Page 26 of Snared

“But how? I mean, you two don’t like each other and yet somehow you managed to get married?” Cassie said.

“Tequila is forever banned from my mouth. I still don’t remember all the details, but we all make dumb mistakes and I want this one over,” Charlie said.

Cassie stood up and walked over to Charlie, wrapping her arms around Charlie’s shoulders.

“Yes. We’ll get this all sorted and forget it ever happened.” Cassie shot me another glare.

“You better not fuck this up, Josh. Charlie is family,” Bash said.

It was a punch to the gut. I thought I was family, too.

“I’m going to my room. It was a mistake that will be taken care of and then we are moving on. It. Meant. Nothing.” The anger rolled off Charlie in waves as she spoke the last words.

Not that I blamed her.

Cassie moved toward Charlie. “I’ll come with you.”

“No, no. I’m fine. I just want to go to bed. I’ll see all of you in the morning. And don’t worry, Josh, I’ll steer clear of Connor.” She pulled open the door.

“Charlie,” I called out, but she didn’t give me a single look as the door snicked shut behind her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“I cannot believe you gotmarried, Josh. And to Charlie. Of all the fucked-up things you could’ve done. What if someone had spotted both of you in a chapel? You don’t do stupid shit like this. Between James’s parentage getting out and now this…” Tristan paused and shook his head, his disappointment clear.

“I know, I fucked up royally. I honestly don’t know what happened. One minute I was punching her ex, then the next, we were waking up in bed together,” I said.

“In bed?” Cassie screeched.

“No, no,” I said, waving my hands. “Nothing happened. We still had clothing on. We probably passed out.”

“Of all the moronic… I mean, seriously, Josh, have you lost your damn mind?” Tristan asked.

“Believe me, I know. It’s not like me to be this stupid, but I’m going to fix it. No one needs to know what happened. My personal lawyer is very discreet.”

“They better not. Do you have any idea how this will look, especially for Charlie? She deals with enough shit being a female drummer. We cannot lose her because of your idiocy,” Bash said.

It didn’t escape my notice that they’d put all the blame on me, even though I hadn’t forced Charlie to get married. But after everything we’d gone through in the last few months, I understood the lack of trust, so I bit my tongue.

No matter how much it stung.

“I’m going to fix this. Everything will be fine,” I kept repeating as they all glared at me.

Bash pointed a finger at me. “It better be or it’s your ass on the line.”

“Come on. Let’s call it a night. Nothing else can be done right now, and Josh will take care of this all in the morning,” Cassie said as she began to herd the guys out of the room.

Reaching the door herself, she turned back to me. “Fix this, Josh. This band has been through enough bullshit over the years and it’s your job to protect them, to have their best interests in mind.”

“I know. I fucked up and I will fix it,” I promised, hoping nothing else blew up in my face.

After they all left, I flopped down in one of the chairs and put my head in my hands. I could not afford to fuck up anything else. Steelwolf was my life. Yes, I managed other bands, but Steelwolf always came first.

I raked my hands through my hair, pulling on the strands, and eyed the minibar.

Nope. My head had to be clear from now on.

I groaned. My phone was going off again, and I could hear the pings from each message.

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