Page 38 of Wild Obsession

I glare at him, but his toothy smile doesn’t go down in wattage. It’s as blinding as ever.

“We’re all going out tonight,” Jacob says. “It feels like everyone has been off, but we found our stride again tonight.”

“No,” I say flatly.

“Oh, come on, you can’t say no.”

“I can and I did. No.”

“Everyone is going. You’re really going to sulk by yourself?”

“Yes.”

Jacob huffs like this is the most troubling conundrum of his life. Why does he care so much if I skip out on drinks at the closest crappy bar?

Beyond the greenroom, the music is rising as The Ten Hours thunder through their finale. I’ve heard it enough times now that I know I have mere seconds before they finish their set. That does not leave me a lot of time for escape, and the absolute last thing I want to do tonight isdeal with my ex-boyfriend’s feelings.

“Please, Keannen,” Jacob says. “This is really getting depressing.”

“I don’t care if it’s depressing. Haven’t you ever learned that ‘no’ means ‘no?’”

I jerk to my feet before he can complain, but it doesn’t get me very far. Shawn and Dan are behind him like that bodyguard he’s so worked up over (though much smaller versions. That dude is seriously huge).

I sigh at all three of them. “Guys, let me through. This is stupid.”

“What’s stupid is that you barely even seem like you want to be part of this band anymore,” Jacob says.

“What, I can only seem like part of the band if I drink with you?” I say. “I’m doing my job. I played perfectly tonight. I don’t owe you shit beyond that.”

“That’s what the contract says, but that’s not reality,” Jacob says. “In reality, we’re stuck together so much we’re like brothers. You can’t blow off family.”

“Did it when I was a teenager. Don’t see why I can’t do it now, too.”

I brush past him before he can put up any further complaints, making sure to check him with my shoulder as I do. Shawn and Dan don’t make a fuss, stepping out of my way the moment I make it clear I’m not kidding about leaving.

“Keannen, please,” Jacob calls after me.

But I’m done. I did my part tonight. I showed up, I played well, and then I hung around in the greenroom until the end of the show. The music is over, the cheers of the crowd rushing in to replace the beat of drums and strumming of guitars.

I pound my way down the hallway that will lead me outside to freedom. I can get right back on the bus and curl up in a bunk while everyone else goes out tonight. In fact, there’s absolutely nothing I want more than that. Nothing at all.

Before I can escape, a hand grabs me by the bicep. At first I think it’s Jacob, but when I go to shrug it off, it’s too strong, too firm. Someone yanks me back, shoving me against the wall.

Tim glares at me from way too close.

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, but my voice doesn’t have the bite I wish it did. He’s about the last person I expected to find grabbing me, and he’s wearing a look I’ve never witnessed before. His face is … hard. Determined. Angry, even.

I try again to shake him loose, but Tim holds firm. We’re near the end of the hall, far enough down it that the bad lighting throws us into shadow. If someone came down this way, they’d see us, but there’s nothing here but the worst bathrooms in the whole venue and the exit door, so there isn’t much reason for anyone to find us.

Not so long ago, this would have been the exact sortof situation I wanted to push Tim into. Tonight, I’m the one who’s trapped, the one surprised and left on the back foot. I may be taller than him, but he’s ensuring I know very well that he outweighs me.

“What do you want?” I snarl.

It doesn’t quite have the effect I’m reaching for.

“I know what I want,” Tim says. It sounds strange, like he’s talking to himself even as his eyes bore into mine. “Finally, I actually know what I want, and I’m not letting you get in my way.”

“Well, congratulations. Only took you twenty-five years.”

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