“This is much more than music,” Dale said. "What happens when one of these assholes ends up in jail for a long time? Or dead?”
“Then you package up the old shit and make it into a memory box,” Dex said. “Cash in on our ass.”
“This isn’t thirty years ago, boys,” Jess said.
“We know how a calendar works, girl,” I said to her.
“Jess is right,” Dick said. “You might be the hottest band… or the baddest band… but you’re a liability to everyone around you.”
“Thanks for the time then,” I said.
“That’s it?” Jess asked. “Thought you’d work a little harder to get what you want.”
I walked around the table and approached Jess.
When I was just a few inches from her, she swallowed hard.
I stared her down in silence.
I could smell the desire pouring from her.
I leaned in. “You like it rough, babe. You like the back door to be used but you're ashamed to admit it. But be careful how close you get to the flames… you will get burned.”
“Okay, we’re losing this entire thing,” Toby said.
“Bottom line is that SLECK RECORDS wants Filthy Line,” Dale said. “I said it. Maybe I’m not supposed to say it. But I did. There are serious legal and public issues we have to figure out though. Like the story that ran today…”
“I did not steal that car,” I said. “That was a hit job.”
“I bet you fucked that writer,” Reed said.
“And you never called her back,” Dex said.
“Why would I call someone back? I already fucked them.” I glanced at Jess and winked.
“Either way, that kind of attention isn’t good,” Dale said. “Any press is good press? That’s bullshit. Because now you're looking at the cost of the car, the fact that emergency personnel were dealing with you instead of actual emergencies… need I go on?”
“All of which could be contained,” Toby said. “Get these guys in the studio and watch what happens.”
“You’re still touring, right?” Dale asked.
“Almost done,” Toby said.
“Maybe you can stay out of trouble for the rest of the tour?”
We all laughed.
Toby put a piece of paper down on the table. “Or maybe we take a difference approach to things…”
“You want someone to write stories about me,” I said to Toby as we stood in the hallway.
“Hey, you read this,” Toby said, waving the paper around. “This is good. This is funny good. They post shit about you, Nash, and then we come back with this. Two stories. Two sides.”
“And which one are they going to believe?” I asked.
“That’s the point. Throw enough shit at them and they’ll get confused.”
“Stop saying the word shit,” I said. “I’m saying no to this.”
“You might not have a choice.”
I curled my lip.
“Have you seen the office around here?” Dex asked. “I was just in the ladies room and-”
“Why were you in the ladies room?” Toby asked.
“Checking out the ass,” Dex said. “It’s a turn on for me.”
“You all need to get back on the bus,” Toby said. “We have to get out of here before someone calls the police.”
“The police are outside waiting for us, Toby,” Reed said.
“Either way, fuck this place,” Sab said. He put his hands to the wall and played a drumbeat. “Let’s finish working on that song. Get some more stuff put together.”
“I agree with him,” Toby said, pointing to Sab. “Go write. Make music. If we can put together some new tunes for Dale, we can make this work.”
“I’m always ready to play,” Jay said. “But first I need to check out the ladies room.”
“Hold up,” Toby said. “Everyone, back on the bus. My orders.”
“We don’t take orders from you, Toby,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “But just this once… this is a huge deal waiting on the table.”
“And if I unzip my jeans and put my dick on the table, it’ll be an even bigger deal,” I said.
Toby sighed and rubbed his jaw. “You need to do this, Nash.”
“I don’t need to do a fucking thing. That’s the best part of my life. What I feel like doing though is playing a show. Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Toby asked.
“Yes, brother, yes,” Sab said. He grabbed my shoulders. “What should we hit?”
“I don’t care,” I said. “Neon lights. Women. Drinks. I’ve got something stirring up inside me.”
“Let me make some calls then,” Toby said. “This could be a good way to forget about your little pirate episode.”
“See? We don’t need someone to rewrite stories. Let anyone say what they want about me. Secretly, they love it. The suits in there? They fucking love it.”
“Everything they said was right though,” Toby said.
“And if they don’t want to toss us a deal, we’ll figure it out. We always do.”
“Maybe I want mine this time, Nash. A piece of the pie.”
“I let you have black hair,” I said with a wink.
“Who’s that?” Jay asked.
“Oh, you should have seen her,” I said to Jay. “Jet black hair. Little curves. So perky and bouncy. Only one tit pierced though. Half the job done.”
“You finish it?” Reed asked.
“Tried,” I said. I smashed my teeth together and growled.
Dex and Sab laughed.
“Get on the fucking bus,” Toby growled under his breath.
I looked forward and saw a woman walking down the hall. She looked right at me then looked away really fast.
Her hand went to the boardroom door where we had just been.
“Got a name for that?” I whispered to Toby.
He turned his head and let out a quick HA! sound. “That’s your savior, Nash. Your angel.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“She’s the one who wrote the story about you,” Toby said. “The spun story.”
I eyed her for a quick second as she went into the boardroom.
I saw her right arm, right leg, a little of the swell of her right breast, and the curve of her ass.
Did I need more to fall in love?
Nope.
I slammed a hand down to Toby’s shoulder. “You know, on second thought, this might work…”
“Nash…”
“Let me go introduce myself to the woman who’s going to save me from myself.”
“I think the entire thing is insane,” Dale said with fists to the table. “Complete fucking insanity.”
“Then make a call and get me the deal I want.”
She was bold. Her hair was a dark blonde color and pulled back in a messy way. She looked at me twice and each time all I saw was the sparkling color of a blue ocean off an island where nobody would find us.
Us.