Page 119 of Living on the Edge

“What does that mean?” I look up in alarm. “Am I getting fired?”

“No, of course not. Dad says you’re the best assistant manager he’s ever had. The nightly deposits are never short, there are rarely issues with staffing and scheduling now that you’re in charge, and profits are up a bit. He’s extremely pleased with your work. I’m the one that’s unhappy.”

“I’m fine. I’m not ready to start dating if that’s what you’re talking about.”

“No, silly. I’m talking about your soul. Your creativity. The parts of you that make you… you.”

I snort. “The parts of me that made meherare problematic. That’s why I left the industry.”

“Fine. Don’t work in music, but you have to write…it’s part of you.”

I shrug. “It was. It’s not anymore.”

She sighs. “One day you’re going to wake up with regrets.”

“I wake up with regrets now,” I counter. “Every single day I wake up alone and realize my dreams cost me everything—my career, my reputation, and the love of the best guy I’ve ever met.”

She cocks her head. “If he’s truly the best man you’ve ever met, he should be worth fighting for.”

For the first time in weeks, my eyes fill with tears. “You should have heard his voice when he said he couldn’t trust me… when he asked me what I’d done—as if it were a foregone conclusion that it was my fault.” I swallow and swat at my eyes. “I’ll never get over the fact that he never even asked—did you do it? Why did you do it? The first thing he said was, ‘what did you do?’” I look up at her. “I’llneverget over that.”

“Oh, honey.” She reaches out to give me a hug, squeezing me tightly. “I’m so sorry he did that, but he had to be hurting too. I mean, maybe now that he’s had time to cool off and think about everything…”

I shake my head and reach for a tissue. “It’s done, Josie. He said he couldn’t be with someone he couldn’t trust, but the thing is, that goes for me too. I can’t be with someoneIdon’t trust. Someone who doesn’t have my back when someone else screws me over. I got screwed just as hard as he did, but did he ask me if I was okay? Did he think about what was going to happen to me if I lost my career? Did he even give me a chance to find out what was going on?”

She squeezes my shoulder. “I know, sweetie. I understand. Truly. But you gave up. Why didn’t you fight for your reputation? Even if you weren’t willing to fight for him, what about fighting for yourself?”

She has a point, but it’s too late.

I made my bed and now I’m lying in it.

For better or worse, I found a different path.

One that keeps me far away from the man who shattered my soul.

Chapter37

Angus

The official partof the tour ends on Halloween in Vegas.

It’s been a long, crazy two months but we’ve come out the other side of the drama and scandal in a big way. The album had just gone gold when theRock Harderstory broke, and a month later we hit platinum. It’s been a whirlwind of touring, interviews, band meetings, therapy (for me), and… money.

I already have it and certainly don’t need more, but it means the world to the other guys in the band.

Fate can be interesting sometimes.

Despite the initial negativity, the bad press got people talking about us, listening to our music, and watching us live.

And things blew up from there.

The old saying that no press is bad press? It’s fucking true.

Our album started to sell like gangbusters after Ryleigh’s story broke, and because it’s a great fucking album, people started coming to the shows too. Sasha already added ten dates onto the tour between now and when we play the Garden in New York in two weeks. Lexi is going to stay on for a few more dates since she still looks and feels great, with Kirsten flying in to do the shows on the weekends.

Casey Hart flew in for the show tonight to present us with our framed platinum albums and there’s a huge party to celebrate going on at a local club that she rented out for the night. Club Inferno is some kind of private sex club most of the time, but it can be rented out for events like this and the place is packed.

Journalists, DJs, and record company executives from all over flew in for both the show and the party, and it’s wild here tonight.

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