Page 14 of Jinn

“He’s a fame grabber. But I’m starting to believe you guys are, too. It used to be about the music.” He looked at each of them. “What happened to that?”

Thorn, the other member of the band Ajax sometimes clashed with, spoke up. He was wearing a Bad Omens T-shirt. Like Matt, he had black hair, but he wore his shorter and shaved on the sides. “Millions of dollars happened. It’s still about the music. Our music.” He softened his tone, his eyes going wide with appeal. “We’ve been together a long time, Ajax. Been through a lot. All the ups and downs. We—”He paused and looked at Barry, Matt, then back to Ajax. “We can’t help but feel you’re stepping back.”

“He’s right,” Matt spoke up. “It’s why we came. Bringing Alan was a shit move and I’m sorry for that. It’s just… What are you doing, man?”

Ajax had known they were worried over his need to create solo music, but he hadn’t realized they were actually this scared. Some of his bluster faded away. “I’m doing what feels right for this point in my life. I explained that to you. I’m not leaving the band, and I plan to write more songs for us, but I need to do this, too. Can’t you understand that?”

Barry sighed. “No, we just can’t. We should be holed up together creating more music for all of us. Instead, you come out here alone, planning to put out solo work for a completely different set of fans. You think that won’t affect BTC? Like Thorn said, all of us feel like you’re working on leaving the band.”

“I hadn’t planned to, but this intervention is sure making me consider it.”

Thorn scoffed. “You were already considering it. We’re not stupid. You’ve been pulling away for a long time. Not going to the parties, staying in hotel rooms to write songs that have nothing to do with Back to Chaos.”

“I’ve been writing what I’m feeling—that’s how it works. And I’m sick of the parties and have been for a while. I only went to a lot of them because of Alan. But that’s over now, and I really don’t want him here.”

“Then he leaves.” Barry broke in as he shrugged. “It’s no skin off my back. But let the rest of us stay. Work together on some new stuff.”

Ajax shook his head. “No, Barry. I’m not going to explain myself again. I need to be alone right now.”

Barry snorted. “With the hot bodyguard?”

Ajax waved at their silent guards. “You know we need them.”

“Yeah, and I also noticed the way you look at him. I’m not blind, and neither are they.” He nodded his head toward the others. “I’m sure Alan could see it, too.”

“I honestly don’t give a shit. Damn, Barry, you guys know what he did. How could you possibly be on his side?”

He shrugged. “You never used to mind sexy images of you being plastered everywhere.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Of course I did.”

This time, Thorn snorted. “You’re the front man in one of the hottest bands in the world, and you took advantage of that a lot in the past. Don’t pretend you didn’t.”

There was a dark jealousy lacing Thorn’s tone, a thread of something that made Ajax uncomfortable. As creative types, of course they’d squabbled in the past, but this felt like more. Thorn actually resented him, and that knowledge made his heart tighten. It was something he’d need to think over. That maybe a few more changes were needed for BTC. “I never wanted my private sex life exposed like that. How would you feel if your girlfriend had those kinds of private moments purposely photographed and released?”

At least he seemed to be really thinking about his answer because it took him several moments to respond. “I guess Iwouldn’t be happy, but then our fans aren’t as obsessed with me as they are you.”

Again, Ajax heard the envy in his tone. Thorn was a great-looking guy and definitely had his share of rabid fans, but the world seemed obsessed with his own love life more. Probably because he openly dated men. He sighed. It wasn’t the first time Thorn had shown his resentment over that fact—he just hadn’t realized how deep those feelings went. “Look, I understand you are all worried my solo music is going to somehow take away from what we’ve built with BTC, from our many years of friendship, but it won’t. I’m doing this. You’ve known I was taking six months off to work on my own stuff, so you guys coming here… Well, it’s pretty damned intrusive. And bringing Alan has done nothing but piss me off.”

Matt finally spoke up. “You’re right. This was a bad idea, and I understand you need this time. We’re just worried.”

Ajax looked at the band member who was really his best friend out of the bunch. “You don’t need to. I promise we’ll start on the new album in six months. Just give me this time.” He gave each one a pointed look. Barry and Matt seemed to be accepting what he was saying, but Thorn’s pinched lips and furrowed brows showed he wasn’t.Well, it was too damned bad. “Why don’t you guys come in and have something to drink? Stay a little while, and we’ll talk about this more.”

Barry looked toward the gate, which wasn’t visible this close to the front door. “What about Alan?”

“He can stew out there with the other fans. Because that’s all he is. All he ever was. Please don’t ever bring him around me again.”

Ajax let his band members into the house, directed them toward the kitchen, then walked back outside just as Finn was coming back toward the porch. He took the steps down to meet him, keeping his voice low. “I’m sorry about that, Finn. It seemsI worried everyone more than I thought. I also didn’t realize they’d grown so close to Alan. Maybe I’m up in my head a little too much and need to pay more attention to those around me. Thing is, we’ve all been together a long time, built deep relationships, and I think they’re worried about that as well.” He tilted his head, taking in Finn’s fierce expression. “You okay?”

“That guy, Alan, is a piece of shit. I can’t believe you were with him so long.”

Ajax nodded. “He wasn’t always that way. Fame has a way of going to some people’s heads. I’m concerned that’s the problem with Barry and Thorn, too.” He sighed heavily, his heart aching. “I’ve clashed with them both in the past, which is normal with as much time as we spend together and all of us being creative types. I just didn’t realize they were actually scared.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that. Missed most of the conversation, but it was obvious as soon as they stepped out of that huge SUV. A couple of them fairly reeked of fear. Are they staying?”

“For a little while. We’ve been friends a long time, so I need to do what I can to set them at ease. I thought they understood what I was doing. Well, I thought Matt did. Barry and Thorn—they’re taking it harder than I realized.” Ajax glanced toward the gate, glad it was hidden by trees. “As for Alan, he’ll probably spend his time out there posing for photographs. He’ll be just fine.”

“I don’t really care how he feels.” Finn stared hard at him. “You do deserve better. So much better.”

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