the dressing room and said, “Go. Get ready. I’ll explain things to Mag.”
I moved to the door to do as he said, but turned at it and called, “Auggie.”
He already had his phone to his ear, but he turned his head to me.
“Thank you.”
He jerked up his chin and then said, “Mag? Yeah. Evie and I had a chat and she’s not at the place where she’s down with you bein’ here while she dances. I’m on her tonight. I’ll bring her to you after.” A pause and then, “No, yeah, really, brother. Evie needs this and I got her. Okay?”
His attention focused on me and he nodded.
“Cool, Mag,” he said. “I’ll call when we’re on our way to your place.”
I heaved out a breath, mouthed “thank you” to him again, and then pushed in the door.
My shoulder was practically dislocated when I was yanked inside.
“What in the holy hell-blazin’ fuck?”
I blinked at Ryn, another dancer, who was scowling at me.
A half second after, I saw I was surrounded by Ryn, Pepper and Hattie, with Lottie behind them, arms crossed on her chest, foot out, a smug look on her face.
She’d instigated an ambush.
“Uh, hello, Evan?” Ryn called my attention back to her. “I’ve cozied up to you in a fake lesbionic, tip-inducing wonder scene more times than I can count, and you don’t pick up the phone and call when your brother lands you in deep shit?”
“I mean, seriously,” Hattie said then looked at the other two girls. “We look out for each other. Am I right? Sisterhood.”
“You’re right,” Ryn replied.
“Breaking this down,” Pepper entered the three-way conversation that just happened to involve four people. “We’re hurt you hung with the Rock Chicks and let them clean up your pad and you didn’t call on us.”
They were hurt?
I liked them.
I knew they liked me.
But when I needed help and I didn’t call, they were hurt?
Wow.
“Well, I didn’t really—” I began to share that was not at my instigation, or my choice, but that was as far as I got.
“It’s us from now on,” Ryn declared. “The Dream Team. The Rock Chicks are cool and all, but we’re next gen.”
“So, you know, Lottie says there’s more stuff to go through and you have to sift through some of it, so we’re gonna go do that tomorrow.” Pepper flipped a hand at the three of them, as well as me. “All of us. We’ll meet at your place at noon. I’m bringing lunch. And tonight has been declared a benefit for the rejuvenation of Evie’s pad. All the dancers are giving you their tips. Even Carla and Dominique.”
I opened my mouth.
“No,” Hattie said quietly, and that was Hattie. She was gorgeous and she could dance almost as good as Lottie. In fact, she’d studied dancing for years and wanted to go professional, but life, as it was wont to do, got in the way. But offstage, she was quiet. Even timid. “Don’t, Evie. And you know why.”
I did.
My life wasn’t the only life that had a mess in it somewhere, either on the surface, or buried deep.
I’d taken all their backs before.
Including Carla and Dominique.
“You should know,” I said to Pepper, who I knew Lottie was in the throes of fixing up with Auggie. “Auggie’s out there. He’s on duty to look after me tonight.”
“Fabulous,” Pepper told the ceiling.
“Maybe you should dance in a mask,” Ryn teased Pepper.
“You’re the one who likes masks,” Pepper retorted to Ryn.
Really?
What did that mean?
Interesting.
“I wonder if Boone likes masks,” Hattie remarked.
“I’m not getting together with Boone,” Ryn told Hattie.
“Well, I’m not getting together with Auggie, so it doesn’t matter if he sees me dance,” Pepper told Ryn.
“I’m totally not getting together with Axl,” Hattie declared, giving a visible little shiver that had a lot to do with her being pathologically shy around guys.
“You are, you need this,” Ryn, always a boss, said.
“You need Boone too,” Pepper cut into Ryn’s bossing. “You need to settle down. You scare me.”
What?
Why was Ryn scaring Pepper?
“I’m fine,” Ryn returned.
Pepper looked to me. “She is not.”
“What’s—?” I started, but Lottie spoke up.
“You women better slap on some makeup and pull on your G-strings or Smithie is gonna get involved and no one wants that,” she said. “He’s been threatening to pull you, worried you’ll be at risk when you’re onstage,” she told me, and that made me shiver. “We talked him out of it. But tips gotta be made. There’s furniture and plates and whatnot that need replaced. So, let’s