Beneath the Stars (Falling Stars #4) - A.L. Jackson Page 0,6

charismatic stage presence and his penchant for leaving behind a superhighway of dropped panties and broken hearts, also loves to leave behind a trail of brawls and barfights.

Celebrity Spread has learned the country-rocker has a record almost as long as the notches in his belt. After five arrests and two minor convictions, Manning now stands to serve up to six months in jail.

Earlier this year, Carolina George announced its first major-label album, backed by Stone Industries, will be released this winter, though sources close to the band have been tight-lipped about when they are scheduled to be in the studio.

When a storm of speculation about Manning leaving the band hit the social media airwaves after he disappeared from the spotlight, Carolina George offered this official statement: “Our band is family, blood or not, and that includes Rhys Manning. We can’t do what we do without him. We believe the fight occurred in self-defense, and we stand behind him one-hundred-percent.”

Yet at his arrest, Rhys Manning showed no signs of injuries.

The band stole millions of hearts during their stunning performance at last year’s ACB Awards, and now adoring fans are desperate for more.

But will this chronic bad behavior derail Carolina George’s skyrocketing rise to superstardom or will the turmoil only feed the band’s creative force? Only time will tell.

Throat thick, I reread the article that had been published last week as I sat in the backseat of the black SUV that sped toward our destination on Tybee Island.

Nerves fired through my body.

A chaos of excitement and dread that toiled and pled from the depths of me.

I guessed I finally understood why they called it a crush.

It might have been the first one I’d ever had, but I recognized the heaviness that sat like a ton of bricks at the center of my chest. Recognized the way my heart pinched and squeezed and made it feel like it was difficult to breathe.

Constricting and compressing.

Part of me felt desperate to see his face. To get the affirmation that he was fine and whole, while the other half still felt raw and broken by what he’d done.

It wasn’t like we were a couple or anything.

I wasn’t delusional.

But I swore there’d been something there.

Something that was bigger than the two of us.

Something unfound that had begged to be acknowledged.

And then he’d just…freaked out.

Beat the hell out of that guy for no reason.

All while he spewed words against me.

Words that had slayed and stung.

After that?

Nothing.

Not a word.

I hadn’t heard from Rhys Manning in six months.

Radio silence.

So I’d resorted to this—stalking him on the internet.

Devouring any articles I could find. Searching his hashtags for a glimpse. Gorging myself on his music night and day.

Pathetic.

But it was like he’d disappeared from the face of the earth.

Only a few pictures had popped up of him in all that time—one of him with his mama in his hometown and a few others with women who were reposting from times before.

And I worried. Worried for him.

That he wasn’t okay.

That whatever demons had possessed him that night had completely infiltrated his heart and mind.

Taken over.

And I had no way to call him out of it.

I shifted in my seat, trying to pull myself together.

I needed to remind myself it wasn’t my job.

We were barely even friends.

Besides, I had enough of my own mess to deal with, didn’t I? Only God knew the kind of trouble I’d brought into my life.

I reached into the top pocket of my purse and ran my fingers over the little origami duck that was tucked inside.

Feeling its worn edges.

I’d made it in my group therapy class. It was meant to be an illustration that we had the power to reshape our circumstances. Form them into what we wanted them to be. That we might have been dealt a bad card, but we had the power to fashion that card into a new shape.

At the time, I’d picked a duck since it was easy to make. But there’d been something to it, and I’d kept the duck all this time, carrying it around with me as a reminder that I was in control.

Yeah.

My own demons might be on the hunt, but I was going to do whatever it took to pull this off.

It would be worth it in the end.

From where he sat in the middle row in front of me, my older brother Royce released a strained sigh. “Still not sure about all of this,” he grumbled as he roughed his tattooed fingers through his shock of black