Page 31 of Pretty Little Rocker

“You have nothing to apologize to me for.” More tears spilled, but I only wiped them with my shirt. “I will never judge you, Abi. It’s your life. I’m just happy to be part of it.”

“Hayat, you’re my person. There’s no one who can replace you.” She threw her arms around my neck, another sob tearing out of her throat. “I love you so much.”

Emotion stinging my eyes, I hugged her back. “Love you too, babe.”

I thought she would be too drained after the insanity of the morning, but she insisted we still go to First Bass that night. After texting my guys in our group chat to let them know I would be at the club, I put my phone in my pocket and drove into the city. Abi appeared to have a little more color to her cheeks than she’d had all week, so I was hopeful that introducing her to my three rockers would go well.

Instead of parking in the employee area, I turned my car over to the valet, ignoring the flashing of cameras and the calls of the paparazzi who were always camping across the street from the entrance to my dad’s club. They called out to Abi, then to me.

“Hayat!” Some of them yelled, while others tried to force a reaction by shouting at me, “Havoc! Over here! Hey, Havoc, give us a smile.”

I wanted to give them the finger, but I’d spent my entire life learning to center myself and blocking out the demands of the vultures who lived off getting a few random pictures of celebrities and making up stories to go with them. I took Abi’s hand, and we linked fingers as we bypassed the long line waiting to get inside.

“Hayat.” Tiny, who was working the front door, gave us a nod, stepping aside so we could enter. His name was definitely ironic, given his height. He’d worked as the head of security for First Bass since the club opened. Even as a kid, I’d been in awe of his size, but then my baby brother had come along, and now Evan was even taller than Tiny. Evan just didn’t have the muscle mass the security expert used to intimidate and keep patrons in line. “Abi.”

“Hi, Tiny,” Abi greeted with a small smile.

“We’ve missed you around here, little one.”

“Ah, you’re so sweet. I missed you too.” She blew him a kiss, but I pulled her through the door and toward the VIP.

Friday nights were always busy. Nate usually worked the bar up there on his own. When he wasn’t, it took at least three other staff members to fill in for him. I spotted him behind the bar and caught his gaze as we worked our way through the crowd of VIPs. To get on this floor, there was a price to pay. If you weren’t close to my family, then you had a required membership fee to get upstairs at First Bass.

Nate smirked at me, turning to hit the blender on the virgin strawberry daiquiris that Abi and I always ordered.

“He saw us coming,” I told Abi, glancing around in hopes of seeing any of my guys. I wanted to check my phone to see if they had replied, but I didn’t want to be too obvious to my bestie yet.

“No, he saw you coming,” Abi corrected. “Did your hair get even curlier while I was at school?” She twirled one of my ringlets around her fingers as we walked, something she’d always done. Maybe it was a security blanket kind of thing, something she’d done without realizing it to calm herself when she was feeling overwhelmed. Or maybe she just couldn’t bear not to touch me. Either way, I loved when she did it.

I’d noticed my guys doing it a few times.

By the time we reached Nate, he was pouring the drink into two glasses already on the bar top before adding whipped cream and sliced fresh berries on top for garnish. He grinned at Abi. “It’s good to have you back. This one gets into way too much trouble when you’re not around.”

Abi laughed weakly, but it was a hell of a lot better than the sobbing she’d been doing earlier in the day. Thankful for the small sign that her grieving heart was hopefully mending, I turned to the bartender/assistant manager. “The amount of trouble I get into doesn’t go up or down according to whether or not my bestie is in town.” I tapped him playfully on the nose.

He was a good-looking man, around my dad’s age, and covered in ink. His wife, Riley, was a big part of the Tainted Knights side of my family since her best friend was married to one of the bass players of the band, Cash. Nate and Riley didn’t have kids, but they were Cash and Amara’s two kids’ godparents, which they said was all the parental responsibility they wanted.

“Strongly disagree,” Nate argued. “I don’t have nearly as much paperwork to deal with when Abi is here. She’s been home for what, five days? And I haven’t had to kick a single person out of here since she’s been back. That’s a new record, cupcake.”

It had been longer than five days since he’d had to throw anyone out because of me. The last time was Hamel when I interrupted Autumn’s Slumber’s audition, and that was only after Dad and Jace had kinda sorta beat the shit out of the asshole. Which had been at least three weeks ago.

“Why do I put up with you?” I grumbled, taking a sip of my drink.

“Because this place would go to hell in two point three seconds without me,” he reminded me with another smirk.

A group beside us caught his attention, and he started pouring drinks for them. “You two be good,” he warned as he got back to work.

“I can’t make any promises,” I called after him, watching Abi pop a slice of strawberry into her mouth. It was probably the first thing she’d eaten all day, despite me cooking meals for her earlier.

Chapter Eighteen

Hayat

While Abi people-watched, I glanced around again for any signs of Ky, Sparks, or Jamie. When I didn’t see any of them, I pulled my phone from my pocket. Jamie had sent a reply to my earlier messages, letting me know they wouldn’t be able to join me until later.

Disappointed, I took a gulp of what was basically a strawberry smoothie, wishing Nate would have at least added something hard to my drink. My birthday wasn’t too far away. What was a few more months and the legality of consuming a little alcohol? I missed all three of my guys. I hadn’t even heard their voices all week since all we’d done was text because I was so focused on Abi.

“Two-thirds of the Terror Trio walking around this place. I’m scared, Damien.” I didn’t immediately turn when I heard Mason’s voice. My cousin was six years older than me, but he mostly hung out with our cousin Damien, who was only a few months older than me.

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