Page 7 of Snared

“I’m right fucking here, idiot,” I bit out.

“Lay off, man. We all make mistakes, some more epic than others. He apologized. He’s here with us, making sure the tour goes smoothly, doing whatever we ask as penance, but withinreason,” Bash said. “Don’t be a dick about it.”

“You guys are missing out on so much fun. I think you’re both getting boring now that you’re happily paired off,” Jax said.

“Fuck you, I am not boring,” Bash said. “And I’ll make sure to tell Cassie about the effect you think she’s having on me. She always likes a good laugh at your expense.”

Tristan shrugged. “Ah, it’s called laid-back, fucker. You should try it.”

“Hard pass,” Jax said, spinning in his oversized swivel chair. “And don’t you dare rat me out to Cassiopeia. I will not have you driving a wedge between us just because she loves me more.”

Bash burst out a laugh. “Pretty sure she loves me the most, fucker. I do this thing wi—”

Jax held up his hand. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m gonna stop you right there. Don’t you dare tell us how you defile our sweet Cassiopeia.”

Bash grinned. “It’s nice to get a rise out of you like you’re constantly doing to us.”

I bit back a chuckle at their antics. They hadn’t changed for the most part in the last decade, still the idiot friends they’d been when I met them, only without Jamie. His death had put a massive shadow over the guys, but in the last year, they had started to figure their way out of the darkness, and the glimpses of the old guys that I saw made me truly believe nothing was going to stop Steelwolf from staying relevant and on top.

And wasn’t that what any manager wanted?

CHARLIE

“So what’s it really like being on a bus with these guys day in and day out?” Danielle, one of the radio DJs, asked. Her voice was freaking breathy and her eyes were stuck on Bash. Gary, the other DJ, smirked at the question.

Please.

DJs were sometimes the worst of the fawning fans, and I could admit that my bandmates were hot as hell.

I looked around at my bandmates. Jax had his hands steepled and his chin resting on them like he was waiting with bated breath for my response.

I was about to crush her dreams—and maybe Jax’s, too.

“Smelly,” I said.

Jax grabbed his heart. “Ouch, Charlie.”

“Kidding. Well, kind of,” I said. “Come on. It’s a bunch of people on a bus for extended periods of time. No one is always smelling like roses. But no, it’s fun. They’re like the three big brothers I’m not sure I ever wanted,” I teased.

Tristan chuckled, and Bash grinned.

Jax pretended to look peeved.

Drama llama.

Josh always told us to keep our interviews light and funny, play off each other. Fans ate that shit up—his words, not mine. Not that he was wrong. And not that I was embellishing that much since they were like brothers to me. But Josh was a typical cynical band manager, always thinking about marketing.

I looked out of the studio window over Gary’s shoulder and spotted the man in question pacing, his ever-present phone pressed to his ear. His sleeves were rolled up, and he’d clenched his empty fist. Why did he have to have such great forearm porn?

And then I thought about a few nights ago when I’d bumped into him after stepping out of the shower on the bus. I’d been in a towel and those hands had gripped my biceps. Looking up as I found my footing, I’d noticed the tiny flecks of gold in his green eyes for the first time, and my breath had caught at the intensity in his gaze.

My stomach tightened as I thought about that brief encounter. I could still hear how he’d sucked in a breath when I’d finally brushed past him.

Shit. I should not be thinking about that now. Or ever. Sure, the man was hot. I wasn’t blind. But the whole test results thing showed what a douche he was, and I needed to remember that and calm the fuck down. I definitely did not need to be getting turned on just thinking about our shower run-in or those forearms currently on display.

As I was about to look away, Josh glanced up at me, brow quirked. Dammit, caught. I quickly turned my attention back to the DJs. Now was not the time to get distracted. Nothing good was going to come of that.

“Come on. Give us some dirt,” Gary said. “I bet a bunch of our female listeners, men too, would love to be in your shoes.”

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