Page 153 of Hate Mates

“He won’t say anything,” Amelia stated, looking sympathetically between myself and Boden as he raised his eyebrow in contention to her answer, as I removed the washcloth off my forehead and let out a huge sigh of relief. “I get sometimes you need a moment for you.” She continued before glancing at Boden and silently communicating with him before he opened the door and walked out in a huffed tone.

I dropped my face into my hands and took in some large deep breaths before attempting to stand up and thinking of a way I can make my excuse to leave but instead the wave of dizziness overtook me again and I instantly crashed back to the sofa and sighed loudly.

“Here,” Amelia said softly, passing me a bottle of water and a piece of fruit as she took a seat next to me. “I hope it helps a little.” She gave a slight smile before turning her body to face me as I uncapped the water and took a drink before placing it down on the ground and quickly began to peel the slightly overripe banana that she’d passed me and shuddered. “I can get something ordered for us. Fancy a chai bowl or maybe somenoodles? It won’t take long, and it’ll give us a chance to talk if you want to while we wait?”

“Thanks Amelia,” I softly replied. “I don’t deserve this level of kindness from you. I’m just a thorn in this band’s side… fuck!!” I forced out as she quickly typed away on her cell, ordering away. “Really, you don’t have to do this.”

Amelia waved her hand, dismissing my words instantly before placing her cell down on the sofa beside her.

“Honestly, it’s nothing. You’d do the same for me.” Amelia replied back. “I may be your boss but I’m also your friend Simone…” She paused and waited, letting the silence hang between us for a few moments before quietly adding. “If you ever do want to talk about anything though…”

“I’m pregnant.” I blurted out as I took a large inhale of breath, gripping the edge of the sofa, keeping my gaze downcast, knowing that I couldn’t watch her reaction to my news. “I’m sorry that I’ve screwed everything up for the band, and Brody is going to—fuck!”

I let the tears fall again as Amelia wrapped her arm around my shoulder in comfort.

“You haven’t ruined anything, Simone.” She pulled me closer toward her and soothed me. “Whatever happens, we’ll work through this. All of us.”

The thing was, at this moment I was being selfish as the only opinion I really cared about was the guy whose life would be flipped three-sixty by this news.

Now that Amelia knew—Garrett wouldn’t be far behind. Which meant I had to break the news to Brody and soon but would he stand by me this time or run?

FOUR

Brody

“God, I fucking love your cooking,” JB groaned as he took another bite of the Pad Thai I’d just dished up for the group. After the performance today, I’d had some excess energy to burn off and use, and I’d always found that being in the kitchen managed to fulfil it perfectly as well as giving that nutritional kick that we all needed. “I don’t know how you do it. I need some lessons from you, man.”

“I wonder if he’s shown Simone his cooking skills yet?” Holden replied after finishing a mouthful from his plate. I’d never known how hungry grown men could be. It was why I made a huge excess amount because if they didn’t eat it now, I know they could reheat a dish later if they needed a snack or a light bite for lunch tomorrow. “She’d never be apart from him if she had.”

“Hey, leave her out of it.” I told them both as Garrett raised his eyebrow at him. “Talking about Simone, she was very distant earlier when I passed and didn’t even acknowledge me.” I shrugged my shoulders trying to make out that it wasn’t a huge issue but, in my gut, I hadn’t managed to get it off my mind.

That’s why I threw myself into cooking that dish and making slight adjustments for each of the guys so it was perfect for them. It wasn’t something I’d normally do. I’d just do a standard base, which I know each of them could enjoy, but I needed to draw my attention and focus away from the reason why she had ignored me. If I was honest, I thought we had managed to get past things and be comfortable in one another’s company, even though I still kept her at a certain distance.

My mind was lost in her and all her cute little mannerisms that I knew she would tell me were just part of who she was. I thought they were special to her. It was the perfect combination of traits all wrapped up into the most amazing red headed siren.

I thought if I had just that one taste—I could forget and move on, but that was naive of me. My dick was hard and in a constant state of arousal every time she was within a few feet of me. A few times, I’d excused myself to just relieve myself to attempt to get through the day, but the moment I saw her again, my traitorous dick responded instantly again. It only took a glance, a whiff of her perfume or a moment where our gazes locked, and I instantly melted inside, fighting to keep it hidden from her and stay true to the rockstar image people knew me for. I was realizing, though, that it wouldn’t be long before the mask dropped, and she finally saw that I was still that guy she always loved. I just hoped that she could forgive my previous ways and that she wanted me.

The truth was I’d never move on from her, and she was it for me. I didn’t want those roadies or girls who threw themselves at me anymore—they all paled in comparison to Simone. It was only ever meant to be her.

“She didn’t acknowledge me either, man.” JB cut in, confusing me instantly.

“Fuck!” I cursed, dropping a forkful full of my Pad Thai onto my lap. I quickly stood up and grabbed some tissues, and quicklystarted cleaning myself up and the mess I made as I thought about what JB had said.What the fuck was going on?“Why would she not acknowledge us both?” I questioned out loud as Boden walked into the room just as the front door went.

I opened my mouth in preparation to ask Boden where the fuck he’d been all this time, when he held up his cell and radioed to the front door alarm system to see who was there. With whispered, hushed noises and words and eventually huffed agreements, Boden finally placed the cell down.

“I know what you were going to ask me, but Brody hold that thought a moment, I need you to come with me,” Boden announced, turning to face the group as their jaws slackened slightly glancing between each other. “Just trust me, guys. Please. I?—”

“Okay.” They stated in harmony.

“If you need anything, though—” Garrett began glancing between the two of us.

“I’ll come and get you.” I replied back. “Now are you going to fill me in with what’s going on?” I glanced up at Boden.

“Let’s go and get the food delivery at the front door and then we need to go to the Green Room.” Boden replied in a low tone cautiously as we walked through the corridors making me instantly become on high alert at something that I was missing.

“Wait a minute!” I uttered in confusion, stopping and pausing in the corridor and making Boden sigh loudly. “Why the Green Room? What food delivery? I always cook. What am I missing?”

“Well, Simone, she collapsed—” Boden grimaced as he said the words, and my jaw instantly ticked. “She…”

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