by K. Renee
Graham is still staring at me like I’ve been possessed and Dek is still typing away at his phone, probably trying to get down all the lyrics as I go.
“I’ll sell my soul for one more night, please give me a night. The price is nothing to a man like me. I just need you to breathe. I need you to breathe. Don’t set me free. Take a chance with me.” I take a breath as Enver plays a few more notes before I sing the final verse.
“One minute things are one way and the next everything is fucked up. We don't want to miss the next thing, but here we are in the rearview mirror. Watching all our dreams float away, never to stay. I just want to stay.”
Chapter 23
Jericho
As I was walking down the hall to put up another basket of clean clothes for Mason, I heard the guys in the room with the guitar. I could tell it was Wren’s voice even before I peeked into the room. His eyes were closed as he sang lyrics that I’ve never heard before.
Working in the club here, I got to know most of their hits because they played them all the time. I thought it was just because they were popular, not because they were from here.
Listening to his words, I couldn’t help but feel the walls around my heart crack. I have no idea if that was really written about me, but I could hear the emotion in his voice as he sang the song. Graham was the only one who noticed me in the doorway and he gave me a thumbs up before I had to turn and walk away.
Tears filled my eyes and I decided on hiding in his room until I could pull myself together.
I heard them talking about the tour and how they leave in two days. Wren will be gone for three months while I live in his big house all alone with our son. I don’t even know what to think, let alone do. I guess the first thing I’ll have to do is go to my place to get some clothes since I’ve been wearing Wren’s clothes all day and I doubt he will let me go to my place while he’s not here.
At least Mason will have all the clothes he could possibly need. I’m assuming his aunt was the one who threw in a bunch of outfits and other things that look like they will be beneficial. One thing I realized is that I wouldn’t have been prepared if it weren’t for Wren and his family.
The only thing that we need now are diapers and baby wipes. I can ask Wren to stop on the way to get Mason from the hospital. I can use my tips to pay for what we need and then figure out the rest as we go.
I don’t want to get too comfortable here because it still isn’t our home – no; it’s not my home.
He may have sang a song that sounds like it was about me, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I kept his son a secret and I ran away when things freaked me out. I don’t deserve him even if he did forgive me for what I did.
The door to the bedroom opens and I hear him flip the switch, illuminating the room in a soft glow. He scans the room before his eyes land on me sitting in the corner all alone in the dark.
He doesn’t say anything; he just makes his way over to me and takes a seat next to me.
“Why are you hiding?”
His voice is soft and comforting, something that I wouldn’t have expected from him. I’ve always gotten the bossy side of him and right now, I miss it.
“I heard your song.”
The rest of what I was going to say gets stuck in my throat. He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair out of my face.
“And what did you think?”
“It didn’t sound like you guys.”
He chuckles at that. “Why not? You don’t think we can play songs like that?”
I just shrug because I am not sure. Their songs are harder, way harder than that was.
“We play every song acoustic when we write. We add all the hard shit in when we play live.” He grins at me and I get one of those duh moments. “Wait, you’ve listened to our music?” His grin gets wider as he waits for me to answer him.
“Well, it’s all they ever play in this town. It’s almost like you are famous or something.”
I giggle to myself. He just stares at me and I get a little self-conscious.
“What?” I finally asked after a minute.
“You are so damn beautiful when you smile like that.”
I roll my eyes at him like I’ve done so many times and push at his shoulder, but he doesn’t move.
“I’m dead serious. You are beautiful.”
I bite my lip and he reaches over and pulls my lip from my teeth. His mouth comes down on mine and I can’t help but kiss him back.
The spark that was there the first night is still there and it now burns brighter than before. Every inch of my body wants to be pressed against his.
“Hey Wren,” Enver says, coming to a stop when he sees us.
“Sorry man, but Elias is here.” I look over at Wren and I can see the anger written all over his features. He gets up from the floor and pulls me up with him, linking our fingers together. We walk down the hall and into the entryway to see Elias standing there with a wide grin on his face.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Wren growls.
His hand tightens on mine and Elias looks down at our linked hands.
“So, what, you guys are a thing now?” It’s more of a sneer than a question.
“Our personal lives are none of your business. So tell me what the fuck you are doing in my house.”
The rest of the guys come around us and I feel like something bad is going to happen at any moment.
“You look really good for being seven months pregnant or was that just a lie you were trying to get people to believe to get Wren here back in love with you?”
I gasp and move forward, slapping him. He starts to come at me and Wren pulls me behind him and Enver takes up space right in front of me.
“Don’t you dare, Elias!” I poke my finger out at him from between the guys. “Don’t you ever say that I was lying because you don’t know shit!”
I don’t tell him anything about Mason because he isn’t any of his concern.
“So the papers were right, it still could be my kid.” He gets an evil grin and Wren releases my hand and charges at Elias, grabbing him by the shirt and pushes him into the wall.
