“Alice,” Lark hissed in warning.
Even the blonde’s eyes widened at Alice’s blatant disrespect.
I only raised my eyebrows and stepped up to the stool.I was used to Alice’s sharp words and saucy little looks when she thought I wasn’t looking.But again, Dublin.Alice was a narc.
The reminder was enough to make me bark, “Wait!”when her little trio turned to leave after I sat on my stool.
Alice swung back around her eyebrows near her hairline.“What?”
“Alice,” Lark hissed again.
But she only shook her friends’ concern off, and after a short, whispered convo, Lark and the blonde left the stage.
Alice turned back to me with raised eyebrows.“What do you need?”
I huffed a disbelieving laugh.I don’t know why I thought she’d ever be intimidated by me.Alice didn’t take any shit from anyone.It was why she’d climbed from general roadie to drum tech in such a short amount of time.Everyone respected Alice.
Even me.
“You know the drill.You don’t leave until I tell you.”
It was a petty move, but fuck if I didn’t need to be in control of just one aspect of my life.Even if it was just my drum tech.
Alice gave another one of her patented huffs of annoyance and crossed her arms over her chest.When I didn’t start playing, she made a grand gesture with her hand as she bowed.“You have the floor, sire.”
Rolling my eyes at her attitude, I picked up my sticks and played.
The longer I drummed, the more everything fell away.My fear.My annoyance.The family drama.Alice’s bullshit.It was just me and the music.
The way it was supposed to be.
The next thing I knew, Chase tapped my shoulder.
Flinching, I looked up and took in the rest of the guys standing around me with concerned expressions.Alice was long gone.Maybe she was the reason they were here.
“What’s up?”I grinned at Chase, trying to get back to that lackadaisical energy I was famous for.“You all ready for church?”
“Maybe after you break to hydrate.”Xander frowned down at me.“Going by your t-shirt and general smell, I’m going to guess you’ve been here a while.”
I lifted an arm and took a sniff.“I don’t know.Smells like success to me.Here, take a whiff.”
Jumping up, I chased Xander around the stage, trying and failing to stick my armpit in his face and laughing with more actual happiness than I’d felt in a long time.
Chapter 5
Alice
“I’m telling you, we could book gigs today if we wanted to.”
Since my back was turned to Lark, I felt safe rolling my eyes.I was knee deep in the kit room, searching in vain for a backup snare drum.We had like three, but apparently they’d all joined the witness protection program or something.Probably wanted to get away from Noah and his pissy attitude—I sympathized.
“Alice?Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, you want to book gigs.Do you see a snare over there?”
“Why are you asking me?All these drums look the same to me.Just some are bigger than others.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”Toms.More toms.Crash cymbals.Snare stands.A bazillion sticks.Where the hell were the snares?
