“I assume that didn’t go well.”

She climbed into the passenger side of the car, shooting eye-daggers at his giddy young companion, while he walked around the car and slid behind the wheel.

“You okay?”

“Drive,” she bellowed, fighting angry tears.

“Jess?”

“Just drive, okay? Drive!”

He started the car and pulled into traffic. “Where am I driving?”

“I don’t care. Just not here.” She hit the dashboard with both fists. “That ass. That unbelievable ass. How dare he? How dare he?”

Sed squeezed her knee. “What happened?”

She couldn’t tell him. She just couldn’t. “Nothing.”

“Something happened. Do you have any chance of getting your scholarship back?”

“Not anymore.” Her head started swimming. She knew she was hyperventilating, but she couldn’t calm down.

“Why not?”

“Because I refused to suck the dean’s cock, that’s why not!” She drew in a deep breath, hoping to retrieve the words she’d unthinkingly spewed.

Sed slammed on the brakes. The seat belt dug into Jessica’s shoulder and then she banged her head on the headrest. Angry horns blared as cars swerved around them.

“What?”

Sed did a U-turn into oncoming traffic. More horns blared.

“Are you trying to kill us?” Jessica screamed, gripping the door handle with both hands, her eyes squeezed shut.

“I do have murder on my mind at the moment. Yes.”

“Sed, don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

He pulled to a halt in front of the building Jessica had recently vacated, illegally parked in the middle of the street with two tires on the center median, and opened his door. Jessica grabbed his arm before he could climb from the car.

“Don’t make it worse. I took care of it, okay? He won’t bother me again. I told him to fuck off.” Oh my God, I told the dean to fuck off. I’m so screwed.

“I just want to make sure your rejection sinks in. I think my fist will do the trick.” He cracked his knuckles, the muscles in his forearms straining against his skin.

“Sed, you can’t.”

“Why not? The prick has it coming to him.”

“Maybe he does—”

“Thank you.”

“—but I don’t want you to fight my battles. When you brought me here and let me go in by myself, I thought you finally understood. But you don’t understand at all.”

“What I really don’t understand is why men think they can talk to you like that.”

“He knew I was stripping in Vegas,” she said. “And he saw our video, Sed. Oh God. They’ve all seen it.” She couldn’t catch her breath.

“That shouldn’t matter.” He slammed his door and shifted into first gear. The tires squealed as the car shot forward.

“Why are you driving like a maniac?”

“Because I’m pissed and you won’t let me hit anyone.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” she murmured. “You always overreact.”

“Do you really think I’m overreacting?” Sed slammed both palms into the steering wheel. “Some sonuvabitch tells my girlfriend to suck his dick and I’m overreacting!”

“Except I’m not your girlfriend.”

He growled, his eyes narrow, jaw taut. “Of course you aren’t. How could I forget?”

Sed waited for the first commercial to interrupt the ball game before he took the beer out of Trey’s hand and set it on the side table. Trey took his eyes off the TV to gape at Sed.

“How long has it been since you picked up your guitar?” Sed asked.

Trey shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Can’t play it anyway.”

“You’re never going to play again if you don’t try. Do you expect to wake up one morning and be back to one hundred percent with no effort?”

“Lay off, Sed. I thought you invited me over for a beer and to watch a ball game, not to bitch at me.”

“Someone has to bitch at you. Lots of people rely on us for a paycheck. How are we going to pay them if we keep canceling shows? And how long do you think our fans will back us if we keep turning them away?”

“Our fans are awesome, Sed. Loyal ’til the end.” He grabbed his beer and chugged it in several swallows.

“If we keep canceling tour dates, the end is going to come a lot sooner than you think. No concerts. No new album. Do you want this to end? We worked our fucking asses off to get this far. You gonna let it go without a fight?”

“I am fighting.”

“I don’t see you fighting. I see you pussing out.”

Jessica wandered out of the bathroom, drying her hair with her towel. Her one towel. “Are we going out tonight? Or can I lounge around in shorts?”

“I vote for that outfit,” Trey said.

Jessica peeked out from under her towel. “Shit,” she muttered and wrapped the towel around her naked body.

“No worries. I’ve seen it before. Me and a couple million other people.”

Jessica shook her head at him. “Screw you, Trey.”

“If you insist.”

“Did I forget to mention that I invited Trey over?” Sed scratched his head as he looked up at Jessica from his recliner.

“Yeah, you forgot to mention that.” She headed for the bedroom. “I’m going to go slip into something more… more.”

Unable to take his eyes off her slim thighs, Sed watched her until she disappeared in his bedroom and then turned his attention back to Trey. What had they been talking about? Oh yeah. “You know I wouldn’t push you if I didn’t think you could handle it.”

“Bullshit.”

Okay, he would. Someone had to. “Have you even been going to physical therapy?”

Trey scowled. “I go.”

“Let me guess how that goes. You flirt with your therapist for an hour and then you go home.”

He looked at the ceiling and grinned. “Maybe.”

“It’s obvious that you don’t care about the band anymore. What do you think I should do about that?”

Trey’s recently acquired tan lightened a shade. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means?”

“Are you considering replacing me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you thought it.” Trey pressed the leg rest of the recliner down and stood.

“How long are we supposed to wait for you, Trey? You tell me.”

Trey headed for the stairs. Sed launched himself from his chair and took off after him.

“Don’t run away,” Sed demanded. “I need to know if you’re done. By the amount of effort you’re putting into your recovery, I’d say you don’t think the band is worth it.”

Trey turned and shoved Sed with all his strength. Sed stumbled backward and hit his lower back against the pool table. He pulled himself upright, giving Trey a wide berth.

“You know I don’t think that!” Trey yelled. “The band means everything to me. Everything.”

“Prove it.”

Trey shook his head slightly, turned and took the stairs two at a time. He stormed out of the condo and slammed the front door behind him. Sed took a deep breath and rubbed his face with both hands.

Jessica appeared at his elbow. “Did I hear yelling? Where did Trey go?”

“He had to go practice his guitar or something.”

“You didn’t bully him, did you?” Jessica’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Me?” He tried on his best innocent expression. “Of course not.”

Backstage a week later, Sed clamped a hand over Trey’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Kind of late to change my mind now, isn’t it?” Trey adjusted his guitar strap into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and then stared at the pick in his left hand. He hadn’t been able to grip it for more than a few days, but he’d called their manager, Jerry, to reschedule tour dates despite everyone’s insistence that he needed more time to recover.

Now they had this sold out show to contend with. A packed venue of fifteen thousand. So Trey was correct, it was too late to change his mind.

“I feel a little rusty,” Brian said. “I hope I remember the set. It’s been almost three weeks since we set foot on a stage and we didn’t have time to rehearse this afternoon.”