“Not great. It was so gross in there. There was a toilet in the cell, but thank you for picking me up. I really do appreciate it.”
At least she sounded grateful and apologetic. And I knew she was trying to make light of the tense mood in the cab of my truck.
Emily turned around in the front seat. “Yeah, well, how did you expect a jail to be? Huh? Keels, do you understand that you now have a record?”
As I backed out, I caught a glimpse of Keely’s face in the rearview mirror. “Yes, Emily, I do realize that, and I also know that Mom and Dad are going to kill me when they find out. And had I known I’d get the third degree from you, I wouldn’t have called. I thought you’d changed, but I guess you’re the same stuck-up, judgmental bitch you’ve always been.”
I looked over and saw fire in Emily’s eyes.
“Enough, Keely,” I said sternly, simply because I wouldn’t let her talk to the girl I loved that way.
“But Zack,” she protested.
“No,” I said. “Be grateful that we came and got you. Now is not the time to berate your sister. She’s worried about you because Derrick gets in a lot of trouble. She’s not being stuck-up or judgmental, and she’s not a bitch. Seriously, what the hell were you doing with him anyway?”
She sat back against the seat in a huff and looked out the window. “He came into the bar where I work, and we talked. After I got off, we had some drinks – a lot of drinks – and then we, um, went back to my apartment.”
I looked over to see Emily’s fists clenched against the leather seats, but she didn’t say anything.
“So, how’d you get back outside,” I prompted.
She sighed. “We ran out of beer, so we decided to walk to the liquor store near my apartment. We were walking back and we were laughing and joking around, so we sat on a fountain that we passed so we could catch our breath. Then Derrick had to pee. When we got caught it was kind of crazy. The cop was an asshole, and he was being really rough with Derrick, so I yelled at him. Then he arrested me too. I wasn’t even that drunk, but Derrick was, so I guess he wanted to teach us a lesson.”
“You slept with him, didn’t you,” Emily asked, and Keely kept her gaze fixed on the passing scenery.
“The cop?” she asked, being a smartass on purpose.
“No, Derrick,” Emily ground out.
“Yes,” Keely said tightly.
Emily just took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I reached over and took her hand in mine.
“Are you going to tell me how dumb I am for doing that?” Keely asked, and even though she was being tough, I could tell it was the last thing she wanted Emily to tell her.
“No,” Emily said softly. “You’re eighteen. You make your own decisions. I personally wouldn’t have chosen to sleep with Derrick, but I’m not you. I just hope you used protection. Do you have to appear in court?”
The officer had handed Keely papers on the way out, so we both assumed she’d have to revisit the situation at a later date and see what she was going to be charged with. Maybe she’d get lucky, and the officer would drop the charges.
“October fourteenth,” she muttered.
Emily looked over at me. If Keely had gotten a court date, Derrick would as well. And we’d be on tour on October fourteenth. Dammit. That sucked.
We were unofficially kicking off our tour in Texas at Austin City Limits on October fifth, but then we had a week off between that show and our next one where we were going to be in New York and L.A. promoting the album. The label was throwing a launch party for us on twelfth, and we were playing that night, and then the tour would officially start three days later on the same day the album was released. If Derrick’s court date was the same as Keely’s we’d be okay, but if not, we might have to move some dates around. Jonathan wasn’t going to like that.
“I’m sorry, Em,” Keely said then, and Emily turned around to face her.
“I know you are. I’m sorry too.”
She faced back front then, and neither sister said another word all the way back to Keely’s apartment. When she got out of the car, Emily got out and hugged her little sister and said something to her that I couldn’t hear, but whatever it was made Keely smile. I was glad to see they’d at least parted ways on semi-friendly terms.
Chapter Ten
Zack
I was dragging since Emily and I hadn’t gotten back to sleep until close to three, and then the alarm had gone off at seven. We’d swung by the jail to pick up a hung over Derrick, and I hadn’t said a word to him since I’d seen his ass being led out by the officer. I knew he was pissed that I’d waited until the next morning to bail him out, but he didn’t say anything, most likely knowing I was more pissed after what he’d done.
