Page 19 of Knot Their Opening Act
A pound at the door the second we all sit. A moment later Ash walks in.
“You guys enjoy that?” He looks around, arms crossed, raising a brow, probably at Kai’s absence. Nods all around and I step forward to fist-bump him.
“Went off, really,” I say. “And apart from those three girls in the front row continuing to wave their Jez signs at us, I don’t think there was anything in particular that Kai could get riled about.”
I realize the slip as soon as it comes out.
“I thought it was—all of youwho were unhappy about this pairing?” Ash’s tone is low, his words coming slowly as he stares unblinking at my open mouth. I snap it shut.
Holden coughs and jumps in. “We certainly didn’t make friends with her onTen to One. But the honest truth is—” He leans in for the most theatrical conspiratorial whisper ever. “Kai’s the only one who thinks she should be anywhere but here. Okay, so her music and ours aren’t exactly on the same wavelength, but she’s got obvious talent, and a devoted following.”
“Nice arse, too,” I add.
“So what’s wrong with enjoying the perks of touring with someone we don’t necessarily fan-boy over?” Holden finishes.
Ash shakes his head and snorts. “Interesting.” He turns to Thomas. “And you? Round out the thoughts from the peanut gallery?”
Thomas rubs his chin, adjusts his spectacles, then runs a hand through his dark wavy hair. “I have no opinion about her. But that also means I’m not emotionally involved in this.”
I shoot him a sideways glance. Everyone knows but no one will say it. Thomas might come across as all quietly introspective but we know his deal after all these years. Something’s bugging him about this, and my biggest guess is guilt. He probably wants to say sorry to the girl, but his loyalty to Kai won’t let him.
Because that’s how I feel. But it goes deeper than loyalty. Enzo nailed it when he pointed out last week that we’re all to blame as much as Kai. He may be the one harboring the toxic attitude about Jesamine, but we all take our eyes off our goals and put them on others, when they’ve got not one fucking thing to do with us.
In other words, we don’t know how to look at the big picture.
Damn him, he’s always been the intuitive one, and therefore the biggest success to come out of our family. He can see a mistake, own up to it, learn from it, and move on, not letting the past hold him back. Something I haven’t quite figured out how to do yet.
I clear my throat and shake this from my brain. “All right there, Thomas?”
He looks up from where he’d plopped down—in front of the TV and his game console he takes everywhere. He hadn’t had a chance to turn it on but clearly he’d meant to play it before our guests arrived.
He just shrugs and stands up, looking at me. “Your zip’s down.”
My heart races for a second, thinking my fucking ball has been hanging out of my trousers the whole show but I look down and it’s zipped up. I lean over and try to playfully kick Thomas’s leg out from under him, but I catch my toe on the rug and nearly crumple to the floor.
“Glad you guys didn’t try those dance moves on stage,” says Ash dryly as he opens the door to leave. “Well done, keep it up. I’ll send the master of ceremonies in here when I find him because Alicia’s Eight are due in about ten.”
Ash closes the door and Thomas immediately switches his game on. Holden’s lying on the sofa, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling with a piece of licorice stick drooping out of his mouth.
“That’s a bit too phallic for me,” I say. “How can you really eat that stuff? Tastes like ass. Isn’t that what it’s called, anyhow? Ass seed?”
“Anise, you knob,” says Holden good-naturedly. He closes his eyes, chewing on the string and I feel like the picture would be complete with a cowboy hat on his head. If anyone could pull that off, it’d be Holden.
The door opens and instead of Kai being chased into the room, it’s Ash. He rushes back in, eyes bugging slightly.
“Has Jesamine been in here?”
Holden laughs, eyes still shut. “God, no.”
“Shit,” says Ash. He turns to go back out and smacks straight into Kai. Ash drags Kai and security in the room.
“Where is Jez? Her dressing room door is locked and she’s not answering. Her band’s gone for a walk. What the fuck?” Ferny, Jez’s manager-in-training, pops his head in the door with a concerned expression.
I nod at the security bloke, a ginger guy with a big mustache. “Can’t you just open her door?”
“It’s not the done thing. She could be asleep.”
“You’re fucking security,” hisses Thomas, in a very un-Thomas-like voice.
