Nobody Falls for the Opening Act (Break the Rules Book 2)

Chapter 42

Feeling violated and thoroughly shook, we all make our way back into the hotel. The lobby is busy with plenty coming and going, and I can’t help but suspect every single one of them.

Any of them could be working for The Electrics. Or even Midnite Music.

Addison steps in front of me, her eyes squinting playfully. “Stop that,” she says.

“Stop what?”

“You look paranoid.”

“I am paranoid,” I say. “Aren’t you?”

She glances around the lobby and shrugs. “A little.”

“Pretty typical night on the road, then?” I joke.

“Actually... kind of.” She chuckles. “Everyone gets a stalker or a weird groupie, eventually. Just ask Bronson.”

I sigh. “Maybe I will.”

As I scan the lobby again, I look into the hotel bar and see August sitting on the corner stool alone. His white shirt is untucked and a little wrinkled, his tie hanging loosely about his shoulders.

My stomach clenches.

“What?” Addison asks as she follows my gaze.

“I have another stop to make on my apology tour,” I say, full of regret.

“Want me to come with?” she offers. “Give you some backup?”

“No,” I answer, standing up tall. “I should do it alone.”

Addison nods. “All right. I have a stop I gotta make, too.” She raises our clasped hands and kisses my knuckles. “Catch up later?”

“Catch up later.”

She steps in and offers me her lips. I happily kiss her, cupping her beautiful face as memories of last night flood my mind. And this morning.

“Good luck,” she says as she steps back.

“Thank you.”

She walks off, leaving to hop on the elevator with the others.

I look into the bar and exhale hard.

Here we go.

I force myself forward, ready and willing to prostrate myself completely. I don’t know how I’m supposed to continue on this tour without August, my best friend. My manager. One of the biggest cheerleaders I’ve ever had.

Walking into the bar, I come to a stop a few stools down from his, expecting him to look up or sense me. But he doesn’t. He continues looking down into the bottom of his pint glass, his eyes full of thought.

“August,” I say.

He looks up. “Oh, hey, Harvey,” he says, noticing me. “How goes it?”

“I, uh...” I point at the empty stool beside him. “May I sit?”

“Sure.”

I slide onto the stool and sit up straight. “Listen, August, I need to apologize. I’ve been a real asshole lately, especially to you. I wanted to say that I’m really sorry.”

August nods. “All right.”

“I was an idiot,” I add. “I let my... fanboy boner get the best of me. It turned me stupid, but it won’t happen again. I swear it.”

I wait for him to respond, but he says nothing.

“I’m sorry, August,” I say. “If, uh... if you’re still interested in working together, I’m in. Honestly, I have no idea how I’ll even do this without you.”

Still, he doesn’t reply.

I tilt forward, trying to get a better look at his face. It’s pale white, his brow carrying a thin layer of sweat. “August?” I ask. “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” He jerks his head up. “Yeah, man. I’m good. I’m in.”

“You are?” I ask, hopeful but cautious.

“Of course. Yeah. Absolutely. Let’s, uh… let’s get to work!”

I eye him closer as he slides off his stool. “August?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?” I ask again.

“I’m fine,” he blurts, then clears his throat. “I’m great. You?”

“I’m okay,” I say. “Great, actually. Addison and I are back together.”

“Hey! That is great. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Knew you two kids would work it out.” He pinches the edges of his tie, thinking to adjust it, but ultimately lets it hang. “Let’s go do this thing.”

“This thing?” I ask.

“You have a show, right?”

“Yeah. In…” I check the clock on the wall. “Ten hours.”

“Oh.” August glances around. “Right.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask. He doesn’t answer. “I’m actually surprised you’re still here. I thought you’d be well on your way back to Chicago by now.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna leave,” he says. “But then I didn’t. I decided to stick it out and have a nice drink at the bar and I slept with Chrissy last night, but I’m good! I’m great! Let’s get to work!”

I shoot off my stool to block his path. “Wait, what?” I ask, blinking twice. “What did you just say?”

“Let’s get to work!” he says. “Hey, we’ve got a show in ten hours!”

“You slept with Chrissy?” I ask.

“No!” he says, his hands perched on his hips. “Yes. Maybe. Come on.”

He pushes forward. I stop him again.

“August, hold on.” I pull him back to the bar. “Come back. Sit down. Tell me everything.”

He obeys reluctantly, his entire body slouching. “Aw, man,” he says. “I wish I could. Even I’m not sure what the hell happened.”

“Slow down, Augie. Start from the beginning. You were going to leave town?”

“Yes.”

“And then what happened?”

