used to rock stars throwing tantrums, even if it wasn’t usually me.
First time for everything.
“Has he lost his fucking mind?” I seethed, even though the logical part of my brain was telling me to calm down. My feelings for Chaz had never really been all that rational in hindsight. “Jacob Saint is a goddamned snake!”
Up until that point, I guess I had been holding out hope Chaz was going to change his mind. That maybe he’d go off and do his solo thing for a while, until he came to his senses and back home. This wasn’t just him playing quirky folk rock at festivals and doing puff pieces for indie mags showcasing what a sensitive Soft Boy he was.
“So much for his solo career,” Dante muttered.
If there was anyone who hated Jacob almost as much as I did, it was him. First time we’d agreed on anything in a long while, and for the moment, it seemed we had a truce. “This is bullshit,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s just doing this to get back at me.”
“At both of us,” Dante protested. “And for being sweet, innocent Chaz, he’s pretty fucking good at it.”
I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t. I still didn’t want to believe Chaz would do something like this just to punish me, but at the same time, I couldn’t really blame him. It was all the more reason to intervene, since he was only with that creep because of me.
Probably. That, or his judgment was way more questionable than I’d ever imagined. Hell, maybe it was both.
“I have to talk to him. I have to do something before Jacob gets his claws in any deeper,” I said, more to myself than anyone else.
Cash looked like he was about to start lecturing when Dante chimed in with, “I agree.”
His husband gave him a bewildered look. “Not you, too.”
“Isn’t that the guy from Organic Animal?” Trent asked, reminding us all he was still there. He was kind of like wallpaper that way, and you didn’t want wallpaper to talk.
“Oh, shut up!” Dante and I snapped in unison.
We looked at each other awkwardly, like an old married couple that’s spent way too much time with each other, and the only thing holding them together is spite.
“Sheesh,” Trent muttered under his breath. “I’ll be on stage.”
The door had just fallen shut behind him when Drake came in. He looked at the table, then at Dante and finally over at me, his expression growing more accusatory by the second. “What did you do to Trent?”
“Nothing,” Dante said.
“They saw the Variant piece, and they’re both having a tantrum about it, so they’re taking it out on the new pack omega,” Cash said dryly before I had the chance to interject.
Dante shot him a look of irritation.
“What?” Cash shrugged. “It’s the truth. You two only ever got along as well as you did because you blew your steam off by negging the poor kid, and now Trent’s the new punching bag.”
Dante opened his mouth as if to respond, but promptly shut it. Cash was right, and we both knew it. In the months that had elapsed since Chaz quit the band, it had become obvious just how much we’d all come to rely on him for one thing or another. Our social presence was a mess until Drake had brought someone else in to manage it, and people still noticed the difference. Then there were the subtler roles he’d taken on, some that should never have been foisted on him in the first place, but now that he was gone, it was like the structure was collapsing in on itself--not just in my life, but in the band as well.
“Well, it ends today,” Drake said firmly. “I’m not getting another replacement two damn shows before the end of the tour, so you’re just going to have to find a way to behave like adults. I swear, I should’ve stuck with managing violinists.”
Probably not a bad idea.
Drake picked up the magazine I’d tossed, frowning as he flipped through the pages. I could tell from the way his eyes were scanning the page he didn’t like what he saw.
“Don’t tell me it’s your first time reading it,” I said.
He said nothing, but the way his mouth pursed into a stiff line was a resounding yes. He folded the page back and started reading, his voice dripping with derision. “‘Lockheed has reluctantly alluded to tensions with his former manager, Drake Weiss, but has refused