“Tell us something, Greer,” Cross asked, moving to stand beside me. Kenton came to stand on my other side. “Did you tell Cristiano about them?”
“Yes, it was me,” he growled out. “It should have been you. You should have said something the second you found out.” He shook his head back and forth like a crazy person. “This never should have happened.”
“It doesn’t matter who it was. You would never have approved,” Kenton started. “The thing you’re not seeing is Walker isn’t into guys, and he’s never given any inclination he is. He’s not going to switch teams for you.”
“You don’t know that,” Greer shouted. He frantically eyed each of us like we were the bad guys.
“But I do,” I spoke up. “Liking guys isn’t in the cards for me. I’m sorry. I really am if this hurts you, but right now, you need to decide if you can accept that I love Pen and we’re married. She is going to be with me every step of the way. I don’t know how everyone else feels, but—”
“No, we agree with you,” Kenton stepped in. I saw Cross nodding his head out of the corner of my eye. “We love Pen, not like you do Walk, but she’s like a sister to us, and we want her with us, helping guide us through our journey.”
Greer’s face turned a deep shade of red as if he was holding his breath or about to explode at any second. “Are you seriously picking her over me?”
Cross stepped forward and put his hand on Greer’s shoulder. “That’s up to you. Can you accept Pen is always going to be around?”
Knocking Cross’s hand off him, Greer stepped back. “I can’t believe this. Haven’t you ever heard of bros before hoes? No,” he looked around the backyard, eyes darting every which way as if he was looking for an escape. “No, I don’t accept this. I can’t watch her ruin you.”
Pen stiffened in my hold, and I knew I needed to end this. I didn’t want Greer ruining today. We were supposed to be celebrating, and he was turning it into some soap opera drama I’d rather forget. “The only one who’s being ruined is you. I’m sorry, Greer, but you’re no longer in Crimson Heat.”
“You’re going to regret what you’re doing here today when she leaves you high and dry—mark my words. You’re never going to amount to anything,” he spat out each word like a cobra strike.
I didn’t let his words phase me. He was angry, and one day Greer would regret he couldn’t accept what Pen and I had together.
“I hope I never see your ugly faces again.” Greer didn’t look back as he stalked through the house with Ryder following close behind. We all watched as he left and Ryder closed and locked the door behind him, and that chapter in all of our lives was closed for good. Greer wasn’t a part of us any longer. I knew it was for the best, but it was still a hard pill to swallow.
Ryder walked back outside and back to the grill while everyone else stood staring at us.
Pen pulled away and headed toward the others. “I’m sorry that happened here. We should have confronted him before today.” She sniffed. “I hate that I’ve wasted your time, Lexie.”
“Oh, honey.” Lexie went to Pen and put her hands on her shoulders. “You may not have thought it was going to go that way, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good. I’ll still take pictures of the rest of the band, and if or when you get another member, I’ll do it again. But today is really about being with your friends and celebrating you and Walker. Let’s eat, have some fun, get some pictures in, and at sunset, you can have your wedding day all over again.”
Pen nodded, but it looked like a bobble. I knew everything was starting to sink in, and Pen would feel guilty when it all hit her. Stella seemed to realize the same thing. She was closer, and I let her have a quiet moment with her friend before I went to her.
With only a foot of space between us, Pen turned around as if she could feel me closing in. The tears in her eyes and the watery smile had me moving quicker to get to my girl. She was hurting, and it killed me to see.
Pen fell into my arms. Her body shook as she buried her face in the side of my neck.
“Baby, it’s okay. We knew this was likely going to happen. How can we have Greer in our band when he went behind all of our backs?” I didn’t think it would do him any good being around Pen and me, either.
“But how can you be Crimson Heat without a rhythm guitarist?” She muttered against my skin.
“We can find someone new. Someone better, who gets along with all of us and doesn’t have the hots for me.”
Pen laughed as I intended, her hot breath tickling my neck. “I’m sorry. I thought he might see reason, and because of me—”
“No, it’s not because of you. It’s all on him. No one blames you,” I murmured into the top of her head.
“The band will be better without Greer in it,” Cross said from somewhere behind us.
Leaning back with red-rimmed eyes, her chin wobbled. “First, you lose your label, and now Greer. I feel like I’m bad luck ever since you got back from tour.”
Taking her face in my hands, I wiped my thumbs over the wetness on her cheeks. “Don’t say that. You’re my lucky Penny. Forever and always.”
A throat cleared, causing us all to look toward the noise.
Ryder frowned and looked at Pen sympathetically. “I’m sorry to break up the moment, but lunch is ready.” He looked to the table where the food sat waiting. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
“You can take off your shirt,” Stella laughed. Her boyfriend narrowed his eyes at her. “What? You can’t deny his hotness.”
“Keep your shirt on, Ryder,” Pen murmured as she walked over to the table where burgers, chicken, potato and every other kind of salad were laid out before us. Her voice was quiet as she took in all the food. “Thank you for providing lunch for us. We could have ordered and had it delivered or something.”
Lexie hugged her husband’s side. “Ryder loves to grill when he’s home, and I’m not going to deny him the chance to grill.”
“Thanks, baby.” Ryder kissed her forehead. “Let’s eat.”
We all sat down to eat. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, but Pen remained silent and still beside me. Sitting down with my burger, I turned to her. “Hey, it’s going to be fine. I promise. In fact, I know we’re going to be better than ever. Do you trust me?”
She nodded, her shoulders relaxing. “Of course, I do.”
Putting my forehead to hers, I gave her a small kiss. “Good, now let’s have fun with your friends and celebrate.”
“You guys are so sweet,” Stella cooed from across the table.
The doorbell went off, setting us all on alert. Our backs stiffened as we looked toward the front door, which you could see from outside.
Ryder stood, his jaw tense. “Any chance that’s your friend?”
“Doubtful, but I’ll go with you just in case. You shouldn’t have to deal with him if it is.”
Ryder nodded as I followed him inside the house. I stood back a few feet in case it wasn’t Greer. Ryder pointed to a screen on the wall I hadn’t noticed. To my shock and horror, my parents were standing on the other side of the door. “Do you know them?”