Page 106 of Rock God

DEVYN: Neither of us is that young. He’s thirty, I’m twenty-seven. We should be able to communicate at this point in our lives, but I lied to him, so I understand how that hurt him.

DORIAN: Give him a little time. His frontal lobe has only been fully developed for three years.

DEVYN: I can give him time, but what about the band? How do they feel? And what about the tour? We’re supposed to leave tomorrow, and I haven’t heard a word from anyone.

DORIAN: I don’t know about that part of it. Reach out to Sasha.

DEVYN: Thank you. Let me know if there’s anything you want me to do.

DORIAN: Kate Lansing-Martensson and I are working on a statement from the band and a statement from you. Once you sign off on the band statement, I’ll send it to the guys. Then I’ll need you to look at your own statement and tweak it so it’s in your voice. You’ll have it this afternoon.

DEVYN: Thank you. I appreciate your help.

DORIAN: Hang in there—this is going to pass. I promise.

I really hoped she was right, because I was devastated on so many levels.

I wished I had someone to talk to other than Greatty, and I paced around our suite restlessly. I’d spoken to Jesse earlier, but there was nothing she could do other than have my back.

My phone was buzzing again and although I was fairly certain I wasn’t going to hear from Kingston, my heart leapt every time anyway.

This time it was Sasha, and even though I really didn’t want to talk to her, I had to.

“Hi, Sasha.”

“Hey, how are you?”

“Hanging in there, I guess.”

She paused. “Look, I know about you and Kingston, and even if the two of you don’t want to talk, we still have a tour coming up.”

“I know.”

“You have a big, extremely difficult decision to make, Devyn. You’re going to have to decide if you can still play with Onyx Knight if you and Kingston don’t get back together. Because you are the band’s new bass player, and while Kingston can make a fuss about it if he wants to, the rest of the band has your back.”

“Did Kingston say he doesn’t want me there?”

“Kington hasn’t said a word—no one can reach him.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“So it’s up to you. I’ve booked you on a commercial flight for tomorrow night, to get you into London Saturday morning. I figured you wouldn’t want to spend seven or eight hours locked in a metal box with the guy you just broke up with, so this was my solution. If you’re on the flight, and show up for soundcheck, I’ll know your decision. If you don’t, no hard feelings. I don’t know that I could go on tour with them if I was in your shoes.”

“Sasha?”

“Yes?”

“What do you think I should do?”

“I think you should show up in London and show the whole fucking world you’re not scared. You’re not ashamed. You’re not giving up Onyx Knight just because you did something crazy in college. We all did shit like that, including me. As for Kingston, well, that’s going to hurt. I don’t know the depth of your feelings for him, or his for you, but you’ll have to decide if Onyx Knight is worth rubbing salt in the wound every single day until you’re over him.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over him,” I whispered. “I thought he was the one, the guy who would make me believe in forever. Instead, he’s turning out to be like all the others. I know I screwed up, but I need him right now, and he’s abandoned me. It feels like they all have.”

“We haven’t,” she said firmly. “Me and Dorian, Z and Kellan, even Tommy—we have your back. And Grim actually called me this morning, asking if you needed him. He’s willing to travel to London with you tomorrow night. For free.”

“He is?” I was shocked by that.

“He doesn’t like the double standard. If it was a guy who’d done porn, everyone would be high-fiving him and calling him a stud or whatever. You’re getting a bad rap simply because you have a vagina. Let me tell you something—if I wasn’t head-over-heels for my husband, I’d be all over Grim.”

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