ryder
Amazinghow fast life can turn on you.
One minute, you’re holding the girl who sets your fucking soul on fire, the next your eyes are getting clawed out of their sockets. Face still stinging from the assault, I glance to my left to make sure Felicity is okay before charging after Linc, who looks like he’s about two seconds from dropping Lacey. We have to get her crazy ass outside before the bouncers start swarming and throw us all out on the curb.
We wrestle her onto the rooftop patio like a feral cat. The few couples gathered by the railing quickly clear out, not wanting to get involved in our drama. I don’t blame them — the way Lacey is hissing and spitting, she looks like she’s got a highly contagious case of rabies.
“You motherfucker!” she screams at me for the tenth time.
She really needs to broaden her range of insults.
“What the hell is going on?” Lincoln yells, struggling to keep hold of Lacey. I watch him wince as her claws find purchase in his forearm. “Ow! Bitch!”
“You could’ve ruined everything!Everything!” Lacey screams at me. Her legs windmill the air as she snarls, rhinestone cowboy boots flashing like a strobe. “You’re damn lucky I smoothed things over for us!”
Aiden is hovering at my side, tense as a bowstring, silent as a grave.
“Get off me, Lincoln!” Lacey screams, still flailing. “Put me down!”
“Gladly, once you get a hold of yourself. You’re acting absolutely fucking crazy!”
“Me, crazy?” she seethes, finally going limp. “I’m not the crazy one. If anyone here is crazy, it’shim.”
Lincoln looks at me. “Any idea what the hell she’s talking about?”
“Oh, he knows,” she spits, breathing hard. “He knows exactly what he did.”
I cross my arms over my chest, fists clenched tightly as I watch her. She seems to be calming down, though I’m not about to trust her anywhere near my eyes in the foreseeable future. Linc loosens his hold so her feet are back on solid ground, but keeps his arms around her abdomen in case she dives for me again.
“Is this because he was kissing that Nightingale waitress? ‘Cause, I know you two hooked up a while back but…” Lincoln shrugs. “Not to call a spade a spade, you aren’t exactly the paradigm of virtue yourself, Lacey.”
“You think I’m jealous he was kissing some little bar mouse?” She throws her head back and cackles. “That’s rich.”
Aiden’s eyes are swinging back and forth between her face and mine. I can almost see his mind spinning as he tries to put the pieces together. I feel lower than dog shit on the bottom of a shoe.
“If we aren’t dealing with a Yoko Ono situation here, what the hell is this?” Lincoln is sounding increasingly frustrated with each passing second. “I mean, you just show up here — after totally blowing off the most important gig we’ve ever played, by the way — and go rabid on Ryder. Always knew you were a bit off the rails, but this is beyond the pale, even for you…”
There’s a dangerous glint in her eyes. “I guess the fact that you’re still defending him means he hasn’t told you.”
“Told us what?” Aiden asks lowly.
“Lacey—” I warn.
She laughs again, reveling in the drama. “Oh? You don’t want me to tell them?”
“This isn’t the time or the place,” I snap.
“No, I think I want to hear this,” Lincoln says, dropping his hold on Lacey and stepping to her side, his eyes narrowing on mine. “What the hell is she talking about, Ryder?”
I’m silent as all three of them turn to face me.
“Lacey is just stirring up shit.” My throat works, swallowing the lump of regret stuck there, blocking my airway. “Nothing is set in stone yet, so I was waiting to tell you—”
“Waiting till the last minute. How brave,” Lacey sneers. “Did you honestly think you could just cut me out and I wouldn’t care? That you could do this gig without me, singmygoddamn songs, and I wouldn’t find out?” Her voice goes up an octave. “Did you seriously believe you could call Clay and try to renegotiate the terms behind my fucking back?!”
“Yes,” I growl. “I did call him. I’ve been trying to fix the messyoumade by agreeing to all kinds of shit you had no business agreeing to alone!”
“What’s left to discuss? They are dead-freaking-weight. I know it, Clay knows it, hell, I bet eventheyknow it!” Her hands flail out at Linc and Aiden. “The only person who can’t seem to accept it is you, Ryder!”