“I’m going home after this to have a nap,” Max admitted. “Gotta be ready. Eight o’clock. Opening band starts at seven. Some guy called Aiden Lindell?” He was faking not knowing the guy; they’d played the same stage before. Jeff was pretty sure they’d only been able to book Aiden because he lived nearby.
“I love Aiden’s music,” Gisella sighed. “And he’s easy on the eyes too.”
Jeff couldn’t argue with that.
“What about after the concert?” Shae prompted. “Any plans to be in the studio any time soon?”
Gritting his teeth, Jeff opened his mouth to give the line he’d promised Dina he would, but before he could say anything, Trix spoke.
“No concrete plans yet, but I’m sure it’ll be soon. I’ve seen Jeff scribbling in his comp book, which usually means he’s actually got three or four songs ready to go. I guess all that time up north was good for something. Now the rest of us just have to do our parts.”
He was going to kill her.
“Trix is exaggerating how far along those songs are,” Jeff said. “They’re really mostly lyrics right now.” A lie. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to write a Howl album without, you know, Howl.”
In other words,back off, that’s not for you.
“What people don’t know is that for a professional musician, Jeff is like, super modest,” Max piped in. “He’ll tell you something’s not ready, but Jeff’s version of ‘not ready’ is another musician’s demo.” He grinned, not the least repentant, and for a moment, Jeff wondered if he was doing it on purpose. “Writing an album with him is a huge rush because you go in with a handful of proto-songs, and it’s like he hears how it could be. Don’t get me wrong, everybody’s got their bit to do and we’re all good at it, but Jeff has the magic touch.”
Jeff took it back. That sounded like Max trying to butter him up. It wasn’t going to work—he was pissed and he was going to stay that way.
He kept his mouth shut for the rest of the segment unless someone addressed him directly, knowing it was making the interview awkward and stilted and not giving a ripe shit.
As soon as filming wrapped, he ditched his collar mic and stormed back to the green room, actively fuming. Trix was hot on his heels—when he attempted to slam the door behind him, she caught it and held it open.
“What the fuck, Jeff?”
He whirled around. “I could ask you the same thing!”
“What crawled up your ass?” She planted her hands on her hips. “You’ve been acting fucking weird since you got back from Willow Sound.”
I’ve been acting “fucking weird” since I had to give Max Narcan in January, he snarled internally. “I don’t know, Trix, maybe I don’t appreciate being committed to things I haven’t agreed to—”
She rolled her eyes. “In case you forgot, we have an album due in less than two months, asshole. So sorry for trying to light a fire under your ass—”
“—or maybe I don’t like it when people I’m supposed to trust go through my shit.”
“Since when do you care if I go through your comp book?”
Since he’d started wondering whether he had a future with his band. “Since when do you unilaterally answer questions for the whole band?” he shot back.
Thatlanded—she flinched and crossed her arms defensively. “Just because you’re the lead singer—”
Jeff had never been the type to trash a hotel room, but he was starting to see the appeal of breaking things on purpose.
“Trix,” Max murmured from behind her, touching her shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she spat. Then, half as harshly, “Nothing. Jeff’s just being a dick about nailing down a timeline for the album, and he’s pissed I forced his hand.” Her mouth went sharp. “Hope Carter’s prepared for those commitment issues.”
Fuck, Carter. On top of all the other shit, he had to warn Carter that people outside his family were going to be asking questions now too. “I’m out of here,” Jeff snapped. “Don’t fucking call me. I’ll see you at sound check.”
LESSON FOUR
The Truth Will Set You Free, But in, Like, Absolutely the Most Terrifying and Inconvenient Way Possible
HERE’S Ashocker for you—famous people are liars.
We lie about how much we do yoga and how much we do coke and tell people we were on a retreat when we mean we were in rehab.
