Jay put all of his fingers together.
He fucked the air with his hand, nodding.
“Wow, what a lesson here,” Nash said.
“Goddammit,” Toby said. “You know what, Jay? You go finger whatever you want, however you want to, okay?”
“Even your mother?” Jay asked.
Sab clapped his hands together. “Oh, shit…”
Toby stared at Jay.
I grabbed Toby’s phone out of his hand and stood up.
People were crazy.
Then again, I should have known better.
We had some of the best fans in the world. The wildest fans in the world. And at the same time there were those who hated us.
The building we were in had a notorious reputation for the baddest of rock stars recording there. That meant going back fifty years. The baddest of the bad. The best of the best. Those who didn’t live to see thirty. Those who were pushing seventy, still partying as hard as ever.
“So what do you want to do here?” I asked.
Toby set his sights on me again. “I don’t know, Reed.”
“It’s a middle finger. I’m a rock star. Fuck it.”
“The headlines… FLIPPIN’ THE BIRD TO AN INNOCENT GRANDMOTHER…”
I looked closer at the screen. “You’re really going to pick on the woman’s age.”
“Age doesn’t mean anything,” Nash said.
“What the hell, Toby?” Jay asked.
“I’d fuck someone no matter their age,” Sab said. “I have…”
“Who?” Dex asked.
“You remember that strip club up in Airan?” Sab asked with a grin.
“Yeah,” I said. “All they wanted us to do was sign their tits. And then everyone in the place wanted the same. That was the worst strip club I’ve ever been to.”
“Not for me,” Sab said. “Remember that waitress… Betty…”
“No fucking way,” Nash said.
“Yeah,” Sab said. “She was hot.”
“Good for her,” Dex said.
“Good for me,” Sab said. “She was wild.”
“What the hell is the point of this?” Toby asked.
“This is your fault,” I said to Toby. “Age discrimination.”
“It was a fucking example of a headline!” Toby yelled.
“Who cares?” I asked. “I’m on my motorcycle, doing my thing. I threw someone the middle finger. If anything, it’ll go viral and we’ll stay in everyone’s mind.”
“You’re releasing a sad song soon…”
“Which fits the bill,” Nash said. “We show our tender side yet this proves we still have our bad ass side.”
While Toby looked at Nash, I hurried into the settings of his phone.
I handed him his phone back and sat back down in the chair.
“This just shows you how fast… hey, what’s wrong with my phone?” Toby asked.
I grinned.
“Reed,” Toby said.
“What?”
“You changed the language on my phone,” Toby said.
“Toby, we’re in the middle of something here,” Jay said. “Go find us a show to play. Or an interview to do. Get out of here.”
“I can’t read anything on my phone,” Toby said.
“Now’s a good time to learn a new language,” Dex said.
“Oh, fuck, here come the calls,” Toby said. “Thanks for this, Reed.”
I waved without looking back. “Anything for you, Toby!”
He left the room.
Nash was back next to me again.
“Don’t say it,” I said.
“You ran out of here and got on your motorcycle and cut off a car. Threw the middle finger. Then came right back a few minutes later.”
“Your point?” I asked.
“What was it all about?”
“I just needed a breath of fresh air.”
I looked through images of the rooftop photoshoot.
The look fit the band.
Toby wanted us to do an in-depth interview but we were all against it. Nash didn’t want someone digging into Liv’s life. Dex didn’t want someone bothering Candice and her family.
I didn’t think everyone needed to know every detail of my life either.
There was a time when our image was good enough.
Now it seemed everyone wanted more.
And when they got more, they wanted even more.
It became a vicious cycle.
Social media and everything that came with it made everyone seem closer.
I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.
“Okay,” Nash said, slamming his hand to the table. “We need to listen to the auditions. Finalize this part.”
We were in Nash’s house, sitting out back with lights glowing all around.
The walkway glowed every few blocks. There were also lights under the railing of the balcony.
Behind me I heard the door open and shut.
When I turned my head, I saw Liv coming outside.
“Hey,” I called out. “How’s the writing?”
“Great,” she said.
“When are we going to hook up, Liv? You and me. I’ll tell you all my filthy secrets. Now that’s a book everyone wants to read.”
“I think that would be considered a horror novel,” she said.
She settled on Nash’s lap.
The way he looked at her was something else. He wasn’t even aware of the way he was looking at her.
That’s what made that shit real.
And to think, Liv had been following us around, writing semi-fake stories to keep Nash’s reputation decent enough so that we could keep touring.
“I thought you didn’t want everyone to know your secrets, Reed?” Nash asked me.
“True,” I said. “But have you seen Liv?”
She laughed.
Nash looked pissed.
The rest of the guys came outside.
They had plenty to drink. Plenty of other stuff too.
Liz kissed Nash like the world was ending and then she stood up.
She gently patted between Nash’s legs.
“Did I wake him?”
“You always do,” Nash said to her.
Jay stepped away from the table.
Nash jumped up and pointed to him. “She’s not touching your dick!”
Jay showed his hands. “Whoa, Nash…”
“You were going to say it,” Nash said.
“Your point?” Jay asked.
“Goodnight, boys,” Liv called out. “Don’t make too much noise.”
“Only when I think of you,” I called out.
Nash lunged at me.
He grabbed my shirt.
I smiled.
He shook his head.
“You know it’s out of love, right?” I asked. “Liv is beautiful. But she’s all yours.”
Nash pushed away from me.
We started listening to the auditions.
The process was weird.
Here we were, just a group of rock stars, judging the voices of random women.
We took a vote on each voice.
We marked down the names that got the highest votes.
“Here’s the next one,” Nash said.
When I heard the voice, I stood up.