So, why did he find it so fucking easy when I was lying on the cold, wet pier fighting for my life?
I gag on a torrent of air, my eyeballs leaking from the rush. I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath.
Everything tingles.
I have to get the fuck out of here.
Now.
The macabre sound of Tyler’s drums is the only confirmation I need to know that he’s pissed.
Am I really that much of a cunt that he can't trust me with his best friend?
Chase believes he will thank me for what I did for her one day, though I know today certainly won't be that day.
I allow the final chord to ring at my strings before making my way through the stage’s shadows. The skin at the back of my neck still sizzles from the line of fiery daggers Tyler had very much solidified as his target. It was sharp and prickly, needles weaving beneath my skin.
My hands work the in-ears out before I drop them in a stage assistant’s open palm and throw my bass guitar to another.
I’m moving down the heather-gray tunnel with Chase, knowing damn well that Tyler and Asher won’t be far behind us. “Guess what-”
He cuts me off. “He knows?”
I nod, sucking on my front teeth.
“But not everything.” I clear my throat, then I continue, “He saw me in the wings with her. She tripped and fell into me, so naturally, I caught her.” A grin works its way across my cheeks.“But I kind of let my hands linger at her waist for a little too long.”
“Of course you did.” His words are a deep, playful exhale when he runs a tattooed hand through his now sweat-drenched hair. He gazes over his broad shoulder as the pounding of two sets of boots resounds behind us, beating harshly off the dark concrete floor.
“Here he comes,” he warns.
I don’t turn around, but I do say under my breath, “I’m not telling him shit, dude. That’s her story to tell, not mine.”
Chase nods, his voice gruff when he says, “I’d do the same.”
The incoming sound of Tyler moving down the tunnel toward us carries the weight of determination, and within a matter of seconds, the back of my t-shirt is grasped and I’m wrenched backwards. Tyler slams me into the concrete wall with a hard, echoing thud.
Nice.
I’ll give him that.
I raise my chin, trying to suppress a grin, because I don’t know when the fuck to be serious, and when to laugh.
It’s one of my downfalls.I’m working on it.
Both of Tyler’s hands fist my white t-shirt, and I meet his rage head on when his nose brushes across mine.
“Careful, I might like that,” I state with a little added glee.
Tyler doesn’t react at all.Yeah, he is very much out for blood.His dark sweaty hair rolls down his forehead and drips in front of his onyx eyes.With his jaw set, I swear a fucking bone ticks in his neck.
“Talk,” he spits, the solo word coming out harsher than I’d expected.
I could tell him everything; however, what gives him the right to her fucking trauma? Whether they’re best friends or not, I’m not going to be the one to betray her like that. I left her on thatpier for a goddamn reason.To protect her.If she wants to tell him, she can, and I’ll deal with the aftermath when the time comes, but I’m not telling him shit.He can fuck off.
I drop my chin to my chest and start to laugh, shaking my head.
I’m allowed to have secrets. I think he’s forgetting he held one for a long time too,one I helped him dig up before burying for good.
