chair spins around, and Jesse stops it with his leg. He puts his hands on the back of the headrest, one on either side of my head, tilting the whole thing back, and catching me off-guard.

“Sweet dreams,” Jesse murmurs as he cradles my face in one hand, tipping it back gently, gazing into my eyes in a way that lets me know what he’s really thinking about doing, and leans in. He presses his lips to mine so slowly that I’m sure steam rises up off us.

When he finally pulls away, it’s as if he takes the rest of the air from my lungs with him.

He licks his lips devilishly and strolls out, leaving me reeling. Damn him.

I turn back to the board and try to refocus on the song, but from my side all I can hear is snickering.

Rolling my eyes, I tilt my head over and look at my blonde haired
just friend
.

“What’s your problem?”

“Nothing,” he says shrugging his broad shoulders.

I stare at him, knowing that he will never say it. Anyone with half a brain can see the jealously scribed into his eyes every time he looks at the two of us together. Why that is eludes me though. He has Olivia! I deserve the right to move on in whatever fashion I choose. He doesn’t have the right act this way, and I think the silence between us is about to end.

“Ok, Mr. Denial.”

“What are you talking about?”

This time I shrug and say nothing. I hear him scoff and I can’t help but smile and stifle a giggle.

“Damn it, Chase, just stop it.”

I make a face, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like you said, no problem zone here, Avery.”

The next thing I know, Avery is out of his seat, and he has my chair tipped back, his hands fisted on either side of my face. My breath catches at the feel of him in my personal space for the first time in what feels like ages.

“What do you want from me, Chase? Huh? You want me to tell you how thrilled I am to see you walking around in Jesse’s clothes like some kind of groupie? Or maybe you want to hear about how cute you guys look together while he’s got his tongue down your throat.” He all but roars, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. Our eyes lock and his jaw tenses. I lick my lips and tip my head to the side. I’m just now realizing that anger is so much easier to get a grip on than all of the rest of the things I’ve felt lately. So I grab onto that feeling with both hands and lean up into Avery’s face, pressing the ends of our noses together.

“One word. You wanna know what that is? OLIVIA. Tell me again how amazing that girlfriend of yours is, Avery. What, did you think you were the only one of us allowed to move on? What happened to that beautiful ‘we can be friends’ speech from the other day? Or that whole, you have my blessing bullshit? I’ve got all night so please, spare no detail!”

His dark, beautifully tormented gray eyes stare deeply into mine for a moment before he shoves off my seat and paces across the room. My heart is practically slamming against my chest as I rise to my feet.

“What? Nothing to say now? You’ve been a complete ass to me for almost two weeks, and when we finally have a moment alone and you can let it all out, you’re at a loss for words? What Jesse and I do has nothing to do with you, Avery,” I say, feeling as though I’m swallowing down a handful of nails when I do.

He turns to me, his face turning red as he clenches his fists even tighter, the white of his knuckles showing. His muscles tensing and pulling against the tight material of his green cotton Henley t-shirt. I let out a long breath through my nose, feeling my body start to tremble as the pressure behind my emotion continues to build.

“I never thought I’d see you again, but here we are. I can’t change that now. But you don’t get to talk to me like that. Avery, you don’t have the right to act like a fuckin’ caveman! I’m not yours. Olivia is your girlfriend. Go home to her. I’m sure she’s up waiting for you,” I say, choking back the tears that are fighting to break through.

Avery spins around on his heels, his eyes burning and hands tugging at his hair.

“BUT I DON’T LOVE HER!” he bellows.

The air in the room stands still, neither one of us even breathing.

Love.

I finally suck in a deep breath, feeling my outer walls weakening, threatening to crash down around my feet with the slightest breeze.

He doesn’t love her.

My heart cracks; I feel it as it breaks open in my chest.

But it’s too late. Things are too messy now. How could he go and say something like that now?

I start to shake my head rapidly, the unrelenting tears rolling down my flushed cheeks.

I make for the door, stumbling over my own feet. As my hand grabs for the knob, Avery’s body crashes against me, pinning me between him and the door. I fight to turn around and face him, but once I’m looking up into his face, I desperately wish I had kept my back to him.