“Her band broke up this week,” he started. “We’re almost done with the album and I think we can all agree that she knocked it out of the park. We need a guitarist, and we’ve got a brilliant one. We all think we should ask her to join the band.”
Abel didn’t react immediately, which only set me on my guard. He zeroed in on me.
“What happened to her being a lead guitarist? You don’t want to give her a chance to find a band where she’ll be the star of the show?”
I shrugged, the answer coming to me easily. “She’ll play whatever parts she wants to play. We’ve worked together long enough for me to know there won’t be any issues with that.”
“You’re all fucking her, aren’t you?”
It was like he’d pulled a string and made us stand up straighter with that question. “This isn’t about that,” I said.
“Like hell it’s not. What happens when she grows bored with you or vice versa? Or when you all start fighting over her? How fucking great is that going to be for the band?”
Seeing Cole’s face morph into a furious smirk made Abel take a step back.
“If you’d give her a chance instead of sulking about everything in your goddamn life, you would know how idiotic that question is.”
“This thing between us is not a fling,” Ezra stepped in, keeping his tone carefully cool. “It’s real. It doesn’t make sense from the outside, Abel, but once you’re in it, it’s theonlything that makes sense.”
He glared at Ezra, but didn’t say anything back.
“So?” Cole prodded. “Do you want her to fucking audition or something?”
“No,” Abel growled. “I know she’s good. It’s not her skills I’m worried about. It’s the whole band dynamic.”
“Look—” I let out a long breath, “—without her here, there won’t be a band dynamic, because there probably won’t be a band. If we start auditions, you’re going to compare everyone to Charlie and find something wrong with them. You’re still doing that to Adeline, even though she’s been playing with us for three weeks and has more than proven herself. There’s no downside to this, only a potential upside.”
“And honestly, what the hell is wrong with the dynamic?” Cole interjected. “We gel like fucking peanut butter and jelly. You could be part of the happy sandwich if you’d only give her a chance.”
Abel rolled his eyes.
“You wrote a song with her,” I reminded him. “You can’t tell me that didn’t mean anything to you.”
That struck a nerve in him. He looked at his feet, hiding his face with his long blond hair, his hand gripping the counter. When his eyes met mine again, there was pain and longing in them. For Adeline? For Charlie? Both?
“Fine. Let’s ask her to join. She might still say no to us.”
I hadn’t noticed the tension in my shoulders until they sagged in relief at Abel’s words. We were all in.
Ezra smiled. “Okay. Let’s plan to do it the day of the concert, near the end of the week. In the days leading up to it, we’ll do everything we can to ensure she’ll say yes.”
21
ADELINE
“Mastery backstage passes?”My voice was incredulous. “Is it Christmas already?”
“I mean…for Ezra and me, Christmas came just over a week ago, so looks like Santa’s all over the place this year,” Cole said with a grin on his beautiful face.
I blushed, immediately picking up on what he meant. His smile grew at my reaction, and he looked around the parking lot before pressing me up against the side of his car. It was Monday morning, and we were waiting for the rest of the band to arrive.
The chill of the morning disappeared as soon as his hard body pressed up against mine.
“Cole, they’ll be here any second,” I said even as I tangled my hands into his untamed hair and pulled him closer.
His lips were impossibly soft as they descended onto mine, but his hands were firm on my waist.
Last night, while bartending, I’d once again spent a good chunk of the time trying to process my feelings for all of them. I was in a physical relationship with three men. Up until this point in my life, I’d never been interested in more than one guy at a time. Most of my life, that number had been zero. And then there was Abel. Despite the hot and cold nature of our relationship, I was drawn to him, too.
