The Making of Matt (Souls of the Knight 3)

He was due any moment, so I gathered all the things Jake told me I might need - documents, account details, check book etc. – and headed outside to wait for him. I hadn’t felt this kind of excitement since the release of Souls of the Knight’s first album, and I was determined this would be just as big of a success.

Chapter Five

~Alex~

“BLUE OR BLACK?” I held a shirt in each hand, weighing them up and down in front of Ryder and Mason. They arrived at my apartment about an hour ago so we could head to Sawyer and Jake’s together. Matt was supposed to be here by now too, but as usual he was late.

“Neither,” Ryder answered. “I prefer that purple one.” He pointed toward my open closet. Following his gaze, I pulled out the one he suggested. “Yeah, definitely that one. Do you agree, Mase?”

“Huh?” Mason wasn’t paying attention, too busy fiddling with his camera. He did most of the photography for Back Door Studios these days, as well as being the assumed photo guy for all his friends’ events. “Oh, yeah. Looks good,” he said, lifting his head up to see but failing to sound genuinely interested.

“Purple it is,” I agreed. I was just about to pull it over my head when Ryder almost wrestled me to the ground.

“Mate, open some damn buttons! You’ll mess up my work!” He styled my hair just after they arrived, telling me I should stop caking it in product and embrace my natural curl. It’d been years since I left the house without using the straightening irons. It was my way of leaving behind the nickname Jackson, bestowed upon me in middle school for having hair so bouffant it would make every one of the Jackson brothers jealous. I was up for a change so let him have free reign. He’d never been able to leave the career completely behind, whether it was doing the guys’ hair before they went on set or simply making sure his friends looked, as he often said, ‘awesomesauce’ before a night out.

Purely to placate him, I unbuttoned the shirt and shrugged into it without touching a single hair on my head. That didn’t stop Ryder fussing of course, combing and teasing the strands with his fingers. Once he’d finished doing his thing, I tried to call Matt for the billionth time. Again, it went straight to voicemail.

“It’s me again,” I said after the beep. “Where the hell are you? You’re gonna be late!”

“You know Matt,” Ryder spoke around a mouthful of apple. “He’s probably fallen asleep and forgot to charge his phone.”

“We should stop by on the way to Saw and Jake’s. He’ll be gutted if he misses the party because his alarm failed or something.”

“Sure,” Ryder agreed, checking his watch. “We should get going soon.”

Mason packed up his camera while I grabbed the bottle of champagne I bought for Sawyer and Jake from the kitchen. Okay, so by bought I mean took from work, but hey, I was the manager now so I figured it was acceptable. After arriving at Matt’s place I swept every single room, calling out his name as I went. When I didn’t find him the frustration bubbling in my stomach turned to worry. I called Gary at the club to see if he was there, knowing how eager he was to start learning the ropes after signing the papers yesterday, but Gary hadn’t seen him since. Matt was a predictable guy so it never took too long to find him when you needed him. So where the hell was he?

Ryder convinced me he would be fine, that he was probably out buying a last-minute gift or even having a pre-party drink and blowjob with a woman he’d picked up somewhere. Knowing he was likely right, I drove straight on to Sawyer’s house in the hills.

I didn’t think Sawyer would be there yet, given the point of the party was a surprise marriage proposal, but was proved wrong when he greeted us at the door. Immediately I saw Jake hovering behind him with one finger pressed over his lips, so figured we hadn’t missed him pop the question yet. Hopefully he would wait until Matt arrived.

“Where’s Matt?” Sawyer asked, stepping aside to let us walk past and into the house.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said, shrugging. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

My only real experience of house parties had been Matt’s, so naturally I expected the place to be packed with unfamiliar people when I walked inside. It seemed, though, Sawyer and Jake preferred a more intimate setting, and it was kind of a relief to find mostly people I knew. Elle and Kip, Elle’s sister Kylie and a few others I recognized from the wedding, a bunch of guys from Sawyer and Jake’s porn studio who I’d met several times, and just a handful of strangers dotted around.