Page 58 of How to Catch a Rockstar

Out stubborn – it’s not a contest but if it were, Jett would win

Jett

Aurora leans forward to ask the driver, “Can you drop me at the commercial terminal?”

We’re nearly at Denver International Airport to start a week-long tour. We’ll be hopping to four different cities – Minneapolis, Atlanta, Vegas, and Nashville – before returning to Winter Falls in eight days. Just in time for Christmas.

“You’re not flying commercial,” I insist.

The thought of Aurora, pregnant with our baby, squeezed between two people in the back of an airplane for several hours has me clenching my teeth. She should be comfortable. She should be with me. Where I can keep an eye on her.

“You know Mike’s rule. No flying with the talent on their private jet,” she mimics our manager’s voice and I nearly laugh at her feistiness. But I don’t. This is a serious discussion. I won’t be distracted by how cute she is.

“I have no fucks to give about Mike’s rule.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whoopty doo for you. I do.”

My bandmates chuckle. I don’t find anything amusing about this situation.

“Mike won’t find out.”

“Oh, now I’m your dirty little secret.”

“How are you my dirty little secret? Mike knows you’re pregnant with my baby.”

“And he wants to fire me for breaking the ‘no sex with the talent’-rule,” she fires back at me.

“We’re not going to let him fire you.”

“Yeah, Aurora. We’ve got your back,” Cash says and the rest of the band nods in agreement.

Aurora sighs. “And I appreciate it. I do. But you can’t control Mike unless you’re willing to fire him and firing him would be the end of your career. So, let’s stop this useless discussion and have the driver drop me at the commercial terminal.”

“I’m down with firing Mike,” Gibson says. “Anyone who uses my addiction as an excuse to create a public relations spectacle doesn’t deserve my loyalty.”

Aurora grimaces. “I’m sorry. I did try to stop him.”

He pats her arm. “I know you did.”

She smiles at him and I grit my teeth to stop myself from growling. She shouldn’t be smiling at him. All her smiles should be directed at me. I’m the one who should make her smile. Me and only me.

What am I thinking? I need to stop these possessive thoughts. They won’t lead anywhere. I can’t have Aurora for myself. It’s unfair of me to act possessive toward her.

“But, you have to face it, almost any other manager in the music business would have done the same thing,” Aurora says.

I frown. “Why? We’re an established band. We don’t need to drum up publicity the way we did in the beginning.”

“Wrong. With the amount of competition out there and because of how social media works, you need to be in the spotlight all the time. Otherwise, you’re forgotten for the next bright shiny thing.”

“I hate social media,” I mumble.

“And you don’t even have to manage your own account.”

It’s true. In addition to everything else she does, Aurora handles our social media accounts. I don’t know how she does all she does. I know she works long hours. Which I’m not happy about now she’s pregnant.

“I can’t fly on the jet with you without risking my job, so please drop me at the commercial terminal.”

Aurora’s voice is pleasant but there’s a current of steel in her words. Too bad for her I’m as stubborn as she is.

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