Page 44 of A Billionaire Rebel

Damon

It washard to believe how much had changed in a week.

I’d woken up only a few minutes before, but I hadn’t needed to get up to see that Jae was gone. The note on the pillow next to me had been short, but not abrupt.

Heading to work and didn’t want to wake you. Reach out if you need anything. Jae

And she’d put a little smiley face after her name.

It’d been the smiley face that had made me start thinking about how different my life today was than it had been a week ago. Then, I’d been in Vegas, getting ready for a concert. I’d gotten laid during the week, but nothing memorable. My friends had all been alive and healthy. My only concerns had been Bair’s drinking and my frustration with the songs I was writing.

Now, my life was in an uproar. One of my friends was dead, one was still in the hospital. The band would never be the same again. We could go on, but it would be a different group, unique in its own ways.

Then there was whatever was going on with Deklin. He’d gotten engaged to a woman he’d barely known and then broken up with her to be with some showgirl from Vegas. Last I heard, they were in Tahiti together.

And nothing had turned my life upside-down quite like Jae Knox.

After I’d licked enough chocolate off her body to kill my desire for sweets for a week, we’d had sex in the shower, then watched a movie while we were in bed. We’d had sex one more time before finally falling asleep, and I’d been so exhausted, I hadn’t even dreamed.

I closed my eyes and sighed. Laying around wouldn’t help me figure out what I was going to do today. Or tomorrow. Or at any point in the future now that things were up in the air in every area of my life.

My stomach growled, making me realize that I was hungry. Breakfast was something I could do, and I didn’t need to think much to do it, especially since I had a few pastries somewhere. A day lounging around the house in flannel pants and eating junk food actually sounded pretty appealing.

I’d just finished my second apple Danish when someone knocked on my door. I was halfway to the door when I realized the doorman would’ve made Jae wait until he buzzed up. She’d only been here once, and I hadn’t put her on my list of people allowed to be sent up immediately. That limited the possibilities of who my guest could be.

I opened the door and found Kalini on the other side. “Come on in. Let me go grab a shirt.”

“Mind if I pour myself some coffee?” she asked, following me.

“Help yourself.”

I grabbed the first clean shirt I found and put it on while I went back into the kitchen. She was already sitting at the kitchen table, and I almost could’ve convinced myself that this was just a normal Friday in Houston, that Kalini and I were just waiting for the guys to get here since she’d always arrived several minutes before the others to anything.

Except there was a new sadness in her eyes that I knew was reflected in mine.

“How’s Hawk doing?” I asked, wanting to start with something that would at least be positive.

“Good.” She blushed but didn’t look away. “We’re both good.”

“I’m happy for you,” I said honestly. “Both of you.”

“He has a doctor’s appointment later today, but it should be the last one,” she added. “I had to threaten him about today’s appointment. He’s convinced he doesn’t need a head CT because it was just a concussion and football players get them all the time.”

“How are his ribs?”

“Good. Healing the way they’re supposed to.”

“Have you heard anything from Otis? I planned on going to see him later today.”

“He’s good,” she said. “Hawk called him yesterday. I guess his sister’s trying to convince him to get transferred to a hospital near her. He isn’t sure he wants to do that, but he knows he’s going to need help when he finally gets out.”

“Doesn’t she live in Phoenix?”

“She does.” Kalini looked down at the mug between her hands. “I don’t think he wants to be that far away from his kids, but I don’t think he wants to have to hire anyone to help out either.”

“Z and Haje said they were going to reach out to the guys about making sure they have whatever they need.”

“They did.” She looked back up at me, and I knew we’d reached the real reason she’d come by. “And both Otis and Hawk appreciate how they’ve been handling things.”

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