Page 42 of Reverb

Stone

That one’s your fault. You told him they’d stopped booking you a room.

I had said that, when I’d given Denver one of my long, angry lectures. So he’d figured it out, which meant Callie knew, too.

Sienna

And Axel?

Stone

No one told Axel. But he knows now.

I groaned. Brit had figured it out, and since Axel and Brit were now a couple, that meant everyone knew.

I let that thought simmer for a minute while I strategized. A text came in from Stone.

Stone

Maplethorpe?

What’s this about? Is someone messing with you?

Was he worried about me? That couldn’t be right. I typed an answer.

Sienna

No, but I have a meeting at the Soundcheck offices tomorrow morning and I’m wondering if my career is about to crash and burn.

Stone

It won’t. Soundcheck won’t hear about it from us.

Sienna

Are you sure?

Stone

The tour is over. Besides, it’s band business. We don’t talk about band business outside of the band.

I thought about that. None of them had spoken about Axel’s rehab until he told me about it himself. If any of the other Road Kings knew about Gardens on Mars and Chase Mackay—and I had to assume they did—none of them had talked about that, either. They were very good at not talking to outsiders. They’d all denied that a new album was in the works, yet here they were, working on a new album.

So it was hard to imagine one of the Road Kings, or their girlfriends, calling up my bosses to gossip about me and Stone.

Sienna

That’s admirable, but I’m not in the band.

Stone

I recall you being there every day of a ten-week tour, at every show. That makes you band business. No one will talk.

Sienna

That sounds oddly violent. Are you guys the mob?

Stone