Liam snorted his line.“Woo-eeee!”He turned and grabbed the money from Skye, handing it over to Jillian.
Remi plucked the rolled bill from his bandmate’s hand and snorted one of the lines, inhaling the powder and relishing the burn in the back of his nose and throat.The drug hadn’t hit his system yet, but his limbs already felt lighter, a conditioned response.Without much thought, he offered the bill to Skye.
She didn’t hesitate to pluck the bill from him.Remi should have moved out of the way, but he didn’t, forcing her to lean against him as she bent forward.His eyes fell to her ass, and he imagined his hands wrapped around the curve of her hips, slamming into her from behind, fucking her against this desk.
Jillian popped into view, and Remi jerked back as her hand ran over his chest.She fluttered her eyelashes up at him.“You were so great tonight.”
“Thank you.”He smiled and checked her out.Her tight red dress had a square neckline that put her cleavage on display.The edge of some multi-colored ink peeked out near her collarbone.“Your tattoo is great.”
Jillian giggled and squeezed his arm, shrugging her shoulder so her dress strap fell off and the butterfly tattoo was unobscured.“You like it?”
Remi sucked on his lip ring, his eyes darting between the tattoo and her tits.“Uh huh.Love it.”
Skye scoffed.
“Hey!That girl I was banging had the same tattoo!”Liam said.
“Emily is my best friend,” Jillian said.“We got matching tattoos, but you should be careful with her.She has a boyfriend, and she’s a little psychotic.She’s been known to stow away on tour buses.”
“Really?”Remi asked, eyebrows raised.
Everyone except Jillian did another line.She stood by and told wild stories about her friend.
Remi refused to look at Skye.She didn’t say a word, didn’t make any comment, but he felt her presence like a hand around his throat.The harder he tried to pay attention to Jillian, the more he was aware of the tickle of Skye’s hair on his arm when she moved toward the desk, or the slight tingle that shot through him when their fingers touched as he passed the rolled bill to her.
“Wow,” Liam said after their third line.“Emily sounds like the girl who keyed your motorcycle.”
“Yeah,” Remi said.The top of his mouth was going delightfully numb.His heart rate quickened, and he was bobbing his head to the beat of the music coming from downstairs.Euphoria bubbled through his veins.
His thoughts sped up too, but it wasn’t the usual anxious stream that he had to fend off every day.Thoughts of his mother, his dead brother, his broken bargain, his demon—none of that mattered.
A pleasant cloud floated through his brain.He was too zoned into the music, the sound waves that were moving through the air, penetrating the walls, invading his skin, and infiltrating his brain cells.
He didn’t even like this song, but suddenly he wished he had his guitar so he could break down every line, every note.He wanted to turn them inside out and find the secret code the songwriter had baked in to make the song famous.To make hordes of people sing it, dance to it, love it.
Darkness crashed into him and slapped him across the face.Why weren’t his songs good enough for that?
Everything the world thinks you earned is a lie,Emerson said.
“Okay!Okay!One more!”Remi said as he snatched the baggie from Liam’s grip just when he’d started pocketing it.
“Fuck yeah!”Liam encouraged.
Remi bent over the desk and portioned out one more line for each of them.
“You sure that’s a good idea, rock star?”Skye whispered.
“Fuck off, Skye.You aren’t my mother,” he hissed, refusing to meet her eye.
Skye sighed heavily and grabbed the baggie, leaving the room without another word.
“Hey!”Liam called out as she left.“That’s mine!”But he didn’t run after her; the call of the line Remi was doling out was too strong.
“She’s kind of a wet blanket, huh?”Jillian asked.
“She’s just stressed,” Liam said.“Oh damn.I told her I was going to help her with that.”
Remi did his line and the one he’d portioned out for Skye too before letting Liam in.
