Page 80 of I Just Want to be Yours

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jackson

My heart racesas Tarah slides her hands under my shirt. Clearing my throat, I try to get my bearings. I’m too drunk for this shit. “Uh, no. No, I don’t want you to be bold. I don’t think my girlfriend would want you to be bold either.”

If I were still at USF, I’d be more of an asshole, but the last thing I want is to turn someone against me—it will only turn them against the band. We need a clean name. We need everyone to love us. What we don’t need is this girl talking shit if she doesn’t like the way I turn her down.

She pulls back so she’s eye level with me again. Running her hands through my hair, she innocently asks. “Are you sure?”

With a tight-lipped smile, I nod. “Yup.”

She shrugs and steps away from me. “Suit yourself.”

“Thanks.” It probably isn’t the right thing to say, and she probably isn’t expecting it to be the end of our conversation, but as soon as I’m free, I abandon my drink at the bar and head back to our booth.

I’m on such a mission to get back to the safety of the guys,that I hardly register Mya until she stops me. “Hey, where are you going? You were supposed to guard her for me.”

Glancing back at the bar, I see the girl has found one of her friends. They’re both looking down at their phones, neither paying us any attention. Turning back to Mya, I say, “Sorry. She uh . . .” I scratch the side of my head. “She might like you, but she likes me, too.”

Mya gasps and glares in the direction of the girl. “That snake. She told me she wanted you to sign something.”

“I mean, she could have.”

Her eyes narrow more. “Yeah, her naked body on your bed.”

I smile at that. She’s probably more pissed on her own behalf than mine, but it still feels good to have her on my side. “Are you coming back to the booth?”

“I don’t know.” She glances at the girl again. “I’m torn between shunning her and still trying to hook up with her.”

“If you see Marty in the bathroom, tell him I said, hey.”

Mya whacks me in the arm with a laugh. “I’m not having sex in the bathroom, asshole. Brian got us all rooms.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Are you serious?” Looking past her, my eyes land on Brian, still wearing his suit but definitely more drunk than I’ve ever seen him. “What’s going on with him tonight?”

Mya scoffs. “I just hope he stays this way for a little longer.”

Clapping her on the shoulder, I nod toward the table. “I’m heading back.”

“Yeah,” Mya says slowly, her eyes drifting back to Tarah. “I may catch up with you later.” Glancing at me, she shrugs apologetically. “She might be the devil, but she’s a pretty one.”

I shake my head with a laugh before stepping away from her. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I plan to.” She gives me a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows before walking past me, and I don’t bother lookingback again. Let Mya be the one to find out howboldshe supposedly is.

When I walk back to the table, the guys have clearly gotten another round. Dave is laughing hard enough to make his face pink, Brady’s smile looks too big to fit on his face, and Brian’s button-down is opened to the middle of his chest. Even Marty has finally decided to join the rest of us.

“You guys holding up okay over here?” I ask as I slide into the booth.

“Jackson!” Dave cheers, still laughing. “I fucking love you, man.”

I let out a breath of laughter and look at Brian. “Maybe it’s time to cut him off.”

Brian dismisses Dave with a wave of his hand. “He’s fine, but now that you’re here, I want to share something with you all.” He looks around at each of us to make sure he has our full attention. “We’re going on tour.”

I look over at Dave and Marty for their reactions. Marty furrows his brow. “We are on tour.”

Brian smirks. “Yourowntour.”

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