“Don’t ever talk about my son. He isn’t yours and never will be. You can make up shit all you want to try and get your minute of fame by using me and my band, but that shit isn’t going to fly. Stay the fuck away from Jericho, our son, and me.”
He presses him into the wall hard before letting him go.
“Just wait, Wren. You’ll wish you never took what was mine.”
He gives me an evil look, but he doesn’t say another word to me. I don’t know what he might do, but now I have two crazy people to worry about. Maybe going on tour with Wren would be a better idea.
Enver and Dek get Elias out of the house and I can’t help but stare at the door he just walked through.
“You okay?” Graham asks.
I nod my head even though inside I am freaking the fuck out. Wren pulls me into his chest and I wrap my arms around him and just let him hold me.
This week has been one of the most stressful weeks in my life and part of me just wants to pack up and run, but I know that it won’t be an option now. Wren would never just let me leave. He would do everything in his power to find me.
“I’m going to deal with him.”
I just nod my head, not answering him with words. The only words I have left in me are ones that he doesn’t want to hear, ones that will be goodbye and that I can’t do this. I know I can’t do that to him so I don’t say anything.
“I’ll finish up everything here, go to bed. I’m sure your exhausted and we have a busy day in the morning to get ready for Mason to come home.”
He walks me to his room and pulls the blankets back before helping me into the bed and tucking me in.
“I’ll be in soon.”
His lips press against my forehead and I close my eyes trying to keep the tears at bay.
I’ve never known Elias to be devious or willing to hurt som
eone to get what he wants, so I have no idea what he is capable of. He was always so harmless, or so I thought. I would have never thought that he would do the things that he has done, but now I don’t know what he is capable of.
Wren runs his thumb along my cheek, wiping away the tears that have already escaped from my eyes.
“I’m sorry I’m so emotional. The pregnancy is still making me crazy hormonal. Do you think that he is really going to do anything? I’m already stressed out because of that girl and now this if he – ”
Wren puts his finger to my lips to stop my slight freak out.
“Jericho, I promise that he won’t do shit to you or Mason. I have security here being increased and my family will know that you and Mason are here. I’ll give you my uncle’s number and you can call him or Seth at any time and someone will come straight to you. You won’t have to worry.” I nod again and he kisses me once more.
“Us going on tour, is that still an option?”
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair.
“I don’t know babe. His immune system may not be good enough for it. I asked the doctor earlier and he said it would be a huge risk. Mason is too young and fragile to be exposed to that many people.”
I bite my lip and frown.
“I don’t know what I’m doing. You seem to know so much more than me. What if I’m a terrible mother, Wren? I’ve never even been around a baby, let alone took care of one. What if he gets sick?”
He sits on the bed next to me. “Jer, I promise you will be amazing. I have the utmost faith in you. You will be the best mother to Mason.”
“Do you really think so?”
He leans over me and cups my cheek. “Yeah babe, I know you will.” Tears start to fall because he is the first person to ever have blind faith in me. “Don’t cry, baby. Why are you crying?” He continues to wipe my tears away.
“You are the first person to ever have faith in me.”
He moves up on the bed and lies on the pillows, pulling me into his chest. “I’ll always have faith in you. You are perfect and don’t let anyone else tell you different. Mason is lucky to have you as his mother and so am I.” He holds me until I fall asleep in his arms.
For the first time, I feel like maybe this was the right choice coming here and finding him again. I want like hell to be the person he thinks I am and I will do whatever I can to be the best mom to Mason, I just hope that I’m enough.
Chapter 24
Wren
I don’t know anything about her past, but it pisses me off that no one has once made her feel special because she is fucking special and I will make it my mission to make sure she knows it. Mason and I are lucky as shit to have her.
Once I know she’s asleep, I slide my arm from under her and kiss her forehead before making my way out of the room, shutting the door softly behind me. I see Enver in the hallway right outside Mason’s room on his phone.
Maybe if I kept Jericho a secret, this shit wouldn’t be happening.
Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I dial the number for Holden, my security manager, and tell him that I need him to increase the security at my house starting tomorrow. I want to know that if someone comes near my house, his team will ensure that nothing happens to Mason and Jericho.
“Congratulations, man. One of my men said the baby comes home tomorrow.”
I can’t help but grin at that.
“Yeah, he does. Oh, there have already been threats on him and Jericho, his mother. I don’t want anyone going near them except family, Seth, and Mellie.”
“Got it, boss man.” He tells me he’ll have everything taken care of while I’m back on tour and not to worry.
I pocket my phone before walking over to Enver to see who he is texting. Before I can read anything, he shoves his phone in his pocket. I just grin at him and slap him on the back. “Let’s get this shit done so I can go curl up with that girl in there.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “You serious about her?”
“Yeah, I told you on tour that I wanted her back,” I state, leaning against the wall.
