Page 138 of Rock Giant

There were too many people in too small a space.Both bands.A countless number of backstage staff.He saw Jodi screaming, fist shaking.Lee pulling her back, trying to shield her with his body.Who the fuck had hit her?Her nose was bleeding twin streams over her lips and chin.

Paul ripped off the tape and gained his knees.“Get her out of here,” he yelled.

The audience were riled into an equally frenzied bloodlust, fists in the air, yelling.

Xane seized the mic.Started improvising some bullshit dialogue that implied this was all part of the show, and their audience lapped it up.Balin and one of the roadies dragged Nash into the wings.Jez scurried in the same direction on hands and knees.The roadies went to town on their equipment.Spook helped him to his feet.

“Not sure I can...”Fuck, his shoulder hurt.

“Dislocated?”He could barely hear Spook, but he could lip read.

He tried a shoulder roll.“No.”It just hurt like buggery.

“Do what you can?”

There wasn’t really an alternative; they had a show to put on.He pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe his face, then hurled it into the crowd.The psychos would probably love the fact it was blood-spotted as well as sweat soaked this evening.Then he claimed his bass, and ignoring the pain, did what was expected of him.

CHAPTER 41

Jodi Castle

“Do you ever think that maybe you chose the wrong man?”

Jodi peeled her gaze away from her image in the mirror to stare at Lee beside her, holding an equally blood spotted tissue to his nose.They were in the tiny tour bus bathroom, crowded before the mirror.

“Lee, he’s your friend.”

“Yeah.He’s also the clown responsible for this, and I’d like to ring his scrawny neck right now.”He lowered the tissue and inspected the crust of dried blood around his left nostril.Satisfied that it was no longer dripping, he aimed the tissue at the toilet, missed and had to scoop it off the floor.“You realise he’s just cost us the tour, if not our bloody careers.”

She hadn’t really thought as far as consequences.Her head was still smarting from the smack in the face she’d sustained.Adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, and unlike Lee’s, her nose didn’t seem to want to stop leaking red stuff.

“Pinch,” he advised.“Not there, a bit further up.”

“You know this is all my fault, not his.”

“Nope.Wasn’t you that took a swing at Rock Giant with a mic stand.”

She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around that fact even though she’d damned well witnessed it.

“What I did led to it.”

Lee gave a nod.“I’m sure Nash’ll be happy for you to take the blame, but fuck that.And fuck him.Christ, Jo, wake up.The man’s a tool.A complete and utter tool, and you deserve better.I’m sick of hearing you make excuses for him.Are you not sick of making them?”

But…Nash had been sweet, and they’d agreed to put all the disasters of the last few weeks behind them and make another go of it.

“Jo.Gawd.”Lee knocked her hand aside.“Stop letting go or it’ll never stop.”He pinched for her.

“Do you really think Black Halo will dump you?”

Pain shot across the surface of his eyes.“Of course they’re going to ditch us.Nash just attacked their bassist in front of a live audience.We’ll be lucky if we play another gig, let alone open for Black Halo again.The whole rock star thing, it’s over.We’re done.By the end of the night, I expect I’ll have had my arse handed to me by Brian, Samson, Harry and probably Black Halo’s manager too.”He let go of her nose and nodded when the blood trickle didn’t resume.“Be a miracle if the words assault charges don’t get thrown around.If they don’t, it’ll only be because the lawyers haven’t had their say yet.”

“You really think it’ll be that bad?”Why did they all have to suffer, when it’d been Nash who’d taken the swing?It wasn’t fair to tarnish them all with the same brush.Then again, it had turned into a full-scale rumble with everyone in the vicinity involved.

Lee had taken the sort of breath that filled up his cheeks.He released it in one long puff.“Truth.I think it’s gonna be worse.”He laced his fingers above his head, then dragged both hands down his face.“Believe me, I’m praying otherwise, but my guts say we’re sunk.Christ, even if by some miracle we don’t get booted, we’re going to get dogpiled on social media.I guarantee footage of what happened is already circulating.And Black Halo fans are completely rabid.”

“I’m sorry, Lee.I’m so sorry.Fucking, shit!”She yelled the latter part while taking a swipe at a stack of paper towels.They scattered like a hundred disabled butterflies.

This wasn’t right.It wasn’t fair.Lee, Balin, Jez, they didn’t deserve to have their dreams snatched away from them like this.Not because she’d fucked up.Not because she’d been incapable of being honest.She looked up and met Lee’s anxious gaze in the mirror, then turned to face him again.“I’m so sorry, Lee.I should never have come on this tour.”