At this, Liam’s expression became incredulous. “Is that where your head is at now? You want to chase stardom? Ade, c’mon. I know I don’t have time to waste on pipe dreams, and frankly, neither do you. You have a sister to take care of. Bleeding Moonlight are probably just saying that to you because they’re trying to get into your pants.”
Mason and I jumped up from our seats in unison.
I was seething. “When did you become such an asshole? You think the only reason they’d encourage me is because they want to sleep with me?”
Mason came to stand between us, the hard set of his jaw telling me he was pissed as well. “Okay, let’s all chill out.”
“No. I’m not going to chill out,” I snapped.
“I saw how they were looking at you at the show,” Liam said, flinging his hands up. “They were smitten with you playing their own song to them on that stage. Of course you’re talented, Adeline, but there are talented starving artists all over the country. I know you’re too smart to let a bunch of rock stars past their prime convince you otherwise.”
I sneered at him. “They are far from being past their prime.”
Liam’s chuckle was humorless. “Please. Their last good album was from like five years ago. I know you’re trying to sell them as being straitlaced, but their guitarist died from a goddamn overdose.”
I’d never wanted to punch anyone in the face this badly. “I have no idea who they were in the past, and frankly, I don’t care. All I know is that they’re real musicians who care about their music, who care about their bandmates, and who sure as shit don’t knock each other down like you’re trying to do to me.”
“I’m not trying to knock you down,” Liam said, his cheek twitching. “I’m trying to bring you back to reality. We have always been on the same page about this band. Always, until now. You work with a famous band for what—three weeks? And now you think we have a chance at making it big? That’s not how it works. If you want to chase after it, be my guest, but I want no part of it.”
Angry tears filled my eyes. I whipped to look at Elly, who sat on the chair with a straight back and shell-shocked look on her face. “And you? Are you in or out?”
Elly swallowed. “I’d keep going if everyone else was down, but without Liam… We’d have to find someone to replace him, not to mention spend a ton of time getting them ramped up, and all that with no guarantee that we’d jam well with them… I’m sorry, Ade.”
Mason pursed his lips when our eyes met, his frustration and anger barely contained. I didn’t need to ask for his opinion. Without a guitarist and a bassist, there would be no band.
My eyes flickered shut. It was over.
“Ade, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said some of those things.” Liam’s tone was conciliatory. It was easy for him to be conciliatory now that he’d won.
“Yeah, but you did.” I stood up and picked up my guitar to leave. “Mason, I’ll see you tomorrow.
“Ade, c’mon. Don’t storm off like that.” Liam stood up and grabbed my arm. I shook him off and got into my car. Maybe I’d be ready for a reconciliation in a few weeks, but right now, I just wanted to get out of here.
The three of them watched as I pulled out of Mason’s driveway. Disappointment tore through me at the realization that this had been our last practice, and we hadn’t even touched our instruments. Through Azure Skies had ended with a bang, just not the kind any of us had hoped for.
* * *
I typed out a text to Cole and Ezra as I was going to sleep that night, but then I remembered they were going camping first thing the following morning. I erased it because I didn’t want them to worry about me or insist on meeting up before they left.
My sleep was restless. I woke up feeling as tired as I’d been the night before, but Molly was leaving in a few hours, and I had to get up to help her get ready.
My mood was somber as we packed up the last of her clothes in a big suitcase. Finally, Molly pulled me into the living room and demanded I tell her everything that had happened.
“That sucks,” she concluded after I finished. “I wish I could’ve been there to kick him in the nuts for saying that shit to you.”
I pulled on my lip, and Molly frowned.
“Don’t tell me you believed the guys only praised you to get into your pants. You know that’s nonsense, right?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off. In truth, I wasn’t so sure. In my anger, it had been easy to initially dismiss his words, but now they’d marinated in my brain overnight and taken root.
I had already slept with Cole and Ezra when we had the conversation about the band, but it was true that they were still trying to convince me to keep doing it. But I knew their characters by now, and I didn’t believe it was possible for them to lie like that to my face. After all, they thought I was good enough to record this album with them. Why was I letting Liam get under my skin?
Years of thinking you’re not good enough, that’s why,a little voice whispered in my head.
I shook it off. There was no point in thinking about all of this now. Regardless of whether Ezra and Cole meant what they said, Through Azure Skies was over. It was time for me to come to terms that in a few weeks, I’d likely never play in a band again.
A honk from the front yard snapped me out of my reverie. Molly went to open the door to wave hello to Mason, and we grabbed a few boxes of her stuff for the car.
