Page 56 of Snared

I was mad.

“Whatever you need, let me know,” he continued.

“Um, sure. I’m good,” I muttered. “I should probably get settled.”

“Sure. Ah, maybe we could watch another Thin Man movie while you’re here? If you want, that is.”

He almost looked awkward, and then he squeezed the back of his neck with his hand, and I squeezed my thighs together slightly.

Dammit all to hell.

“Sure.”

“Okay. You guys have a radio interview at three, so I’ll have a car here to take us after lunch. It’s the first—”

“I know. The first official interview the band has had since we got married. I’ll gush about you. Don’t worry,” I deadpanned.

“Charlie,” he said, stepping toward me.

“No, I’m good. We play this up for a few more weeks and then it’s done. I can do that.” I took a step back.

“I know this isn’t how you wanted the tour to go.”

“There’s nothing I can do about it now. We’re in too deep.” I was unable to hide the resignation in my tone. Before he could say anything else, I turned and headed toward my room.

I flopped down on the bed and bit back a groan. It was like a cloud, and I never wanted to leave. Turning my face into the pillow, I let out a muffled scream, my frustration getting the better of me for a moment. I wanted Josh. A lot. But pursuing that would only make this situation that much worse. And we were terrible for each other anyway. Before our stupid marriage, we constantly butted heads.

Of course, we were still butting heads, probably even more now.

No, my brain was fuzzy because we had to be so close to each other any time we were in public. That’s all this attraction was.

Although the thought of acting on it while we were married since we couldn’t hook up with anyone else did have its appeal, even if that would make the whole situation messier.

At least his condo was nice and, yes, very spacious. Maybe we could avoid each other for the next four days.

“So I have to ask. How long have you been in love with Josh? I mean, secret Vegas wedding? Wow, no one saw that coming,” Sharon, one of the DJs, asked. Her tone was upbeat, but I didn’t trust it. In my defense, I didn’t trust anyone in the media anymore.

We were about five minutes into our interview with Ron and Sharon, and I knew the question was going to come up at some point. I’d been hoping for a little time to get comfortable in my chair before getting hit with it.

“I know, right? We couldn’t be happier for them. Yeah, everyone else was surprised, but not me. Saw it coming a mile away. But then, it’s hard to get much past me,” Jax boasted.

As irritating as he was, I knew Jax always had my back. He was going to lay it on thick until the end.

Sharon flashed us a fake smile. She wanted dirt. But then, they all did.

I took a deep breath and plastered a hopefully less-fake smile on my face.

“We fell for each other shortly after I joined the band but decided to keep it a secret. We all know how it looks, after all. But after a year in, we felt confident in our love for each other, and we were tipsy in Vegas and went for it. I know what the media is saying, but you can’t fight true love, and I’ve never felt this way about anyone else,” I said, hoping my gushing sounded real. My stomach curdled, but I kept smiling. This was never the attention I’d wanted when I joined the band.

“That’s really sweet. So just how tipsy were you? We want details,” Sharon said.

“I like to keep my personal life private. Low-key,” I said.

“Marrying your band manager in Vegas is not low-key,” she said.

I laughed lightly like I wasn’t bothered by this line of questioning. “I guess not.”

“We’re very happy for them, but I think we have some tickets to give away for tomorrow’s show,” Tristan interjected.

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