Stating the obvious, I point out, “Uh… obviously, you tell them the truth. Don’t people know you’re a twin?”
“There’s no way I want them trashing your name. You don’t do serious, and we all know that. I don’t want you caught up in this. You didn’t sign up to be in the spotlight. I knew what I was doing taking the job at Smashing Waves; you had nothing to do with this. Besides, showing up for a few publicity stunts may fix this temporarily, but rumors are out there, and the rabid fans Jax has acquired will still hold this against me.”
God, even when she’s mad, she’s still looking out for me. So typical of Sloane.
“If they don’t believe you, then fuck them. That’s their problem. All that matters is that you and Jax know the truth.”
“Raven, this goes beyond the two of us… you have to?—”
Cutting her off, I quickly remind her, “You’ve never cared what people think of you. I certainly couldn’t give two shits about what they think of me either. Let the label know you’re a twin, and I’ll set the record straight.”
“You don’t understand, Ray…” she sighs heavily. “The label is pissed Finn put himself into a position like this,” she sighs heavily and looks to the ceiling, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve even talked about canceling his contract and replacing him as the drummer. With Jax’s new single out and the fact thatthey just launched their brand as a band, this isn’t the type of publicity they need.”
“Clearly, you weren’t involved in any of this. Can’t we do something like being seen in public together… clearly, they’ll see you have a twin.”
Sloane worries her lower lip and squints at something on the wall, suddenly in deep thought. Knowing her, she’s thinking six moves ahead for what we should do. Before I can push her further, there’s a knock on the doorjamb, and Jax fills up the space.
“Hey… is it safe to enter?”
Throwing my arms up, I flop back on my pillow. “Might as well.”
As he walks toward Sloane, he shrugs with a smirk. “I take it you’ve met my bandmates?”
“Jax!” Sloane admonishes. “So not helping!”
“What? Too soon?” he says, snaking his arms around her from behind and kissing her neck. “Babe, you and I know the truth. That’s all that matters.”
Her rigid shoulders relax, and she sighs heavily. “You don’t understand, Jax. Tara is irate. She talked about dropping Finn from the label. It took me forever to get her to understand the picture was clearly of Raven. Even then, my boss wasn’t fully convinced.”
“That’s ridiculous. Finn didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, he slept with me,your sister, but we’re both consenting adults and not attached to anyone.”
Shaking her head, Sloane persists, “Facts don’t matter in stories like this; appearances and especially pictures,” she points to the paper on my bed, “tell a story that can’t be untold.”
“Has anyone thought to ask Finn about it?”
“About that...” Jax looks to Sloane, then to me. “He refused to comment on anything. He looked me in the eye and said he’dnever do anything to put our band at risk, and that I’d have to trust him, but he wasn’t about to drag anyone’s name through the mud.”
“What’s the big fucking deal?” I shout to the room. “Obviously, he didn’t sleep with you, Sloane. Everyone in this room knows it was me walking out of that hotel. Hell, if they looked at Sloane and me, they could probably tell from my ripped jeans alone. So, we had a night of amazing sex, so much so, I was nearly late for work, but big fucking deal. I get that the two of you recently got engaged and with you topping the charts in recent weeks, your lives are scrutinized beyond measure. But Finn and I didn’t do anything wrong, and Sloane was nowhere near that hotel. We all know that. This… this entire situation is just stupid!”
“Wait…” Sloane gasps. “You stayed with him all afternoon?”
“Out of everything I just said, that’s what you got out of it?” I ask, exasperated.
Clearly that isn’t where she should focus her attention in this moment.
“Focus, Sloane.”
Tilting her head to the side, she studies me. “Ohmigod, you said you had amazing sex with Finn… And you stayed… for the entire night?”
Ignoring my idiotic sister, I look to Jax, hoping he’ll be the voice of reason. “For a smart person, she’s clearly missing the point.”
“Oh, come on. This is kinda a big deal for you.”
“Yeah, not every day my personal life explodes on the interwebs and splashes onto tabloid headlines, putting someone’s career in jeopardy. This is a huge deal. I had a great time with Finn, but as Nana would say, ‘We’ve got bigger fish to fry.’”
“I’m sure we can set the record straight,” Jax says hopefully.
“Finn’s coming over for the family barbeque later this evening with your dad and his sister, Mable, coming into town. Let’s let the PR team do what they get paid for. Don’t you have a picture of the two of you somewhere? Maybe that’ll be good enough.”
