Page 88 of Play Fast (Brooklyn Dawn 2)

“Holy shit.” The guy stumbled back.

I handed him the mic. “Be right back.”

I could hear him singing to “Like a Virgin” in an off-key, pitchy voice.

I’d pay for that too, but the pins were my focus. The new paint gleamed along the back of the lanes. The vandals had scrawled their rude comments in a garish red here. I could still kind of see it. My misspent youth spent tagging the metal reinforcements of the Brooklyn Bridge back in the day gave me a little knowledge. You couldn’t hide spray paint with just anything, and in their rush to get the place ready for our show, they hadn’t done enough layers of primer. I’d hoped earlier that they would slap on enough layers to make the words disappear, but there hadn’t been time for that either.

I didn’t want to read any more of what the so-called kids had written, but it was impossible not to.

Typical crap like Brooklyn Dawn sucks was reinforced with slurs about Jamie and Lindsey. Even an inventive one including Teagan in a disgusting trio of threats against them. As if the girls were just meat.

The crash of pins helped with the rage burning inside my head.

I moved to the next lane and threw another ball, then another when I missed. I didn’t even wait for the guard to lift before I sent another ball down the lane.

Fuck, I was so sick of this shit. Sick of the secrecy and the drama and all of it.

Sick of worrying about Daisy. I’d only been fully back on the job for a few days, but it seemed like I couldn’t quit.

Old habits died hard. There had been a time when watching out for her and my sister had been like breathing.

Now it felt like futility. There were too many potential threats, and I couldn’t be everywhere. Noah certainly couldn’t.

I frowned. Maybe I knew someone who could help. I’d run it by Lila, make sure he was up to her very high snuff.

I had to do something with all this frustration inside me. Calling Sean qualified.

As long as she was safe. That was all that mattered.

I stalked back to retrieve the mic from the guy who was screeching like a dying cat, and then I crashed through the mob of people who had moved to the lanes. I climbed onto the couch and leaped over the back to bob and weave around the fans. My long stride gave me the advantage in getting to the barricade quickly.

Lindsey was trying to bring the crowd back to her. She’d even lowered the shields on her rocker Barbie self and shouted for the girl with the T-shirt inspiration to come forward so they could swap shirts. Both women wore skintight tanks under their tops.

I was pretty sure most of the dudes in the room were hoping for a pair of tits to ogle.

Once upon a time, I’d have been the same. Now I could only picture the the perfect pink-tipped mouthful of a certain woman.

I waded into the crush of fans in the center of the general admission pit. Bodies slammed into me, nails scraped down my arms, along my belly. Leaving marks.

Would Daisy care?

Would she notice?

She’d stared right through me just hours ago. And still, every time I closed my eyes, she was there waiting for me in the night. I felt her under me as I used her body like a vessel to pour my rage into. She didn’t deserve me. Didn’t deserve what I’d done to her.

And I’d loved every moment.

Craved more of it. Her silky skin, her voice screaming my name, her shattered eyes.

The worst part was that I was pretty damn sure she’d loved it too. She was meant for me.

Except she wasn’t. She couldn’t be.

The rage started building again. I was so tired of fighting, myself most of all.

I spotted Jamie monkeying her way down the stacked speakers and amps to the stage once more. I made my way over to her and turned to give her my shoulders. I shoved the microphone into my jeans pocket and got as close to the stage as I could. Music had always saved me. And it would again. It had to, or I’d slide back down into the cesspool of my thoughts.

Jamie grinned and handed her guitar to Lindz, and then hooked a leg over my shoulder. I braced for her surprisingly solid body. She might be whip lean, but Jamie was tall.

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