Fortunately for him, since Lily was with us, neither Emily nor I had said anything to him on the ride to the hotel, but I dropped him off and told him to go see Jonathan, and then I’d parked the car.
Now we were all at the hotel for the photo shoot and where Rachel would interview us. Leo and Andrew were standing in the hallway outside the room we’d be using where very obvious shouting could be heard from inside the room.
“A’dwew!” Lily said excitedly as soon as she spotted him.
They’d gotten close in the year that Andrew had been dating Jen, and Lily loved him.
He turned and smiled at her. “Hi Lily Girl! How’s my favorite princess?”
He started to reach for her, but then he stopped and looked up to catch my glance. I gave him a confused look before recognition dawned on me.
“Dude, come on,” I said and passed her to him.
He took her and tickled her tummy. “I didn’t know if you’d be weird about it now or something,” he mumbled.
“You’re not a pedophile, Drew. I trust you with her.”
Leo’s gaze shifted to us, and he shot me a questioning look, but I just shook my head.
“So what’s going on?” I asked him, gesturing to the closed door where shouting could still be heard, instead of answering his hidden question. I wasn’t outing Andrew to him.
Thankfully Leo wasn’t one to pry.
“Jonathan’s laying into Derrick,” he explained, as if it wasn’t obvious.
“He really got arrested again?” Andrew asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. I think we’re going to have to have a talk with him. This BS has to stop.”
I was careful not to curse when my daughter was in close range. I only hoped she couldn’t make out what Jonathan was saying since his message was peppered with plenty of expletives. So much for him being calm. Either he’d been half-asleep when we’d talked and hadn’t time to process what had happened, or he hadn’t gone off on me since it wasn’t my fault.
“Is he going to have to go to court?” Leo asked, and I nodded.
Leo shook his head. “I’m seriously going to kick his a–,” he paused and glanced at Lily who was watching him. He kept his eyes on her. “His butt. I’m going to kick his butt.”
She giggled.
“Don’t you laugh at me, Lily,” he said, leaning down to tickle her tummy, only making her laugh harder.
I was glad the guys accepted Lily into the mix so easily. It definitely wasn’t rock ‘n roll to have a toddler with us, but I didn’t have many other options. At least they were cool with it.
Five minutes later, a very disheveled and down-trodden Derrick came out of the room. He stopped short when he saw us all standing there.
“Don’t even start with me,” he grumbled, pushing past us. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“I’m going with him,” Andrew said, handing Lily back to me before he chased Derrick down the hall.
Andrew had known Derrick longer than any of us, and because he was a nice guy, he was probably the best person to speak to him. I was still too pissed to have a sensible talk with him, and Leo would verbally kick his ass.
“Should we go in?” Leo asked me then, and I shrugged.
“I’m going out fr
ont to meet Rach,” Emily said then. “She just got here.”
I turned to her. “Sounds good. See you inside.”
She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my lips before she turned and walked away. I watched her ass in the tight jeans she was wearing until she disappeared around the corner.
When Leo and I stepped into the room, Jonathan had his back to us. He turned when he heard the door open.
“Go next door and see Juliette. She’s in charge of wardrobe. Erin is in charge of hair and make-up. We’re doing group shots and individual shots. When you’re not shooting, you’re in here where Rachel from Hit! will interview you. Got it?”
I looked over at Leo whose eyebrows were raised in surprise. Then I turned back to Jonathan. “Hey man, we’re not Derrick. There’s no need to treat us like that.”
“From here on out, this band needs to be about unity. If one of you fucks up, you all fuck up.”
I instantly covered Lily’s ears, but I wasn’t quick enough. Then I set my glare on Jonathan. “Don’t curse in front of my daughter,” I cautioned him. “Seriously.”
I wasn’t going to warn him again.
