“You weren’t even a good lay,” she said.
Remi sputtered.“Liar!”
Skye rolled her eyes and strutted away, answering a phone call as she went.Remi tried to pull his gaze away from the sway in her hips and the way her tiny shorts showed off just a hint of her ass.
“Are you fuckin’ daft?”Ollie asked.
“What?”Remi said, snapping out of some demon trance Skye had obviously put him under.“No.It’s nothing.”
“Yeah, nothing alright.You do realize she’s the only reason our tour hasn’t gone up in smoke.If she fucks off, we’re done for.”
Remi sighed.“Nah, Olls.That ain’t it.She’s only here because the tour is chaos.She’s a magnet to it.Feeds off it.She’s a manipulative demon.”
Liam laughed.“Like that girl you always drew for the band posters?”He stopped laughing, face sobering.“You know, actually, Skye kind of does look like her.”
“Coincidence,” Remi muttered.He could feel West’s hard stare at the side of his face.
He was saved from further inquiry by one of the roadies sprinting over and handing Remi his buzzing phone.“This has been going off for the last hour,” they said before disappearing into the flurry of people breaking down the stage.
Remi grimaced at the caller ID.
“Don’t answer it,” West said, peering over his shoulder.
“I’ve been avoiding her.”
“Good.”
“She’ll just keep bugging me if I don’t,” Remi said on a sigh.“Text me the address of whatever party you guys end up at.”
West gave a displeased grunt but left Remi to it.
He took a deep breath and plastered on a fake smile as he answered the phone.“Hi, Mom.”
“Remington, it’s about time you answered.I’ve been trying to call you for weeks, but you haven’t returned any of my voicemails.”
“Been busy now that we’re on tour,” he said, glancing around backstage.Where did Skye go?Was she with Laurie and Zara?Was she fucking them inhisdressing room?
“Oh, sure.You being a big rock star now.Guess I shouldn’t expect you to have time for your mom.The woman who went through fourteen hours of labor and raised you.”
Remi couldn’t be sure if his blood pressure was rising from this conversation or where his mind was wandering off to, but it didn’t really matter.
Why are you such a fucking asshole?his twin brother’s voice added.Your mother is trying to talk to you.
“Is there something you need?”he asked, and then winced.The tone came out far sharper than he meant it to.
“Well,I’m sorry,” she said.“I can’t just want to talk to my son?You always think I need something, Remi.”
Remi cleared his throat and walked to a vacant side hall, away from the crew.“No, no.Of course,” he said.“How—how have you been?”
“Oh, Remi.It’s been such a time!I went on this cruise with Darrell…”
Remi listened to her story and hummed at the appropriate moments.He asked questions about the cruise and her boyfriend and her life.He slid down the wall, nodding into his phone, and sat on the ground.
“And then Ruby, you know the bitch at work, well she started this rumor about me—”
Remi sort of zoned out for the next thirty minutes, only to be yanked back into the moment by guilt stabbing him in the gut every so often.He should be paying attention.He should care about his mother’s life.She was the only living family member he had.He should try harder.He should call her more often.She only talked his ear off because he so rarely took her calls.If he were a better person—
“…and anyway, I know now that you’re a big rock star you wouldn’t mind sending a little money to your mom, would you?”
