With a brief nod, Calum hands the card to Toni before lifting his gaze to mine. “Thank you for your time, Mr Corbyn. Enjoy the rest of the festival.”
After he’s gone, I unlock the trailer and storm inside.
Toni enters behind me, closing the door before he holds up the business card. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep this? In case you change your mind.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.” Opening my duffel bag, I begin tossing things inside. The sooner I get back to Brisbane, back to the banal normality of my everyday life, the better.
Toni puts the card down and grabs his own bag from where he left it on the smaller bunk. “Okay, but the man does have a point. Having someone around who knows the business would help the band grow.”
“We just played Autumn Skies,” I remind him as I tug the sheets off the mattress. Balling them up, I shove them into my bag. “We have grown.”
“And you were brilliant, as I said,” he assures me, a hand over his heart, “but where to next? You won’t be able to do everything yourselves forever. There’s only so many hours in a day and the more popular you become, the more there’ll be to do.” He folds each piece of clothing before packing them neatly inside his own bag. “It’s important to gather the right team around you, as it is for any business. I’m sure when you tell Johnny—”
“I’m not telling Johnny,” I snap, struggling to close my overstuffed bag. The zipper gets stuck halfway, with one of the sheets caught in its metal teeth. “This weekend isn’t about getting exposure or growing our popularity. I came here as a favour to Johnny, to give him something to look forward to while he went through his divorce. Now, it’s over. Time to go home.”
Toni stops packing to stare at me with a baffled expression. “That’s it? You go back to playing local pubs and act like none of this ever happened?”
“That’s the plan.” I pull on the zipper, but it refuses to budge in either direction.
“Ned, you guys are incredible, and it’s obvious how much you love being on stage. You’re freaking transcendent up there.” He puts his hands on his hips as he frowns at me. “Why wouldn’t you want to do more of what you love?”
Abandoning the zipper, I yank hard on the cotton sheet. It comes free with a loud rip. Fuck. “I already told you, we’re a pub band. That’s all we’ll ever be.”
“Why?” Toni cries in exasperation. “Because Zac says so?”
“No, don’t do that.” Spinning around, I point an accusing finger at him. “Don’t take the one private thing you know about me and decide you have some sort of insight into what makes me tick. Because you don’t.” Fury and frustration pound through every corner of my being as I glare at him. “Call yourself my boyfriend until you’re blue in the goddamned face if you want. But don’t you dare pretend you know me.”
FOURTEEN
______
TONI
The words hit me like a slap in the face and I recoil. Of course, I don’t know Ned particularly well. I thought we weregettingto know each other, though. I thought maybe we were becoming friends, even if everything else about us is the fakest kind of real. Apparently, I was wrong.
Ned sees me the same way everyone else does. Fun to have around. Useful for pep talks or moral support or a good dicking. That’s as far as it goes. Anything deeper is out of my league and out of bounds.
“Fine,” I say in a clipped voice. “You’re right. It’s none of my business.” Turning away, I tuck the last of my belongings into my bag and zip it closed with ease. Because some of us know how to keep our shit together. “Another month and we’ll be done, anyway. If you want to hobble yourself based on one man’s opinion, who am I to stop you?”
“I’m not hobbling myself.” Gritted teeth muffle the words. “This is a choice I’ve made, for my own reasons.”
Reasons I will never know. He’s made that abundantly clear.
I face him, my arms crossed, and watch as he pushes the damaged edges of his sheet back into his bag before carefully pulling the zipper closed. It doesn’t snag again.
That’s it, then. We’re both packed and ready to leave.
Instead of moving to the door, Ned lowers himself to the edge of the bare mattress with a sigh. I lean back against the single bunk at the other end. It’s the most distance we can possibly have between us without going outside.
“Toni.” His voice is quiet, regretful. “I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine,” I cut in, though I’m still in a snit with him. Because he yelled at me when I was only trying to help. And because Zac is a fuckwit. And because Ned is still letting himself be controlled by someone other than me. I did warn him I’m the jealous type. “I push too hard, sometimes. It’s a thing.”
He nods. We sit some more.
“I get the whole you not wanting to be famous thing,” I tell him, because I’m an idiot and I can never leave well enough alone. “Given the chance, I wouldn’t want to be famous either. However, there’s a long road between the pubs of Brisbane and the cover ofRolling Stone. What would be the harm in exploring the middle ground?”
Ned opens his mouth but doesn’t speak. He gestures vaguely with his hands. His facial muscles seem to spasm uncertainly. Finally, he lets out a frustrated sigh and runs a hand through his hair. “There’s a long way between being sober and being drunk, too. But would you tell an alcoholic one drink will do no harm?”
