“Embarrassing and painful?”“Exactly.”Doing the sound check onstage, Jake strummed Brian’s guitar and played an intricate riff to ensure the instrument was tuned and responding to the amplifier. He earned a few cheers from the waiting crowd. Roadies loved to play rock star.Sed looked over his shoulder to where Jessica promised she’d stand and watch the performance. She smiled at him and waved. He waved back. The groupies who’d gotten backstage passes from the roadies glared at her.Sed glanced at Trey, who was limbering up his fingers. He still didn’t have full mobility, but he could play chords. Brian watched him, wincing when Trey attempted part of one of their dueling solos and missed every note. “If you can’t keep up tonight, just let me carry all the solos.”“I’m not a f**king invalid.” Trey scowled.“No one said that,” Brian said. “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”Trey glanced at Sed, who dropped his gaze to the floor. Yeah, that was mostly Sed’s fault and he knew it, but fa
“It doesn’t sound the same without a pick,” Trey said to Jace.“I know, but you could play. Try it.”Trey clamped his pick between his teeth, freeing the fingers of his left hand. He tried strumming with his index finger and thumb. “It feels weird.”“It’s not permanent,” Jace said. “Just ’til you can hang on to your pick.”“It sounds weird, too.”“Maybe we can get you a banjo pick,” Jace suggested.“A banjo pick?”“Yeah, they slip over the tip of your finger. You don’t have to hold them.”Trey sighed. “Fuuuuck, this sucks.” He shook his head. “I suck.”Sed clapped him on the back vigorously. “We should have conked you on the head years ago. The fans love it.”“The fans love that I suck?”Sed shook his hand. “The fans love your devotion. They know you’re out there for them.”“He’s out there for you, you idiot,” Eric said. Sed’s brow furrowed, but before he could ask for clarification, Eric changed the subject. “Brian seems more tired than usual from doing all that improvised solo and r
Something slammed Jessica in the face. Pain streaked through her right cheek and eye. She stumbled into the wall, her arm raised defensively. Someone grabbed two handfuls of her hair and slammed her into the wall, then dragged her face down to the floor.“Ain’t so high and mighty now, are you, bitch?” a female growled at her.Jessica swept her legs to the side, catching her attacker’s ankles and sending her flying. Unfortunately, she still had a strong hold on Jessica’s hair. Jessica cried out and grabbed the woman’s wrists, squeezing until she finally released her hair. Jessica shoved her away and climbed to her feet. Her face throbbed in pain, but she was too pissed to care.“What is wrong with you?” Jessica bellowed. It was the same woman who had bragged that she was going to f**k Sedric Lionheart after the concert. Jessica had already put the stupid bitch in her place once. When the tramp had stormed off, Jessica had assumed that would be the end of it.“I sucked that roadie’s c**
Myrna looked entirely confused. “Huh?”Sed sat on the bed next to her. “We think Trey is abusing his pain meds. Brian doesn’t seem to recognize it.”“Abusing? Do you have proof?”Jessica hesitated. “He keeps getting refills.”“And he needs a prescription for those refills, so he obviously needs them.”“Something doesn’t add up, Myrna.”Myrna collapsed back on the mattress and covered her head with a pillow. “Did you already accuse him, Sed? Jesus, what are you thinking?”“I’m not going to let him throw his life away on drugs.”“He’s having a really rough time. You letting him know you don’t trust him will make it worse.”“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sed grumbled. “You don’t see this as a problem either? I thought you, of all people, would recognize the slippery slope he’s sliding down.”“Sed, he has a prescription. I don’t know why you’re equating this with a problem.”“He’s taking more than he’s supposed to. A lot more.”“Where’s your proof?” She slid the pillow from her face and l
“Did you check your bloodstream?” Sed asked, scratching behind his ear.Trey was instantly in his face. “You took them, didn’t you?”“Maybe.”“Jesus, Sed, give him his pills. What is wrong with you?” Brian said.“There’s nothing wrong with me.” He locked gazes with Trey. “Why don’t you tell Brian how many pills you took today?”“Give me my f**kin’ pills, Sed.”Sed lifted his hips off the sofa and pulled the bottle from his pocket. Trey tried to snatch it from his hand, but Sed held it firmly. “This label says you’re supposed to take four pills a day. A maximum of eight. How many have you taken since last night, Trey? Do you even know?”Trey grabbed Sed’s wrist and tried to wrestle the bottle out of his hand. When that didn’t work, he took Sed’s little finger and bent it back viciously. “Ow, damn. Take the f**kin’ things then.” Sed released the bottle into Trey’s custody.“That wasn’t funny.” Trey took several shuddering breaths through his nose as he tried to regain his composure. “Yo
They’d never done anything slow and quiet in all their time together. Might be an interesting change of pace. If it was even possible.“Slow and quiet.” She ran a gentle hand over his hard pecs, pausing to stroke the tiny bead of one nipple.“This will be a challenge,” he whispered. “Do you realize I haven’t had you for 68 hours?”She chuckled. He knew how long it had been to the hour? “How many minutes is that?”“Too damned many.”He rolled on top of her. She tensed. “Wait, I’m not ready yet.”“Shhhh. No more words.”He buried his hands in her hair and tilted her head back, exposing her neck to his questing lips. She sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing beneath him. She should’ve known he wouldn’t just shove it inside without any consideration for her pleasure. This was Sed. Not a selfish bone in his body. Well, on most occasions.She opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling, her chest filling with emotion. She’d been so very wrong about him for so long. How would she ever make amends
“Is Trey with you?”“Yeah, I’ve got him. We’re weaning him off his pain meds. If it works, you might actually recognize him the next time you see him.”“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just take someone off narcotic painkillers without medical consultation. Myrna said he’ll go through all sorts of horrible withdrawal symptoms.”“I consulted his father. Dr. Mills entrusted his son to me and told me how to do this properly. Trey doesn’t want the media to find out about his little addiction, so we’re discreetly taking care of it on our own. If anything goes wrong, I’ll say to hell with what he wants and check him into a hospital, but for now, we’re trying this.”“Let me talk to him.”“No. He’ll have you over here doling out Percocet like its jellybeans in ten minutes flat. I just called to let you know he’s safe with me and Jessica. I’ll call you in a couple of days with an update.”“Don’t turn off your f**kin’ phone again, Sed.”“Have a nice day.”“Sed!”Sed ended the call, tu
“I know a great film crew. They do all of Sinners’ music videos. Maybe we can add some special effects to our next public encounter. Heavy metal sound track. Giant robots. Explosions in the background when I come inside you. Stuff like that.”She picked up one of his French fries and tossed it at him. It hit him on the cheek and landed on the table. “We just have to be more careful.”Nodding, he devoured his barbecued rib. “Eat faster,” he insisted, his mouth full.She grinned and pushed her salad around her plate.“Slight problem,” she said. “I don’t have a skirt on.”“It’s dark out,” he said, stuffing French fries in his mouth ten at a time. “No one will see a thing.”“And there isn’t really anything worth seeing around here.”“So we hop in a cab and drive around until we find someplace interesting.”She stole one of his French fries and nibbled on it.“You aren’t eating faster,” he pointed out.She tried to eat faster, but she was nervous around him tonight. Ever since he told her