“Sorry,” he said, and it was as if he finally noticed that I was holding Lily. “I’m a little irritated right now. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Just don’t do it again,” I warned as I dropped my hands. “And I’ll agree with you that this band is all about unity, but we’re not about dictatorship. None of us are happy about what Derrick did, and we’ll talk to him, but we’re also adults. Keep that in mind.”
“Go next door, Zack,” he said, not responding to my comment. “We’re already behind.”
He took out his phone and turned his back, effectively dismissing us. Leo reached over and covered Lily’s ears.
“Asshole,” he muttered.
“You’re telling me.”
Emily and Rachel came into the suite as Leo and I were walking next door.
“Hey guys!” Rachel gushed, crossing the room to us. She hugged me and kissed Lily’s cheek. It’s so good to see you. Chase said to say hi.”
I gave Rachel a warning look, willing her not to say anything about the house, and she just winked at me and grinned. Emily sidled up next to Rachel and put her arm around her waist and her head on her shoulder. I knew she missed her best friend, and I was glad that their worlds were colliding.
“Incoming,” Leo muttered to me before he turned and walked into the adjoining room.
“Weo!” Lily called after him, so he turned around. I set her down, and she ran over to him. “Want to pway dwess up?”
Leo laughed and led her over to the hanging rack of clothes for the shoot. “Come on, Lil, let’s see what sort of funny outfit we can pick out for your daddy, huh?”
“Coow,” she said as she took his hand in hers.
I turned back to see Jonathan approaching. He’d gotten off the phone with whoever he was talking to, and I knew he was going to say something about the fact that I was still standing there and not getting my hair and make-up done, but I really didn’t care.
“Zack, are you going to introduce me to your friends?” he asked, and there was an air of something I didn’t like in his tone. “By the way, nice backpack.”
I narrowed my eyes at his jab at Lily’s Cinderella backpack that was slung over my shoulder. Fuck him. He was a dad. Did he never carry around anything mildly embarrassing? No, he probably didn’t. He didn’t seem like that kind of dad.
Emily and Rachel turned around at the sound of his voice.
“Are you Jonathan?” Emily asked, and I saw something in his eyes as he basically drank her in that made me want to punch him. He was completely eyeing her.
I stepped forward and took her hand in mine.
“Jon, this is my fiancée, Emily,” I said, purposefully shortening his name. I’d heard him correct someone who called him Jon the day before, so I knew he wouldn’t like it.
Yeah, I was a dick.
“Jonathan,” he corrected and then turned to Emily and stuck out his hand for her to shake so she had to let go of mine. Bastard. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Emily. I have a feeling we’re going to be working together a lot.”
Not if I can help it.
Emily giggled. She actually giggled, so I glared at her and felt an elbow in the ribs from Rachel, the ever protective best friend. I elbowed her shoulder back.
“Yeah, especially if Derrick keeps pulling crap like he did last night,” Emily joked.
“Not if I can prevent it,” Jonathan promised, his tone completely jovial. It was nothing like ten minutes earlier when he’d been pissed as hell. “So who’s your friend?”
“I’m Rachel Reynolds from Hit!. We spoke on the phone,” she said curtly.
Yeah, I sort of loved Rachel’s ball-busting attitude when it was directed at Douchebag Jonathan. She didn’t like him either.
“Nice to meet you, Rachel,” Jonathan said. Then he turned back to Emily. “A beautiful girl with beautiful friends. I should have known.”
The fiancé of a girl who’s going to kick your ass if you keep flirting with her.
I was completely seeing red.
“I’m going to get dressed for the shoot,” I muttered before I said something stupid. There were about nine comments right on the tip of my tongue, but I figured none of them would win me any points with Jonathan or Emily, so I kept my mouth shut.
“I’ll come with you,” Rachel said. “I want to see if you like my idea for your solo pictures. My boss and Juliette thought it was good, so we’re going to try it.”
“Sounds delightful. You coming, princess?” I asked Emily.
“Princess?” Jonathan questioned, and I swung my gaze over to him, almost challenging him to say something about my nickname for my girl.
