Page 84 of Snared

I skimmed the article, my frustration growing as rapidly as the pit in my stomach. What made it worse was that, aside from claiming to be heartbroken, there was nothing incorrect in the article. Everything was amplified for clicks.

Josh and I probably hadn’t looked like we were in love when Troy had run into us. We’d been drunk. I don’t even remember flirting with him.

Fuck, I wished I could remember more from that night. Goddamn tequila was a bastard.

“Charlie,” Josh said cautiously, pulling me from my thoughts.

“He’s not wrong,” I said. “I mean, aside from him being heartbroken. The jerk pissed away our relationship years ago.”

“What a fucking prick. So, what do we do?” Jax asked.

“Nothing,” Josh said.

It irritated me that he’d clearly had time to come up with a game plan. One that hadn’t included any input from me.

“What? My family is messaging me. It’s going to get even more out of hand as other outlets report it.” I shook my head. “I never should’ve agreed to keep up this ruse. We should’ve called it what it was, a drunken mistake from day one, and been done with it. It would’ve blown over by now and we wouldn’t be in this situation,” I said.

Josh raked his hand through his hair and sighed. “We had our reasons, Charlie. And this will blow over. We won’t acknowledge it. Just act like we’re in love and don’t feed into the gossip and accusations. The media will shrug it off as a disgruntled ex. Nothing more.”

“And what if they don’t?” I asked. How the hell was he so calm?

Oh, right, because it wasn’t his career that had the potential to go up in smoke.

Just mine.

“As much as it pains me, CH is probably right.” Bash smiled at me in sympathy. “If you go out there denying the article, it will keep it trending. They’ll dig for more. If you act like you can’t be bothered by it, like it’s not even worth your time, then it will seem like you have nothing to hide.”

“He makes a valid point,” Tristan agreed. “But you get to decide what you want to do. If this is getting to be too much, we’ll back whatever decision you make.”

“Thanks, Tris,” I said.

He smiled. “Of course, Charlie. Always have your back.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “So we’re not going to respond at all.”

“You guys keep acting lovey-dovey and we’ll act grossed out and no one will be the wiser,” Jax said.

But I couldn’t completely ignore my frustration. How could they not see that I was being portrayed as a clichéd female musician?

Oh, right, because they had dicks and never had to worry about this shit.

I shoved that thought aside. My bandmates weren’t like that at all and I knew that with everything in me.

“It’s going to be okay, Charlie,” Josh said, reaching for my hand.

I didn’t let him take it, and I didn’t miss how his eyes narrowed.

“For you. It’ll always be okay for you. For all of you. I refuse to end up as a joke when this is over. Hell, I’m a joke right now,” I said, unable to stop myself. I was panicking and pissed. At Josh. At Troy. At the industry that already tagged me as less than because I was a female drummer in this male-dominated world.

“You’re not a joke,” Tristan said, putting his hands on my shoulders and turning me to face him.

“No. You’re a kick-ass drummer and a key member of this band and our family. I don’t give a shit what anyone out there thinks. All that matters is the people in this room,” Bash said.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I felt tears start to build. I would not fucking cry over this. Not in front of them.

“I’ll beat down anyone who talks shit about you. Only I get to do that,” Jax added, smirking.

“Ignore him,” Tristan said.

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