Dream Chaser (Dream Team #2) - Kristen Ashley Page 0,72
by a beach,” Pepper replied.
“A beach would make it seem like a vacation,” Evie put in.
Unfortunately, she was right.
And if Boone came along, it’d be a great vacation.
I could not focus on this. I had to focus on important shit.
Yeah.
You’re reading it right.
That would be focusing on the “important shit” of having the absolute wrong reaction to all that was going down with me.
And that would be getting in the face of people who were trying to look out for me.
By the by, it would take a while for me to have this epiphany, so wait for it.
In that moment, however, Smithie cut in to share, “I’m not changing my mind. Until it’s safe for you, you’re not onstage. And Ryn, when you get your head out of your ass about all of this, you’ll realize that’s not only about looking after your best interests, but the shit at play here, I gotta protect a whole lot more than just you.”
He swung his arm out, indicating the “whole lot more” included the other girls then went so far as twisting to swing his arm behind him toward the back wall to indicate the club.
“We’re talking dirty cops,” he continued. “I run a strip joint. I bet you can think of at least a dozen scenarios where they could find reasons to fuck with me, you, and my entire staff. I’ll also bet they can think of three dozen. Are you understanding me?”
Okay, so at that juncture, it was dawning on me that it might be me that was being pathologically self-involved.
Cue us leaving the club with our tails tucked between our legs.
Though Lottie, surprisingly, the most together of all of us, the most mature, was the one not feeling it.
So not feeling it, she ranted and raved the entire way home about how life couldn’t just come to a complete stop because some assholes had targeted me.
This meant by the time we got home, I was no longer feeling it.
And thus, when we reconvened with the other girls, we got them to not feeling it (and just to say, Mo did a lot of studying the ceiling during all of this, as well as heavy sighing, but he spoke not a word), and in the end, Lottie got on the phone, starting with Jet, her sister.
She ran it down, on speakerphone, after which Jet, the second Rock Chick to face her ordeal, said, “I hear you. I get it. But take it from one who knows, and I’ll just say, I said this same thing to all the Rock Chicks that came after me. Don’t fight it. Keep your head down. The boys do eventually sort it out and the only thing you’re doing is soothing your pride and mucking up the works.”
Lottie (who, I should share at this juncture, was a pretty tough broad, and I was also seeing she could be a dog with a bone) refused to accept that response, rang off with Jet, and called Ally.
I thought Ally was a good bet and Lottie should have started with her first. Mostly because I didn’t know her all that well, but what I did know was that Ally was a badass and wouldn’t take any guff from anyone.
Especially a guy.
“Normally,” Ally said over the speaker, “I’d say stick to your guns. The thing is, at this point, we have no idea how big this is. We just know it’s big. So it’s an uncertain situation that means better safe than sorry.”
Well then.
Hell.
That made sense.
It sucked.
But it made sense.
After that, I stopped Lottie from running through all the Rock Chicks mostly because it was getting late and she, Pepper and Hattie all had to get to the club to dance.
But not me.
Oh no.
I was on “vacation.”
(Huh.)
The girls left, but Lottie didn’t go until Mo was relieved by Axl, who showed at my place not hiding the fact he was ticked at me that I’d pissed off Boone.
We had a terse (his side), awkward (my side) convo about his security detail that included him sharing he was the night guy and would be sleeping on my couch.
He did not accept my offer to cook him dinner (probably a wise choice, I was no kitchen diva, still, I thought my offer was nice) and took what I suspected were way more than needed opportunities to go outside and “scan the area.”
I went to bed early, because, you know, I’d had a rough day.