I gasped. “What? He isn’t.”
“He is.”
I stalked to her door and knocked, my heart sinking when it took longer than it should have for my sister to answer it. “Oh, my god,” I whispered.
“What’s wrong?” Melody asked.
“You and Butchy are sleeping together?”
“What?” she asked, but didn’t deny it.
“How long has this been going on under my nose?”
“NiNi—”
I raised my hand, cutting her off. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Can we please talk about this later?”
“Or never,” I said. “I’m done.”
“What?”
“I’m done, Melody. I can’t do it anymore. I’m out.” I shook my head. “Find another idiot to be your scapegoat.”
“Harmony, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I quit. I’m too tired to watch you put yourself into bad situations over and over again. I can’t sleep, I’ve gained, like, twenty pounds from stress, and you don’t care. You’ve never cared. I’m going to call Lyric and have her find you another assistant.”
“You just need a break.”
“I need to retire,” I countered.
“NiNi, I can’t do this without you. You know that. Why don’t you just take a week? Billy can help me while you’re gone.”
“Where would I go, Mel?” I asked.
“I know a place,” Jaxon said.
“What?” I asked, facing him.
“I know a place you can go where no one will bother you.”
“Where?”
“How about I tell you that privately and you can choose whether or not you want to share,” he said.
“I accept,” I said.
“You don’t even know this guy,” Melody said.
My mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you seriously saying that to me right now?”
“NiNi.”
I ignored her and turned to Jaxon. “I’m packing a bag.”
“I’m just gonna make a phone call,” he said, and stepped out of the room.
