Kissing the Shy Guy - Stephanie Street Page 0,61

with Jenna for that scholarship.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jarom’s shoulders sag with relief. He put his hand over his heart. “Oh, man. You had me going there for a second. I thought you were serious.”

I glared at my best friend. “I am serious, you idiot. I can’t bail on her. We’ve been working for weeks.”

Jarom took a step toward me. “Yeah? Well, we’ve been working for months!”

I scowled. “It’s not the same thing.” I turned to Asher. “You said summer. I promised Jenna because you said summer.”

Asher opened his mouth, but Jarom beat him to it.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” He pushed my chest with both hands. “You’re going to ditch us for Jenna Bradford?”

I clenched my fists, leaning toward him, my jaw tight. “Don’t do that, man.” Jarom and I had been friends for a long time. I didn’t want to fight him, but I would if he pushed me again.

Jarom looked me up and down, then scoffed. “Are you kissing her? Is this because you kissed her?”

I took a step forward. “Man, shut up.”

Jarom looked like he was going to hit me. Asher hurried to step between us while Bash grabbed one of Jarom’s arms.

“Let’s all just take it easy.” Asher held his hands out in front of him while Jordan watched the drama with wide eyes.

Jarom whirled on Asher. “Are you serious? Did you hear what he just said? He’s going to abandon us for some girl!”

“Jarom, I swear to—” I lunged for my best friend, but Asher caught me under my arms, holding me back.

“He’s going to screw up everything,” Jarom screamed as Bash wrapped his arms around Jarom, pinning Jarom’s arms to his side.

“Stop!” Asher yelled his forearm in my throat, surprising me until I remembered he was a badass hockey player. “You guys are acting crazy. What the hell? Jordan’s in here. And if any of you idiots hurt her, even on accident, I will end you.” His piercing eyes met mine as he lifted his brow almost imperceptibly in silent question.

I nodded, and Asher eased his hold. “Sorry, Jordan,” I said to his girlfriend.

Jordan just lifted her chin. I didn’t know why he was so worried. She could probably kick all of our asses—except maybe Asher’s.

“This doesn’t fix a thing. We can’t go to New York without him!” Jarom still looked ready to rip my head off.

“Back off, Jarom.” At least now, I knew where I stood with my best friend. I was only good enough if I did what he wanted. Well, screw that! Turning, I shoved my guitar into its case.

“What are you doing?” Jarom took another step toward me, but Bash laid another restraining hand on his arm. And a good thing, too. I wouldn’t be able to hold back from punching him next time he came after me.

“I’m leaving. The bell’s gonna ring soon, anyway.” We still had five minutes, but I couldn’t stay in that little room with those guys for another second. I stopped at the door. “I’m sorry, Ash, but I can’t leave Jenna hanging. I won’t.”

Asher nodded, and I knew he heard me. I wouldn’t be talked out of this.

“Then, maybe we don’t need you anymore!” Jarom’s eyes blazed. “If you can just leave us like that.”

My head jerked back at his words. Seriously? He wanted me out of the band because of this? I glanced around the room. Did they all feel that way?

Before I could ask, Asher held up his hand. “We’ll talk about it later, once everybody’s cooled off. I need to think.”

I nodded once before leaving. We could talk about it until we were all blue in the face, but it wouldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t leave Jenna.

But damn.

I stopped outside the door, wiping a hand over my face. Would they really kick me out of the band over this? Were all my dreams of becoming a professional musician hanging in the balance right now? Asher gave me a week’s notice! I made a commitment to Jenna five weeks ago. And last week she finally decided to trust me, to give a relationship between us a shot. I would never do what Josh did. I would never hurt her. If that meant my position with Breakout was done, so be it.

“Hey!”

I glanced up to see Laura push off the wall like she’d been waiting for me. Had she heard us arguing? Whatever. I didn’t even care.

“What’s up?” I asked, a little shaky as my emotions came back