Page 20 of Hard Rock Desires

“Grace!” I called, bursting out the back door.

But there was no one on the sidewalk. She was gone.

Shit.

I heaved a sigh and went back to the artist lounge. Everyone was gone, the fans, the assistants, the venue staff. The only ones left were my bandmates. Finn was now sitting on the sofa, arm bandaged. Micah was pacing and Kaylee was trying to soothe him. Anya was in her same seat, but she was leaning forward anxiously as she kept an eye on Finn. Chris stood behind the sofa, hands gripping the back cushions, no longer smiling.

“That really broke up the party, didn’t it?” Finn said as I came back in.

“Don’t be a dick,” I growled. “You could have gotten really hurt.”

“A minor wound.” His eyes seemed clearer. I supposed getting your arm shredded sobered a guy up real quick. “Look, I know I should have been more careful.”

“Damn right you should have,” Micah spoke up. “You’re lucky we don’t have any more shows coming up or you’d be in deep shit. Do you think you’d be able to play with your arm busted up like that? And our PR team is going to kill us. This is just one more fire they’re going to have to put out. We keep telling you—”

“You don’t need to lecture him,” I jumped in before Micah could really get going.

“Don’t I?” Micah raised an eyebrow and pointed at Finn’s arm.

“He knows he was being a dumbass,” I replied. “There’s no need to rub it in.”

“Look, guys, I’m sorry, okay?” Finn interrupted. “It won’t happen again. No more dancing on glass tables for me.”

Micah and I both opened our mouths, but before either of us could say another word, Kaylee spoke up.

“Are you guys hungry?” she chirped. “I could go for a truckload of fries right now.”

Micah looked put out, but Chris and Anya were clearly relieved at the change in tone. Finn nodded vigorously.

“I’m starving,” he said. “Want to go get some greasy diner food?”

The tension in the room eased. We all began to pack up our things and grab our bags.

I avoided both Finn and Micah, pissed at both of them, and stuck close to Kaylee.

“Soooo,” she drawled as she hiked her pink duffel bag over her shoulder. “Who was that girl?”

“The one I was talking to? Her name was Grace,” I said. “She wasn’t a fan.”

“She didn’t enjoy the show?” Kaylee sounded mortally wounded.

“I mean, she wasn’t a fan of us before,” I explained. “She only came because her friend had an extra ticket.”

“I see.” That was all she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “And what does that mean?”

“You spent the whole night with her,” Kaylee noted.

“She was interesting.” I tried to play it cool.

“You didn’t get a chance to take her home, though.”

“That’s all Finn’s fault,” I said. “He owes me one.”

“But you did spend the whole evening with her,” she said. “Not us.”

I winced. “Shit, yeah, if I’d been with you guys and paying more attention, Finn might not have—”