There were too many questions, and my brain was running away with me. His dad could have hurt me if he had wanted to, and nothing had happened. That didn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t hurt Grant if given the option. I’d seen the look in his father’s eyes. I’d seen the anger bubbled up under the surface at the mention of what had happened that day.
I knew the last thing Grant wanted to do was meet with his father, and I didn’t want to play into his hands by convincing Grant otherwise. But it might take Grant talking to him to get him to leave Grant alone. He was determined, and if I knew anything about McDermott persistence, then Grant would find no peace from his father anytime soon.
Aribel.
I’d finally get to see my girl. It didn’t matter to me that I’d also have to go through the likely painful encounter of meeting her judgmental parents. In fact, I was the one who had pushed her to tell them about me in the first place. Though telling them about me and officially meeting them was a different story.
But it would be worth it as long as I was finally with her again.
“Grant’s getting his dick wet tonight.” Trevor cracked up on the bus as we pulled into Boston.
“Fucking finally,” Ridley joked.
“I can’t wait to fucking meet this chick who has you so whipped,” Nic said.
Vin snorted. “Just wait. She’s this tiny little innocent blonde. You’d never peg her as a fucking groupie.”
McAvoy smacked him upside the head. “That’s because she’s not, dipshit.”
“That’s fucking right she’s not,” I growled possessively.
Next to Nic, Joey leaned back and crossed his arms. “How did you end up with a little innocent thing in Jersey when you have so many options on the road?”
“I wouldn’t say Ari is a sweet, innocent thing anymore,” Miller said, struggling to keep a straight face.
“Oh, fuck off, guys!”
They all laughed, and it felt nice for once to relax with the bands, knowing I’d be getting some ass tonight.
Then, Donovan walked in. “What’s so funny?”
“We’re talking about Grant’s girlfriend. She’s coming to the show tonight,” Ridley filled him in.
Donovan arched an eyebrow at me. “Is she bringing another guy again? She seems to have a new one at every show.”
“Don’t make me punch your fucking face again.”
Donovan smiled at me and held his hands up. “I was trying to clarify the facts here, bro.”
“Come on, D, we’re having some fun,” Trevor piped up. “Have a beer and chill out with us. We have a full day off after this to get fucked and fucked up.”
Donovan looked over at me for a second. It was in that moment I realized what had fucking happened. Donovan had been such a punk-ass bitch lately that even his own bandmates preferred to hang out with me and my bros. Donovan and I had done nothing but argue these last six weeks, and now, he wasn’t even fucking welcome to fucking chill with us.
I lifted my shoulder in affirmation, and Donovan pretended not to notice. Of course he would.
“Sure, man,” he said. He slapped hands with Trevor, who passed him a beer, and then he slid into a seat.
Just like that, all the animosity of the past couple of months dwindled between us, and as long as Donovan would stop acting like a motherfucker about Ari, then we could stay this way.
An hour later, the crew was already busy putting our set together, and we were doing the sound check. Once everything seemed ready to go, I made sure to reserve two front-row tickets for Aribel as well as backstage passes for her after our show.
By the time the show was about to begin, I couldn’t keep from fucking bouncing with energy.
Vin punched me on the arm. “Dude, fucking chill out. If I’d known you’d start acting like a fucking freak, I never would have given you Ari that night.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Is that what you think happened? You gave her to me?”
He shrugged. “Steered you in her fucking direction. I’m the man.”
“You’re such a douche bag.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But you fuckers are happy or some shit. In the long run, no harm, no foul.”
No harm, no foul?
He was fucking lucky there had been no damage done. I’d just fucked some random chick I probably would have fucked if I were sober.
“Ready?” Miller asked, sidling up next to us.
“As ready as we’ll ever be, bro!” Vin cried.
“She didn’t bring the girls with her, did she?” McAvoy asked.
He leaned forward to try to get a glimpse of the audience. I wasn’t sure if he was asking because he missed Gabi and wanted to see her or if he was asking because he was afraid to see her again.
“Nah. It’s just Ari.”
He nodded his head and crossed his arms. “Cool.”
The lights flickered, and then the room went black. That was our cue.
We wandered onstage and received cheers from the audience. I slung my guitar over my head as the lights rose.
I walked right up to the microphone, yanked it off the stand, and said words that had never been truer, “Boston, it is so fucking good to see you tonight!”
The crowd went wild. Despite the sold-out show and thousands of people cheering for us, my eyes went straight to the front row, looking at the pair of enormous blue eyes staring up at me from the most beautiful face I’d ever seen.
Ari.
Her smile was radiant, and she only had eyes for me. It took everything in me not to vault off the stage, capture her lips in a searing kiss, and cart her ass off with me.
“We come from a tiny little town off the Jersey Shore.”
There were more cheers.
“And this is our first time ever playing in Boston, so send us some love. This is ‘Hemorrhage.’”
Then, I poured all my love for Ari into the guitar. Even though I was singing about getting the fuck out of Jersey, all I really wanted in that moment was to return home with her.
My memory didn’t hold a candle to the magnificence that was Grant McDermott. It was a hazy outline, a foggy sketch to the masterpiece.
From my spot in the front row, he towered over me, clad in tight-fit dark jeans and a V-cut red T-shirt that made me want to drool. He always wore dark colors, so seeing him in a delicious red made him absolutely edible. His hair was a little longer and wildly finger-combed. All I could think about was running my fingers through it as I kissed him until he was breathless. His dark eyes kept shifting back to me, and I warmed everywhere. In those brief moments, I could imagine us completely alone—just me and Grant.