“I thought you were just drunk when you said that. You’ve never been serious about a girl since Jandie and we all know how that crazy bitch fucked up our first chance. I don’t want you to have to deal with that shit again. But I have to admit, I like Jericho. She seems to make you different even if it’s a bad thing for us.”
I respect the hell out of Enver and I know he only gives me the truth straight up. He never candy coats that shit and I’m glad for it most days. He’s right about Jandie. I trusted her and fell hard when I should have fucking ran the other way. When we met, I loved that crazy side of her and I thought I could make it work, but instead, she just fucked us over. Because of her, we lost our first shot at making it big. I dropped her not long after and did everything in my power to get us another shot and it paid off a year later and we blew up almost overnight.
“What do you think Jandie wants, other than you?” Graham asks from inside the room. He picks up the changing table and moves it into place.
“Don’t fucking know. At one point she told me she was pregnant, but I blew her off. Maybe it has to do with Jericho giving birth to Mason and that’s why she’s calling and shit.”
“You think she’s going to hurt either of them?” he asks.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t spoken to her in years. We are never here much so I haven’t had to deal with her shit. But now that Jericho and Mason are here, I have a feeling that I will.”
Dek comes up behind me and slaps me on the shoulder.
“Told you that crazy bitch wasn’t worth it.” I nod my head because he’s right. Jandie wasn’t worth the shit she put me and the guys through. “But then again neither is the new one.”
Instead of thinking, I just react. I grab Dek by the throat and squeeze.
“Don’t say a damn word about her. You think you know everything, but you don’t have a fucking clue. Get used to Jericho being in my life. If you can’t deal with it, I’ll walk.”
I release him and walk off because if I don’t, I’m going to take a swing at one of my best friends. These guys are like family and I don’t like being at odds with them, but I will if it comes down to it.
“Trigger.” I turn to see Enver staring at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“What?” I sigh, looking over my shoulder at him.
I’m tired of them coming at me because they think I’m only thinking with my dick. This time I’m not. Sure, at first it was the only thing I was doing, but I was on vacation. I was doing what I wanted for the weekend and I didn’t need to answer to any of them.
Once Ello booked the show and interviews, everything was fucked. The guys hovered and said shit they shouldn’t have to Jericho, which led to her running. If I was able to handle the situation alone, she wouldn’t have left me. I would have gotten her a new job touring with me or something and I would have got to spend time with her during the pregnancy. I would have gotten to know her better.
“I get you like her and everything, but is this shit the real deal?”
I clench my fist before I turn around. I’m getting sick and tired of my best friends asking me if this shit is the real deal. I’ve never threatened one of them about walking away before over anything.
“Yeah. I don’t give a shit what your guys’ opinions of this shit are anymore. I’m done. If you guys can’t accept it, then I’m out.”
“You’d really walk away from it all for a bitch?” Dek asks coming into the hall.
I start to make my way toward him, but Enver stops me.
“Stop,” he grunts out when I try to get away from him. “You both are acting like children.”
“No, I’m serious. You don’t like the way I choose to live my life, then I’m out. I won’t let you treat Jericho like shit. I know you are the reason she left before, Dek.”
These guys are like bad girlfriends that only like to push buttons and start shit.
&nb
sp; “You really think she’s going to stick around, Trigger? That she can handle Jandie, Elias, and all the fucking bitches that throw themselves at you every day? You’re going to be on the road more than not and I know that girl can’t handle that.”
“Then fuck it. I’ll give it all up for her and Mason. And fuck you, Dek. I’m sick of your bullshit.”
Before I can walk away again, Graham has to pull Dek back.
“I can’t believe you would give it all up for her! We’ve been your family for a long fucking time and she just prances her ass in front of you, lets you knock her up, and now we have to deal with it because you don’t want to hurt her feelings. Fuck you.”
Graham is still holding him back and Enver is still standing in front of me, hands on my chest keeping me where I am.
“I don’t want you to give up your life for me, Wren. I definitely don’t want you to fight with your friends either.” She looks right at Dek and says, “I didn’t trap him. This is why I left. I don’t want to be the reason you are at each other’s throats. Mason and I will get by on our own and you can go back on tour.”
With that she walks back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. The anger in the room dissipates faster than it built up and I feel like I can’t breathe. There is no way I’m letting her leave.
She can’t leave, I need her.
I end up falling against Enver and he keeps us both upright. “You guys need to cool the fuck down.”
“I can’t lose them,” I whisper to him. He nods his head but doesn’t say anything else.
I don’t know what I’ll do if she takes Mason and leaves while I’m on tour.
-
By the time I finally pull my ass out of Mason’s room, I’ve drunk a bottle of Jack and Enver is cursing me for it. He was pissed that I went straight for the bottle, but I couldn’t help it. The thought of losing Jericho and Mason when I just got them back is tearing me up inside.
Graham kicked Dek out after Jericho said what she did and they both headed who the fuck knows. I’m just glad he’s gone.
