“I think things went to shit with them, but this wouldn’t be the first time he changed his mind.”
He makes the rounds of the room to talk to everyone. When he gets to Cilla and Brody, who are a few feet away from us talking to Maggie in wardrobe, Cilla stops her conversation. Holding up her hand, she blurts, “So which one is this?”
Realizing his mistake, Sin attempts to lead the blonde away from the situation. She shrugs out of his grip and faces Cilla. “I’m sorry, what?”
Cilla cocks her head to the side, sizing the other woman up. “I met you and your roommate in the lobby last night, right?” She snorts. “Did not think you’d be around tonight.”
“I don’t think we’ve met,” the blonde states in a cool voice. Her chest is rising and falling quickly, and beside of her, Sin’s face is unreadable. He’s about to lose it. “I’m Zoe Whitlow—one of Sinjin’s friends from back home.”
Sienna sucks in a sharp intake of air just as I get up from my seat.
“Give me a sec,” I tell Sienna. She’s nodding as I take off toward Sinjin, and when I reach them, instead of speaking to him or Zoe, I place my hand on the middle of Cilla’s back.
“What are you doing?” she demands as I lead her from the room and into the hallway.
“Keeping you from making a bigger ass of yourself.”
She struggles to lean against me, and I’m surprised when I don’t smell any alcohol on her breath. And I’m disappointed too. She knew exactly what she was doing back in there with Sin. “Ask Pepper to leave yet?” she asks as I grip her shoulders to hold her at bay.
“Afraid not.”
“Then what the hell do you want?” she shouts.
I lean back angrily. Cilla wasn’t always like this, but the last several years she’s gotten worse. Bitter. When I speak, I grind the words out, “Stay the f**k away from Sinjin tonight.”
She’s mastered the art of bullshitting so well that she’s able to quickly slap a blank look on her face—from her vacant bluish-green eyes to her parted lips. “What?” She blinks a few times.
I don’t have the patience to do this shit with her today.
“I’m done with you,” I say.
I drop my hands away from her shoulders and turn to leave, but she digs her fingers into my shirt. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Removing her hand, I sneer at her. “I don’t know how to make it any more clear. Personally. Professionally. I can’t do this shit with you.”
She swallows hard and rakes her hands over her face. “All because I made a little joke and screwed around with Sinjin’s little girlfriend?”
“Because if not every man in the room that you’ve ever f**ked doesn’t throw themselves at your feet, you get all butt hurt. Because you enjoy misery. I think that’s the worse part because it reminds me of my ex-wife.”
Tears pool at the inside corners of her eyes, but I don’t buy her act for a second. “Look, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t tell me that.” I jab my finger toward the entrance of the room. Even from out here, I can see that Zoe’s not standing as close to Sinjin. That he looks like he’s just a moment away from a breakdown that would set him back months, years. “Take your destructive ass in there and tell it to him or her.”
She gives me that skittish look she gets whenever she’s confronted, and I almost think she’s going to do the right thing and speak to Sinjin to make everything right. But instead, she spins around on her heels and stalks off in the other direction toward the dressing room she used earlier tonight.
“Tell Tyler to text me when my bus is ready to roll out,” she shouts.
Chapter 16
Sienna
“Okay, spill, how much of that shit have you done already?” My friend Ashley demands as she pops open a beer with the bottle opener on her keychain.
It’s Saturday night, and I’ve been back in Nashville since yesterday afternoon. Ashley had texted me right at 10:30—while I was in the shower—to ask if I wanted to come to karaoke night at her parents downtown bar, The Beacon. Since Gram had gone to bed an hour before, and I haven’t seen Ashley in a few weeks, I immediately accepted the invitation. After the day I’ve had, I needed to do this.
I had worked for twelve hours only to come home and find that not only had Lucas’s ex sent me a one-worded letter to my house, but I also had an email from one of my clients asking me to cancel all of her upcoming appointments indefinitely.
“Sienna?” Ashley says, bringing my thoughts away from the note and back into the crowded bar.
“How much of what shit?” I ask, mustering a teasing grin.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” When I say nothing, she groans and rests her chin on her fist. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you haven’t done any of them.”
I think of the list she gave to me before I left Nashville a few weeks ago and how many items I’ve scratched off so far. “I have about four or five to go—and no, I’m not doing a body shot off of Cal.” When Ashley’s lips purse into a thin, disappointed line, I hold out my hands in defense. “I think I’ll get through them before the tour is over. I mean, there are three weeks left. And don’t forget, they’ll be here in twelve days.”
Just as I hope, mentioning Your Toxic Sequel’s upcoming show in Nashville shifts the conversation. Ashley casts me an excited grin. “I have a countdown on my phone.” She shakes her head. “Ugh, I know. Pathetic.”