I stepped closer to her, not loving the way he looked at her. Zane was married, happily from what I’d heard, but the man was a flirt without even trying. He was hot as hell, according to every female I’d ever met, and the way his ice-blue eyes slid over her… I wondered if he’d ever tried anything with Angeline, and my stomach tightened into a hot, irritated fist.
“He calls you ‘Little Elle’?” I said in her ear.
“Be nice,” she hissed at me. Then she said to them, “This is my friend, Johnny.” She gave me a pointed look, like she was willing me to behave. “Johnny, this is my brother-in-law, Seth. And this is Zane. They play in this band called Dirty.”
Zane smirked and Seth raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why Angeline was being weird. We weren’t strangers.
But then again, this was my “rebirth,” right?
“Hey, Johnny.” Zane offered me a hand and I went in for a hug. Mostly so Angeline couldn’t complain later that I didn’t make an effort. Had to shut her up somehow.
By the time I’d greeted Seth, she’d slipped away. She stood a few tables away, sipping her drink, and I caught her eye. She flashed me a smile and turned her back to me.
Sly.
I put in some small talk with Zane and Seth about their forthcoming album. Then I said hi to another member of Dirty, Jesse Mayes, and his wife, Katie, who’d stopped by the booth. I made sure to congratulate Katie on her gorgeous paintings, which were all over the walls—along with large black-and-white photographs of local musicians, which I suspected were the work of Amber Cope.
My ex-wife.
Who was definitely on the list of people I didn’t particularly want to run into tonight.
I said hi to Brody Mason, manager of Dirty and the Players, and his wife, Jessa, when they came by. And wondered if I should clear out of here before my luck ran out and Amber showed up with her husband.
Then I spotted Dane. He’d just walked in with his wife, Devi, and I made a beeline for them. Hanging with some ofmyfriends at this event was a definite necessity. I could count on them, at least, not to ask about my band bullshit.
Lex and his wife, Talia, joined us shortly after, and as I got talking to them, I noticed Angeline come over and say hi to Devi. When I caught her arm and tugged her over—same way she’d done to me—to try to introduce her to Talia, she and Talia hugged, and I realized they were already girlfriends. I didn’t know that, but I probably should’ve. Talia had worked for Dirty’s management team before she worked for the Players’, and everyone on Dirty’s team seemed to love Angeline.
Apparently, she made friends way the hell easier than I did.
She was right. My best friends were my buddies from high school. It never occurred to me before, though, that that might be lame somehow.
They were all cool guys.
It wasn’t like Icouldn’tmake new friends.
When I headed over to the bar with Lex and Dane, I could see Talia and Devi and a few other girls rallying around Angeline, some of them shooting me looks. Probably asking her what the fuck she was doing here with me. I had no idea which people in this room already knew she was my publicist.
But even if they knew… they were probably asking her what the fuck she was doing here with me.
Then I noticed Flynn. He was hanging out by a table in the corner where Elle sat with a group of women, keeping a watchful eye over the crowd. I watched him for a few minutes. But even when Elle got up to go talk to her sister, and he followed, he stayed away from Angeline and she stayed away from him.
After I got a fresh drink, I wandered over to say hi to Elle. “Congrats on your big night, Elle.”
“Thank you, Johnny.” She smiled politely and gave me a hug. I liked to think that Elle liked me a little better than her male bandmates had over the years, but that was probably wishful thinking. In reality, she probably just wasn’t as vocal about her issues with me. “What do you think of the club?” She seemed to genuinely want my opinion.
“It’s hot.” I looked her over; she was looking pretty hot herself in her slinky, silver sequined dress. “I like the decor.”
I didn’t even have to look at Angeline to know she was probably rolling her eyes. Probably thought I was treating her sister like “furniture.” But I was just being honest.
Elle slipped an arm around her sister. “Well, thank you for contributing to it.” She raised her chin a little, like she was indicating something behind me.
I turned to look, and discovered that one of the huge black-and-white portraits was ofme. It was a photo of me onstage at Lollapalooza from years ago. Before Breakneck was even formed.
“Hey, my pleasure,” I said cooly. “Didn’t realize I’d made the cut.”
“Oh, you made the cut.” Elle smirked. “We went with the most popular images from Amber’s gallery tour. You’re a fine art masterpiece, Johnny O.”
Angeline cocked her head, studying the image.
