Page 155 of Dirty Rock

Danny missed the girl but wanted the band to make it.

I’d seen this story a thousand times already.

“Yes, Danny?” I said, strapping on a smile.

“Halo told me to come and have a word with you about something.” Halo was the band’s lead singer. That wasn’t his real name. As a mother to be, the thought of calling my child Halo made my insides squirm. But every lead singer needed to make a name for themselves, and I guessed Halo’s way was by calling himself Halo when he was, in fact, the devil in disguise.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Danny, guiding him away from the stage. They were due to gig later that night, and the rest of the band were currently going through the setlist. “What’s Halo advised you to do this time? Set yourself on fire like Nikki Sixx again? Please don’t, Danny. This isn’t the 80s anymore, and we have a lot more paperwork to fill in at the end of the day when people drop diesel all over themselves then go near an open flame.”

“No, no. I… did something.”

“Now, I’m going to need you to tell me what you did so I can help.”

“I screwed around with someone I shouldn’t have.”

“The girlfriend back home?”

“Ex-girlfriend, but no. Not her.”

I raised a brow and waited. I was only a decade older than Danny, but sometimes, with these kids, it felt like we were centuries apart.

“I… I fucked JJ Jones.”

My heart sank, and my stomach settled. An odd combination, but I was partly relieved he wasn’t telling me he and Halo were in a love affair, and partly disgusted to hear that woman’s name floating around in my life again.

Resting a hand on Danny’s shoulder, I squeezed it tight and pulled him closer. “Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Everyone has fucked JJ Jones.”

He scowled at me, no doubt waiting for something else to follow that not-so-epic statement, but there was only so much energy I was willing to waste on that social climbing beast.

And, yeah, I loved Rhett Ryan with all my heart, and that brought out little snippets of jealousy every now and again. Not because I thought she had another chance with him, but because of the way she’d exposed us to the world and thought she had any claim over my man whatsoever.

Mine.

Rhett Ryan, the most desirable crooner to exist, was mine.

“Why are you smiling at me?” Danny asked, confused.

“Hadn’t realised I was.” I tried to shake the smile away, but it was screwed into place. “But seriously, Danny. Don’t sweat it about JJ.”

“What if she tells the press?”

“What if she does?”

Danny closed his eyes for a second before he opened them again. “I can’t have Daisy finding out.”

My smile slipped to a sympathetic one. “Daisy being the girlfriend back home.”

“Ex…”

“Right.” I sighed for him. The poor fool. “If she’s an ex, why can’t she find out?”

“Because it will hurt her.”

“Why is she your ex, Danny?”

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