Page 14 of Crave

Itexted the group to check who was going to my gig tonight, and I was surprised when they all said yes. It was a gritty downtown bar, but bookings were hard to score. Kind of like those old-school country bars in Nashville, where only the queens and kings of country went to sing, or an up-and-coming performer with raw talent.

Knowing JJ had gotten us a spot only solidified our climbing rankings on the music scene. LA was getting closer, and I had a feeling when I returned, shit would be getting real.

As long as I could get my songs into the world, it was a win.

And if Landon came with me? That would be a double score. The idea of having her to myself, and building our relationship on our own terms tempted me. Sure, I’d be causing her to say no the television show and taking a leave of absence from Red. And yeah, to an outsider, it seemed like a chauvinistic, selfish move,but hell, if I could follow her sweet ass upstate and be with her as she shotDumped, I’d go that route, I just wanted to be near her. Give us a chance to bond away from the group. Especially Max.

I thought of our last convo when I’d met the guys for breakfast. Max had been in a great mood, and when I asked if he was getting laid, he gave me a smirk that set my blood cold. “Not yet. But I’m still working on things. What about you and Gabby? Still hitting that?”

I’d shaken my head, reaffirming we weren’t having sex. Max never believed me and got annoyed with my denials. I circled back to my original question. “Someone at Red?” I asked casually, pretending I didn’t care. “New or an ex?”

Coop hit his shoulder and snorted. “You know he’s trying to get back in Landon’s panties, right? Dude’s got a plan but I’m not sure it’ll work.”

“You mean the one where you’re super nice and her friend?” I asked with a slight sneer.

Max lifted a brow as if catching my irritation. “I’m still going that route, sure. But I’ve arranged something else. Something to remind her we’re perfect together.”

“What is it?”

Max shrugged. “I’ll tell you when it’s over. Then we’ll know whether it worked.”

I tried not to curse the bastard for chasing after her and forced a grin. “Sounds fun.”

“It’s not. But that’s what I get for being greedy. I won’t fuck up anymore.”

Noah sipped his coffee and stared thoughtfully at Coop. “Hey, is Elle working at Red today? I wanted to see if she could cut a new demo with me. I want to play it at Inferno next week when I DJ.”

“Yeah, she’s off. I’m glad she’s finally concentrating on music. Probably blow up faster, like Adam did. She’s hot enough to catch everyone’s attention.”

“She’s talented,” Noah said mildly. “Her voice is killer.”

“Sure. You both should create some songs and see what happens. Next time Adam heads to LA, maybe we can all go.”

“The band loves Elle,” I said. “Once we release the album, we’ll see how the song hits.”

“Good, cause the jobs I’ve had lately are shit,” Coop complained. “I’m thinking of getting a job in house at a studio rather than freelance. The Red shoot helped with networking, but I’m getting tired of chasing jobs and piecing them together. I need steady clients.”

“Seems we’re all having some issues,” Max commented.

I tuned out the rest of the morning and kept chewing at Max’s last comments regarding Landon. What the hell was his plan? I didn’t want to tell Landon and get her upset, or let her believe I was behaving like a jealous asshole. I hated him trying to manipulate her.

The rest of the day flew by as I met with Unison and had a meeting with JJ about our tour schedule. When I mentioned the possibility of bringing someone with me, the guys all hooted and teased me, asking for a name. I begged off, saying I wasn’t sure but wanted to know if we had the space, and confirmed we did.

Now it was up to Landon.

She was meeting me later at the club. I couldn’t stop thinking of her naked in the tub, those big blue eyes asking me about love. I didn’t know what love was, but if it existed, Landon would be the closest thing I’ve experienced to it.

I caught a ride with the band and we did a practice run at Inferno. “Hey, Adam, you should leave your shirt open, dude. I think we need a bit more grunge for this place,” Xavier said with a dirty grin.

I rolled my eyes. “You kidding me?”

Lance and Seb cracked up. “Hell, yeah. You need to channel your Magic Mike for the good of all of us,” Xavier teased. “They’ll love the tats. Got any good piercings, too?”

“Fuck you.”

“Hopefully, they’ll want to fuck you,” Lance joined in, high fiving the guys.

“Seriously, dude, JJ agreed. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. You need to give the crowd what they want,” Xavier said.

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