Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
More good news? The words don’t even make sense to me at this point. How can there be more good news?
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I’ve been looking at the numbers from the concert last night. With regard to merchandise, we’ve almost broken even.”
“That’s great for the first night.”
“No,” Brock says. “You’re not understanding me. After just one night—one concert—you sold enough merch to pay me back for my entire investment. All that’s left is my two percent, and that won’t be calculated until the end of the tour. But other than the two percent, it’s all profit from here on out, dude.”
Again my jaw drops. And not because Brock called me “dude.”
How can this all be happening?
How can all these people be on my side?
Seems I’ve had to work my ass off for every little thing I’ve gotten, and once our big break came, I thought it was ruined.
I thought it was ruined because that’s how Jesse Pike’s life goes. Jesse Pike is not Brock Steel. Or Donny Steel. Things don’t go Jesse Pike’s way all the time.
But it’s not the end.
Things are still going our way, despite the fact that I got distracted last night with Brianna.
I can’t take that chance again.
No more distractions.
“We’re thinking,” Rory says, “that it might be better for Dragon to stay here. Recuperate fully. And then join us in Paris. We can use Jett’s drummer until then.”
“I can’t leave Dragon here alone,” I say.
Rory reaches toward me and places her hand on my arm. “He needs a few days to heal, Jess. To detox from the drugs.”
“I… I don’t know. I have to talk to his doctors. To him.”
“There’s no time to get back to the hospital today,” Rory says. “We’ve got to meet the new drummer and practice. We’re running out of time.”
My sister’s right, of course. But someone has to be there when Dragon wakes up.
Somebody who doesn’t have anything else to do.
Maddie.
Maddie and Brianna.
Chapter Six
Brianna
“I feel so useless,” Maddie says to me.
The two of us are back in our room, and we’re not sure what to do with ourselves.
We saw the big sites on the guided tour, and we spent some time in museums and strolling the streets of London by ourselves. We didn’t get our meat pie on Fleet Street, but I couldn’t eat now.
We haven’t done much shopping either. Not that I’m a huge shopper, and neither is Maddie. Maybe she would be if she had more money.
None of it really matters. The last time I went shopping with a purpose was to buy the dragon belt buckle for Jesse for Christmas. So yeah, I’m not feeling the urge to shop.
Maddie’s phone buzzes, and her eyebrows rise. “It’s Jesse. He wants to talk to the two of us. He and Rory both.”
My heart races just at Jesse’s name.
But I draw in a deep breath, try to relax it back into a normal rhythm. Jesse’s not mine. I can’t let him be distracted by me anymore.
“Okay,” I say, willing my voice not to shake.
“Oh my God.” Maddie beams. “They want us to go to Jett Draconis’s suite.”
I say nothing. I have no words.
Maddie taps on her phone. “I’m telling them we’ll be right there. Do you know where Donny and Callie are?”
“I don’t. Probably in their room.”
“All right. We didn’t make any plans with them today anyway. Let’s just go to Jett’s suite, I guess.”
I take a quick look in the mirror. It doesn’t really matter what I look like. Jesse and I are over. I’ll never be able to forgive myself for taking him away from Dragon last night.
I look fine. My hair is in a ponytail, and I’m wearing regular old jeans, a hoodie, and my walking sneakers. I don’t have any makeup on except for a little bit of lip tint.
And again…
It doesn’t matter.
I follow Maddie through the eating area to the elevators, and we ascend to the top floor where Jett’s suite is.
Maddie knocks on the door, and I stand slightly behind her.
I feel like a shadow this morning. Like a part of me is missing. I’ll just have to learn to live without it.
To my surprise, Brock opens the door. “Hey, Bree, Maddie. Come on in.”
Jett Draconis is there with his wife, Heather. Rory sits on the couch, and Jesse—gorgeous Jesse—is sitting in a chair. He looks over his shoulder, his gaze meeting mine.
Then he looks away.
But in that split second, I saw the guilt in his sunken dark eyes, the regret and the consternation.
“You two know everyone here, don’t you?” Brock asks.
“Yeah, of course,” Maddie says. “Jett, Heather, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Good to see you two,” Jett says. “I want to apologize to both of you for Zane’s behavior last night.”
I stare at Jett. God…this means everyone in the room knows what Maddie and I almost did. I look to the floor, hoping a giant hole will appear and swallow me up. I say nothing, and to my surprise, Maddie speaks.