Page 15 of Rock Bottom

It worked like a charm. The worry in Jake’s voice lifted, and he sounded much happier as he said, “Glad to hear it. Now, tell me more about this Church guy.”

Relieved to turn the conversation away from me, I told Jake about how Church had come back from one of his perimeter walks with a basket full of wild blackberries that he turned into blackberry scones. I wasn’t sure what a scone was except for delicious. I was going to get so spoiled by his cooking, they might have to roll me back to the airport.

“And the tea,” I continued, sitting up. “The guy drinks it like clockwork at seven, eleven, and three thirty.”

“Well, he’s British, right? What did you expect?” Jake said with a chuckle. “My cousin married a guy from Liverpool and man, they love their tea.”

“It’s more like a religion with him,” I scoffed.

“You could always join him.”

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it, but…” I sighed and flopped back down.

“But?” Jake prompted. Too insightful for his own good, Jake.

“But,” I continued, “I don’t know. I kind of told him I needed space. He’s been avoiding me ever since.”

“Have you tried apologizing?”

I rolled my eyes. That was such a Jake answer. Of course that’d be the first thing he’d suggest, like it was that easy. “Why should I apologize? He was crowding me! I did need space.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t need to hurt his feelings. Maybe he’s the sensitive type.”

My eyes shifted over to the ladder again, a smile touching my lips. God, that was adorable. My big, beefy bodyguard was a big old softie.

“Anyway,” Jake continued, oblivious, “they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And if he’s into tea…You know what I’m saying?”

“Are you saying I should bang my bodyguard, Jake?”

He snorted. “Why not? Remi and Orlando probably would’ve if Orlando hadn’t been let go. Why do you think Sam fired him without even talking to us?”

My mood soured at the mention of Sam. I was not looking forward to seeing him again once I was done with my stay in Ohio. That was the one good thing about being away. I didn’t have to deal with Sam’s constant badgering about everything we did wrong. “That was a dick move.”

“That’s because Sam’s a dick,” Jake said.

“You know he wouldn’t have cared if Orlando was a girl.”

Jake huffed in silent agreement. “But speak of the devil, he’ll be here any minute. Supposed to be some kind of meeting about the tour. I’ll take notes and forward them to you.”

My throat tightened. “I wish I was there with you guys.”

“I know,” Jake said quietly, “but what you’re doing is work too, Dante. Take the time to work on yourself so you can be at your best for the tour, okay? I gotta go. Take care, man.”

“Yeah. Take care.” I hung up and stared at the call timer on the screen, already missing the sound of my best friend’s voice.

Hell, I was even starting to miss Remi. My head must’ve been really mixed up.

I pulled up Instagram, scrolling through all the photos posted by my bandmates.

Sam and my lawyers had cautioned me against posting on social media. It was practically torture to be able to scroll through my socials and see what everyone else was up to, but not be able to post anything myself. Of course, Sam had hired some media mogul to post for me while I was away, but the posts were all reposts or bullshit inspirational shit.

I flopped down on my bed to scroll through the replies to the latest pre-scheduled Instagram post. It was an old photo of me and my bandmates claiming we were working on something new that I couldn’t wait to share with my fans. I frowned at the replies. Most of them were the typical shit. People complaining about how our latest album deviated from our normal style, or people begging me to DM them, sign something, talk to them…Even a few marriage proposals. The usual stuff. Still, a few stuck out.

Zombeaster776

Bruh, post something new.

AAanimMAL

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