Page 49 of Rebel

“Good fucking going,” Trav snarls at me as he pushes from the table and hurries after her.

Kolton gives me a disappointed look and follows him. Rolling my eyes, I down my drink.

“Not like they weren’t there and didn’t make the fucking pact,” I grumble as I reach over and down Trav’s and then Kolton’s drinks. “But no, it’s all my fault for not lying to her. I knew she was trouble. Now here we are, chasing her when it’s our day off.”

Sighing, I climb to my feet and head after them, knowing I might as well join in. We need to fix this and fast. Despite the obvious desire between Beck and me, this is bigger. This is about the band and our future. We can’t afford to fuck that up now, not when it was going so well.

The hurt in her eyes might have also driven a knife into my gut, not that I would ever tell those assholes that. Unlike those morons, I pull my phone out and shoot her a text.

BigDickEnergy: Yo, Beck, meet us at the house and we can talk about this. There will be pizza. Trav is paying.

Just in case that doesn’t work, I pose for a picture where I’m pouting like a baby and send it.

BigDickEnergy: Friends don’t let friends sulk alone. We can talk about how much you want to break the pact.

My phone rings, and I sigh. “What?” I bark.

“Get in the car now or we’re leaving you,” Trav snarls and hangs up.

Rude.

Stomping toward the exit, since rock stars don’t run, I mutter to myself about how I should have gone solo when they asked me to. I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this shit then.

My phone rings again just as I’m heading to the pickup point out front. “One minute,” Trav warns.

Fuck.

I run as fast as my drunk legs can carry me, throwing myself into the car as it peels away. “What’s the hurry?” I grumble.

“We’re going to find Beck.” Kolton frowns like it’s obvious.

“You obviously don’t know women,” I mutter as I lean back in my seat. “Give her time to calm down so we can sit down and talk about this. If you bug her, you might lose your head . . . either one.”

“Shut up. For once in your fucking life, Chase, shut the fuck up,” Trav warns, and I blink.

“Dude, chill out?—”

“No, I fucking won’t!” He grabs me and hauls me closer, looking like he’s debating hitting me. Even when I fucked up in the past, Trav never lost his cool like this, not even when it cost us everything—he just looked disappointed.

His fury has me swallowing my words.

“Trav, I’m sorry?—”

“Shut up,” he hisses. “Why do you always have to fuck everything up? Can’t I have one good fucking thing in my life without you ruining it?” Throwing me back into my seat, he turns his head to look out of the window, his fists balled on his bouncing knees. Kolton shoots me a pitying, frustrated glare and looks back at his phone.

Swallowing the sudden lump in my throat and the pain in my heart, I stay silent. I’m unsure what to say for the first time ever. Do I really fuck everything up for them?

I’ve made mistakes, but I thought they were my friends.

I thought they understood and were there for me. Were they just hiding how they felt all along? “If you hate me so much, why do you stay?”

Trav turns his tired gaze to me. “We don’t hate you, Chase. It would be easier if we did, but I’m so damn tired of picking up the pieces of the things you break.”

“I didn’t—I don’t mean to,” I mutter.

“You never mean to, which is worse. We stayed by your side, even through your bad days, but you can’t blame drugs anymore, Chase, which tells me you might have just been an asshole all along and the drugs just made it worse. I hoped when you were clean, you would stop fucking ruining my life and be in it instead, but if you can’t do that, then I don’t know where we go from here.” He bangs on the roof. “Stop the car, I’m getting out.” He gets out as quickly as it stops, and I watch him go with my heart in my throat.

“Trav,” Kolton begins.

---