I wished more than anything that someone was sitting next to me. That that someone was Chloe. That we were laughing at Joey, drinking wine, eating nachos.Instead I was doing all these things. But I was alone.And it sucked. Big time.I was in a hotel in the middle of the city I called home for twenty-two years, and I had no one here. By now, it would be common knowledge within my parents’ circle that I was fighting Martin on this abuse thing. That I was going against him.Yet my so-called friends hadn’t once tried to contact me.I changed my number, sure, but my Facebook didn’t change, neither did my Twitter, and neither did my email. I haven’t had a single message, which further proved to me that the people I had spent the last few years with are 100 percent superficial.I placed a chili-and-guacamole-loaded nacho into my mouth and grabbed my phone from the nightstand.Where are you? I texted Chloe.On the road to Philadelphia. How are you?Desperate to know when you’ll get there so
AIDENHearing her voice was like a big-ass kick to the gut.Hearing her broken, hurting voice was a big-ass kick to the balls and the gut.I wished she wasn’t hurting. I wished I wasn’t so damn far from her. I wished it wasn’t several hours on a bus then a plane ride until I could be beside her. I wished I wasn’t so damn willing to fuck the show in Philly to get her. To feel her. To touch her.Truth was, I’d give fucking anything for her.I berated Conor so much for how he treated Chloe when she came back. I laughed at him and I abused him, but it was easy because I didn’t get it. I wouldn’t pretend I love Elena the way he loved Chloe, because we had different stories, but that didn’t mean I didn’t regret how I acted.Right now, if I had to, I’d give up everything for her. The lights, the charts, the fame. . . . Every single fucking second would become irrelevant if that was what she needed. Because sometimes you meet the dream you never even dreamed of, and it was more important than
“And there’s someone here that can prove it,” I whispered.“What?” she asked.I released her and opened her hotel room door. “Elena, meet Mr. David luke, the lawyer that’s gonna win your case against that motherfucker you call an ex.”Elena brought her hand to her mouth again. “Are you for real?” she whispered, gasping, inhaling intensely. “You got me a freakin’ lawyer?”“Mr. Luke, why don’t you head down to the café and get yourself a coffee? I need a minute with my girlfriend.” My suggestion came out as more of an order, but my lawyer nodded and disappeared.Elena gaped at me and sighed. “Aiden, I can’t,” she argued quietly. “I can’t take your lawyer.”“He ain’t my lawyer,” I corrected her. “He’s yours, darlin’. He’s gonna fight your case. He thinks Martin should eat shit, and so do I. Baby, he’s gonna send that motherfucker down for what he did to you.”Elena gripped my polo shirt. “I can’t afford him. My parents . . . I kind of walked out on them, and they kind of disowned me.”I
ELENA“Milkaaaa,” I sung. “What did Mama say about Doc?”Milka stared at the TV, still blaring out Doc McStuffins, the tiny two-year-old’s latest obsession. “Ah, one show afore nap?”“One show, that’s right,” I said. “But . . .” I swooped her into my arms and dropped back onto my bed, to her insane giggles. “Shhh. We can watch another Doc.”Milka clapped her hand over her mouth, and I slid up the bed to the head of it.“Nachos,” Aiden muttered.“You’re early,” I retorted. “We’ve got a date with Stuffy and Doc, right, Mi?”“Yeah, El!” Milka turned to look at Aiden. “My lub El. My lub Stuffy and Doc. And Elmo. And Peppa.”I smiled at Aiden over the top of Milka’s head. “I think Stuffy and Doc and Elmo and Peppa love naptime,” I said, getting up to fill her milk sippy cup. When it was full, I screwed the lid on and climbed back onto the bed. I dutifully lie through twenty minutes of mind-numbing Doc McStuffins. “Now,” I whispered, lying Milka down in her crib. “You be a good girl for Unc
AIDENTwo weeks and it was perfect.Two weeks of secret practices, sneaking around, and tensions running high, but it was perfect.“Just sit down.” I laughed, kissing Elena’s forehead and pushing her onto a chair.“But why?”“Can’t you just do it?”“No!” She pouted. “You all have that look. Like something is going on.”Chloe grinned.“Chloe! What’s going on?”Chloe giggled and sat next to her. “Just . . . yeah.”“I don’t like this,” Elena muttered.“Give it a minute,” Chloe replied. We let her in on the secret after she heard us playing it. Or rather she forced her damn way in to the secret.“Ready?” Titus said, sitting at the drums.“Ready,” Bray nodded.“Ready,” Conor stated.“Ready.” I smirked at Elena. She narrowed her eyes as we hit the first notes of the song.She stared at me. I looked back at her, smiling knowingly. Milka swung her legs on the chair next to my girl, her little head bobbing along to the beat.The lyrics fell from my lips, and my gaze stayed pinned on hers. Her
This next chapter is about the next Dirty J member Titus. Being a no attachment guy Titus meets Ivana. Eagered not to be attached Ivana tries to pretend she is not in love with Titus but jealously is eating her from the inside and constantly lies to make her pretend easy. Will she confess or keep the lies? IVANA “Stupid, idiotic, moronic son of a bitch!” “You know that ‘stupid,’ ‘idiotic,’ and ‘moronic’ all mean basically the same thing, right?” My best friend, Chelsea, grinned at me. I glared at her, deleting the text message from my ex-boyfriend. “I know that, but David is worthy of all three. It’s, like, an extra-strong usage.” “Or you could just say ‘fucking son of a bitch.’ ” “We don’t all have your potty mouth.” I rolled my eyes as she grinned wider. She was proud of that fact. Had been for years. “I wish he’d leave me alone. It’s been weeks. Why is he suddenly interested in apologizing?” “His new toy probably got grounded.” She shrugged and swung her legs off my bed, sitt
But hey—there wasn’t a teenage girl in town who didn’t already know this information. My sister woke me up this morning, screaming, because she had three months to get an autograph. I shook my head and grabbed my underwear, watching as footage showed their tour bus rolling up to the house. Conor was the first to come into view, his daughter, Milka, snugged tight in his tattooed arms. She rested her head on his shoulder, her dark hair touching his, and he moved to shield her face from the flashes aimed their way. Chloe was trailing right behind him, blond hair pulled into a high ponytail, and even from there, I could see the smile in her bright blue eyes.I smiled at the sight of my old friend. We missed each other this summer when she came back, because my family was on vacation, but knowing I’ll see her in a couple of hours makes it better.Aiden was next, holding Elena’s hand, and I peered at the girl who finally tamed the rogue James boy while I grabbed some panties to stuff into m
TITUSIvana Lawson reached back and grasped my forearm firmly, shoving my arm away from her like I was fire and she was gasoline. “I mind you touching me,” she replied. “What’s takin’ so long?” she yelled to the bartender.“Chill out, Ivana,” I murmured, moving closer to her and meeting the bartender’s eyes. “Can you hurry with that, babe?”She nodded and within two seconds, a cocktail glass full of perfectly red-pink liquid was placed in front of us.“That’s—”“And a bottle of Budweiser, thanks,” I demanded before she said the price. “Put it on my tab.”“I can pay for my own drink,” Ivana argued, her eyes sparking with defiance.“Sure you can, but that don’t mean you’re gonna.”“It means I will.” She riffled in her purse and slammed a ten into my chest. “Thank you, Titus, but no thank you.”I took the crisp bill from her hand and crumpled it up, crooking my finger in the collar of her dress. She gaped at me in disbelief as I pulled the fabric from her body and dropped the balled-up n