“Well...” He scratches his forehead. “I packed up my shit. I was on my way out the door when I stopped and thought I’d let the girls know I was leaving.” He cringes. “Should have just left.”

I flag the bartender at the far end of the bar and silently gesture for a refill on his drink. “Then what happened?”

“Then I went to Chrissy’s room. I told her you and I had a falling out and that I was heading home. She asked me to wait and invited me in, wanted to know what was going on.”

I nod along. “And then?”

“Then... she ordered up a bottle of whiskey.”

I deflate. “Oh, Christ.”

He sinks further. “It was the good shit, too, man.”

“What happened next?” I ask, but I already know.

“What do you think?” he says. “We drank it. We talked. She told me stories about previous tours she went on, all the bands she’s worked for.” He chuckles. “Man, Cobraville got up to some wild shit.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.”

“And then... you know. The sun set. The lights dimmed. She gave me some advice — some really nice advice. And I felt better. I felt good. She felt good. We felt good. And then, we… started kissing.”

“You kissed her or she kissed you?”

“Both, I guess. And then...”

August stares forward, completely shell-shocked, and lets out a harsh groan.

“It was that bad?” I ask.

“No, Harvey.” He doesn’t blink. “It was that good.”

I chuckle. “If it was so good, then why are you sitting here alone in a hotel bar looking like you just got mugged?”

“Because it changed my worldview,” he says, his face somehow paler. “I mean, I thought I was all about the younger girls. Legal ones, obviously. But young. I used to laugh at guys who’d go on and on about cougar this and MILF that, but Harvey...” He stares at me, his eyes wild with fresh knowledge. “I get it now. I understand completely the appeal of an older woman. I mean…” He laughs. “You get it. You’ve been here.”

“No—” I shake my head, not wanting to relive that story twice in twenty-four hours. “Chrissy is thirty years old,” I point out. “She’s not that much older than you are.”

“But she’s experienced,” he says. “She’s got some miles on her.”

“Please never say those words to her,” I say, glancing over our shoulders.

“She did things to my body I didn’t know were even possible!” he says, jerking excitedly, not noticing that the bartender has come back with his fresh drink. They set it down with squinting eyes and leave without saying a word. “Yeah, judge me when you’re perfect, pal,” August spits at them.

I touch his arm. “Calm down, August.”

“She sent me, Harvey. I literally felt my soul leave my body at times.”

“I’m... happy you enjoyed yourself.”

“I didn’t think it could get any better, but then she stuck her finger up my ass and then?—”

“Augie. Stop. I don’t need to know all the details.”

“I came.” He shakes his head, his eyes wide as quarters. “I came so hard, it was like she reached in and wrung me out like a sponge.”

“August! Stop talking.”

“I can’t, man! I’m really freaking out about this!”

“Answer me this: last night was consensual, right?” I ask.

“Enthusiastically so, yes,” he says, nodding.

“Do you regret it?”

He takes a moment, then says, “No.”

“Then, it’ll be okay.” I pat his back. “Have you talked to Chrissy about this yet?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know if I can face her again. I mean, I whimpered. I whimpered during sex. She made me whimper like a bitch.” His eyes glaze. “She made me her bitch. I’m her bitch!”

“You are not her bitch, August,” I say, failing to smother my laughter.

August drops his head to the bar with a loud thump. “Christ, what am I going to do?” he says. “I have to work with this woman. How am I supposed to look her in the eye again?”

I stand up from my stool and shake him back up. “August, I think you’re overreacting here,” I say. “I mean, you had a second sexual awakening. I’m sure it’s common.”

“You think she awakened something in me?” he asks, terrified.

“Didn’t she?”

“Eh. Probably, yeah.”

“I think the best thing you can do is talk to her about it. Clear the air at the very least.”

“If she’ll even talk to me again,” he says, sighing hard. “I kinda... snuck out of her suite this morning before she woke up.”

“Talk to her,” I say. “You’ll feel better.”

“I hope so.” He takes a quick sip of his new drink before sliding the rest of it away and standing up. “Thanks, Harv.”

I hold out my fist. “Delta Xi?”

A smile touches the corner of his mouth. “Delta Xi.”

We fist bump once.

“I’m sorry, August,” I say. “If you still want to go back home, I’ll understand.”

“Nah.” He shrugs. “I’m over it.”

“You are? Why?”

His smile grows. “Oddly enough, it was something Chrissy said.”

“Oh, yeah? What’d she say?”

“Just manager stuff. Don’t worry about it. But...” He narrows his eyes at me. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t,” I say. “I promise.”

“Now...” He throws his arm over my shoulders and we start toward the exit. “Tell me what happened at Dade’s. What’d I miss since last night?”

I sigh.

Where do I even fucking start?