Chapter One
MATT
The press is going to have a field day with this!
Tillie is going to have my balls!
I’ve been arrested.
Fuck!
Oliver is going to kill me!
Alex…Fuck!Alex will either laugh or be so disappointed that I’ll never hear the end of it. Probably both.
And Nate? Well, he’ll most likely be the only supportive one.
Now that he has Ria and a baby on the way, he’s being super responsible. Before her, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he were in my current situation.
Somehow, we’ve traded places, and my life has taken a turn. Now, I am headed in the completely opposite direction. I’m always the responsible one. The smart one. The intelligent one. The one who keeps everything and everyone together, and now here I am, in a cell, being charged, and missing one of my best friend’s wedding.
Could I have fallen any lower?
“Levine?” a cop calls out into the massive cell that’s currently holding three other men besides me.
One man—with whom I’ve already had a minor clash—recognized me as the bassist from Recoil. Apparently, he knows the rapper, Debt Money, and of course, with our band’s not-so-great history with said rapper, me and T-Dog here, don’t exactly see eye to eye. With a quick transaction of handing over my watch in exchange for not having any of my bones broken, I seem to have managed to calm the situation before it got too out of hand. Personally, I’d say I’m the one who came out ahead.
“Yeah,” I call back, looking at the cop who’s not even looking into the cell. His eyes are wandering around like he’s completely bored with his job. Who can blame him, I guess?
“You can make your one call now.”
Standing, I walk toward the large black barred gate as he unlocks and opens it. The guard lets me walk through, taking my hands and putting them into a set of long, chained handcuffs.
“Is this really necessary?”
He half-smiles. “Sorry, man, just following protocol.”
While letting out a long sigh, he locks the cell door, and I set off with him down the hall to a line of phone booths.
He leads me to one and dips his chin, gesturing to it. “You have one call and five minutes… make it count.”
With a quick exhale, I think about who to call. My first thought is Tillie—damage control is probably best in this circumstance, but receiving a lecture from her is not on my list of must-haves right now. Oliver is probably the next in line, but to be honest, I don’t want his damn judgment either. Nate would be the safest in this kind of situation, but I don’t want him to see me like this—he looks up to me.
No, there’s only one person I need right now…Alex. She’s probably wondering where I am—and no doubt pissed that I didn’t show up. Sure, she might know everyone at the wedding, but I know her. Being alone would still make her feel out of place, and I wasn’t there to support her. I let her down. I’m such a lousy friend.
“Anytime, rocker,” the cop grumbles, breaking me away from my thoughts.
I grab the phone and dial Alex’s cell. It rings a few times before she finally answers. The music is clearly audible through the phone, so I know she’s still at the wedding when she answers with her usual ridiculous greeting.
“Penelope’s sperm bank, you yank it, we tank it,” she calls down the line.
Smirking, I shake my head. “God, are youeverserious?”
“Matt, where the hell are you? It’s practically over!” she almost yells, the annoyance evident in her tone.
“I’m a little…detained.”
“Well, getting busy with a beaver shouldn’t take precedence over your friend’s wedding, sir!”