Emily blushed a little. “Zack’s been calling me that since we met,” she explained.
“Why?”
Why do you need to know? It’s my nickname for her. It’s our thing. Leave it alone.
God, now I really hated him.
Emily smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but meet her gaze. She kept her eyes on me while she answered him. “It’s just a thing we do,” she said sweetly. “Zack called me princess one of first nights we met, and it stuck.”
I was glad she didn’t go into detail, since it was sort of personal. I didn’t want to let Jonathan into that part of our lives. He was our manager, but that was it.
“Anyway,” Rachel interjected, sounding annoyed. “Come on, Zack.”
She tugged on my arm and led me into the other room where Leo was being fitted into a pair of jeans.
“I do not like that guy,” I muttered to her, looking back.
She must have known that given the chance, I’d have stayed and kept an eye on Jonathan to make sure he didn’t cross any lines, and that definitely wasn’t healthy.
“Yeah, me neither,” she said, fairly dismissively. “So, I’m thinking we do sort of a James Dean, white t-shirt and jeans look. We can have you leaning up against a brick wall with your guitar, cool?”
I nodded, liking the vibe of the shot. “Yeah, that works. It sounds pretty cool.”
Rachel grinned. “Cool. Alright, go see Juliette, and we’ll get started. Jules, he’s in.”
I turned to see a petite girl with dark hair nod and start pulling clothes off of a rack.
“Where’s Lily?” I asked, looking around when I didn’t see my daughter. Leo was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.
“She’s in here,” someone called out from the bathroom, so I headed over there to see who was watching her.
I poked my head around the doorframe and saw her sitting on the counter while a blond woman dusted her cheeks with blush. She was already wearing lip gloss. Flashes of her as a teenager suddenly invaded my brain, and I got a little light-headed. I was so not ready for that.
“Hi Daddy!” she said cheerfully. “Do I look pwetty?”
I smiled, because she was gr
inning at me. “You look beautiful, baby, but why don’t you come out here and color with me, huh?”
“Okay,” she said, and the blond lifted her off the counter and set her on the ground.
I took Lily’s hand and led her out to the coffee table where I set her up with some crayons and a coloring book. Then I turned to Juliette who was holding out my outfit ready for me to change.
“James Dean, huh?” I asked her.
She smiled. “He’s a sex symbol, and so are you,” she commented with a shrug as she handed me the clothes and I went into the bathroom to change since the blond had vacated the room.
All I could think was, Yeah, apparently I am.
I genuinely wished it could be solely about the music, but I knew that wasn’t the game I’d signed up to play. There was so much more that went into being a musician that I had to be okay with or I knew it would drive me nuts.
I opened the door to the bathroom after I’d changed and saw the blond standing there waiting for me. She smiled brightly at me and stuck her hand out for me to shake.
“We didn’t get to meet before, but I’m Erin, the stylist for the shoot.”
I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Erin. I’m Zack.”
I peeked around the corner to see Lily still occupied with her crayons. When I turned back to Erin, she blushed and looked away.
“I know who you are,” she said. “I’ve been a fan for a while. I saw you guys play here a few years ago.”
“Really? That’s cool. Thanks for supporting our music.”
She blushed even deeper. “Yeah, well, I’m more of a fan of you,” she said, as she tucked a strand of her wavy blond hair behind her ear. “I heard the radio interview you did on Lindsay Hollenbeck’s show on Sunday, and, um, I heard you say that you’re single, but then I met your daughter, so I wasn’t sure . . . I mean, if you’re not doing anything later, and you’re single, we could, um, maybe grab a drink. I live nearby.”
She trailed off, and I was left feeling uncomfortable – and pissed that Emily had made me tell the world I was essentially on the market. And shit, a few years ago, the guy I was would have jumped at the opportunity to sleep with this girl since she was good-looking and she was offering, but I wasn’t him anymore. My life was completely different. I only wanted one girl.
Broken Fairytales Series Box Set (Broken Fairytales, Buried Castles, Shattered Crowns) Page 72
