AJ scanned my face for a long moment before he gave me a gentle smile, and with his arm draped over my shoulders, he guided me into the gym and over to the cardio equipment I mainly used when I came in. “Take your time, Kassa. Let me know when you’re ready to leave and I’ll walk you out.”
“You don’t have to,” I said, trying to assure him, but the look on his face told me not to argue.
“Gray would slit my throat if I let you leave on your own.” He gave my shoulder a firm but tender squeeze. “Don’t be the reason I get murdered, sweetheart.”
I rolled my eyes at him, making him laugh, and ducked under his arm. “You win. I’ll find you when I’m done, but I’m thinking of staying for the Zumba class tonight.”
“I’ll still be here. Hell, I practically live here.” He turned to go back to the front desk. “Enjoy your workout.”
I took my time stretching and getting warmed up. The place was only half full, and most of them were guys who were lost in the zone of pumping iron over in the weights section. There were two other women there, one on the stair climber, the other on an elliptical. Both had earbuds in, so I knew I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to.
Once I’d pulled my phone from my gym bag along with my bottle of water, I saw that Gray had called four times, and each time, he had left a message. Sighing, I unlocked the screen and shot him a quick text.
I’m alive. Just took my time getting to AJ’s. Relax.
I stepped onto one of the treadmills that faced a mirrored wall and put my earbuds in. Before I could hit start on the touchscreen of the machine, Gray had replied to my text.
I was worried. Answer your phone when I call you! Hope you have fun. Love you.
I traced my thumb over his words before replying.
Love you more.
I put my phone on the treadmill’s screen and hit start, but as I began a slow buildup to my normal speed, I got one last text.
Not possible.
Even though my heart was heavy, I felt lighter from reading those words.
SEVEN
Gray
I pushed my sweat-soaked hair out of my eyes and used a towel to wipe my face. The lights on stage had made me sweat worse than if I had spent three hours in the gym, but I had barely noticed while we had been performing. Now, I realized I was drained and needed to rehydrate. At the same time, I couldn’t stop buzzing after the high of being on stage with my bandmates.
The crowd had seemed almost skeptical when we had taken the stage. Some of them had seen us on our YouTube channel, but that wasn’t all that many. I had felt the majority of the crowd’s tension as they’d prepared to love or hate us. But, halfway through the first song, their tension had turned into awe, and by the second song, they’d started singing along despite not knowing the words.
We were all feeling the buzz, our adrenaline high as the sky. Cash and Kale were already talking about leaving after they found some girls to take with them, while Sin had an almost grin on his face. Jace was buzzing just as hard, but he hid his reaction a little deeper than the rest of us these days.
Once I’d put a fresh T-shirt on, I pulled my phone out of my bag, wanting to text Kassa before I went with Cash and Kale. I had just swiped over her name, noticing that there were no new messages, when Harris came into our dressing room. He closed the door behind him and waited until we had all turned to look at him before speaking.
He scratched at his chin as if he needed the extra time to figure out what he was going to say to us. Then his face split with a huge grin and he shook his dark head at us. “I knew tonight was going to be good. I wasn’t expecting it to nearly bring the club crashing down when the crowd started screaming for one more song.”
“Momma said always leaving them begging for more,” Kale laughed. “Or maybe that was my sex ed teacher in high school.”
Sin tossed his towel at Kale’s head. “Dude, no way you hooked up with that slut monkey.”
“Everyone hooked up with ho-zilla,” I told him, practically choking on my laughter.
“I have something to tell you guys,” Harris interjected before we could start trading insults over the lovely Miss Young, who had been the twenty-one-year-old sex education teacher our freshman year.
The seriousness of the guy’s voice had my laughter dying, and I silently watched him for any sign that maybe we hadn’t been good enough after all. Maybe he wanted out of our contract. Maybe we didn’t have what it took. Maybe—
“Emmie Armstrong was here tonight with her husband and a few other family friends,” he informed us.
We all jerked to attention at the mention of that name. A name that had managed some of the most famous names in the rock world. Ember Armstrong was just as much a legend as her Demon husband was.
Harris grinned again, and my stomach clenched in anticipation. “She wants to talk to you all, if you have a few extra minutes?”