The night was cold and Jackson held me close to him. He seemed a bit tense. Maybe he was worried about going back into that environment but he’d been off the booze for so long now, I had faith that he’d be strong.
When we walked into the bar, Carlie almost knocked us down with her hugs.
“I thought you’d disappeared forever,” she said. “That Jackson had you tied up in his dungeon, keeping you as a sex slave.”
I winked at Jackson, “You said you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
It was worth it for the look of shock on Carlie’s face before she realized I was joking.
“What’s been happening?” I asked her.
“Same old. Violet and Razer are thinking about getting married.”
“What? When? Are they coming back here for the wedding? They’d better be.”
“I’m just going to slip upstairs while you two talk about this wedding stuff.”
I nodded at Jackson and sat down at the bar to hear all about this development.
“Alex is so shitty. He always thought they’d not last and he’d slip in there as the rebound guy. That’s so not going to happen. All his tight pants and money mean nothing to Violet.”
“And what about you?” I asked.
“Holden’s gone on tour, just a few big shows then he’s back in town. Every single time he plays, I want to phone him to make sure he’s alone but I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“No, because he calls me first to tell me how much he’s missing me.” She grinned.
After I’d found out all the news, I went upstairs to join Jackson. Drew came up and threw his arms around me.
“Get your hands off my woman or there’ll be no more guitar lessons for you.”
Drew laughed. “She was mine first. We went on a date before you were even interested.”
“I was interested, you fool.”
When Alex came onstage, we went up closer to the front.
“Over here, by the side
,” Jackson said. “We don’t want to be blocked in.”
Alex started playing. He sounded better than ever, a sexy growl in his voice. Carlie stood near us. She must’ve gotten someone to work for her downstairs. She gave me a strange grin.
A few songs into the set, Jackson took his arm from around my waist. “Back soon,” he said and nodded at the toilet.
I was engrossed in the music. Carlie moved over so she was beside me, grinning again.
At the end of the song, Alex put down his guitar.
“I never thought I’d see the day, but we have a special guest joining us on stage. You kids have probably never heard of him but maybe you could ask your parents — wait, your grandparents, maybe — and they’ll tell you who this man is.”
People screamed. What the hell was going on?
Jackson climbed the steps to the stage. Drew handed him his guitar then wiped his eyes. I was a bit teary-eyed myself. I had never expected this. Was Jackson going to play?
He walked up to the microphone and plugged his guitar in.