“He’s thriving,” she says with a smile of her own. With a laugh, she adds, “He misses you like hell, but he’s made for this.”

“I know,” I agree, not feeling offended in the slightest. Anyone who knows Jackson knows he belongs on stage with a guitar.

“I’d never tell the other guys, but I have to order almost double the photos of Jackson. He’s gained a lot of admirers, and it’s only getting worse.” She laughs. “Or better, depending on how you look at it.” She shrugs. “It’s great for business.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” I say with a laugh. The memory of going to his gig alone last year flashes before my eyes, and I remember the group of girls that surrounded him even then. Carly, in her teal dress, slipping him her number.

Fuck Carly.

The way he kissed me then is something I’ll never forget.

“That’s why I came up with these new designs. Most of the newer fans are women and girls fawning over the guitarist. We’ll see how it goes tonight with sales, though.”

Picking up the pullover off the table, I hug it to my chest. “I guess that means I should get mine before they’re gone?”

Mya grins. “Consider it a uniform. We’ve got work to do.”

29

jackson

The sound check goes smoothly,and I hop off the stage to find Margot exactly where I left her.

Except she’s different now.

She’s looser. Her head falls back as she laughs at something Mya says. She’s settled in now, and she’s comfortable here. Seeing her wearing our logo on her perfect chest, being around the people I’ve spent every waking hour with, and knowing she fits right in, has my head spinning.

“Hey,” I say as I walk up. “It looks great over here.”

Margot looks over her shoulder at me while she helps Mya pin a shirt to the pop-up wall behind them. “Hey.” I swear, between her smile, the way her pullover has lifted to show a sliver of her lower back, and the way her ass looks in those jeans, I could drop dead right here.

“Lover Boy, you’re staring.” Mya has a hand on her hip as she appraises me with a lifted brow.

I don’t even look at her. “She’s mine. I’m allowed to stare.”

Mya lazily looks over at Margot, unimpressed. “See?”

Lowering back onto her heels, Margot just laughs with a shake of her head.

My eyes jump between her and Mya, and before I know it my finger follows. “What is this?” I lock on Mya. “I knew you were going to talk shit.”

She feigns a gasp. “I would never.”

Margot giggles, and my attention snaps back to her. “She was talking shit, wasn’t she?”

Looking over at Mya first, Margot quickly shakes her head before dishing out a similar acting performance. “No, not at all. We were talking about, um, keychains.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Keychains.”

Margot nods innocently, but her lips press like she’s trying to hold in a laugh. “With big, red hearts and your name on them. Mya thinks they’d sell really well.”

Mya busts out with a laugh, and I level with both of them. “I’m not sure how I feel about this alliance,” I mutter, gesturing at the two girls in front of me.

Hooking an arm around Margot’s shoulder, Mya shrugs unapologetically. “I wish I could say I was sorry.”

Margot smiles sweetly at me. “You did say I’d like her.”

She’s right. I knew they’d hit it off, but knowing the secrets I’ve told Mya has me second guessing whether or not their newfound friendship is a good idea. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”