Page 50 of Bad Habits
“Except you do need her.” That much was obvious. I’d never seen my buddy so messed up.
“Yeah, I do.” He pinched his lips together before scrubbing his face with his hands. “But I can’t have her.” He stared at me. “Probably one of the few things I can’t have… and she’s the only thing I want, man.”
I wished there was something I could say or do to help him. I considered Brook a friend, but I wasn’t sure running interference for him would help. When that girl made up her mind about something no one was changing it, and I couldn’t believe Reed had been stupid enough to test her.
“Enough about me.” He cleared his throat. “What about you? Still having fun playing the field?”
Cece was adamant we keep our relationship under wraps, but Reed lived in our world, he understood how important discretion was and I could trust him not to let anything slip. “Uh, actually no, I’m off the market.”
His jaw dropped. “You’re shittin’ me. Since when?”
“It’s a recent thing.”
He whistled. “She must be something special for you to commit. Is it serious?”
I nodded. “It’s Cece.” I knew that would say it all.
“Cece?” His smile spread before he shook his head. “Man, I should have known. Of course it’s Cece.”
I chuckled. “What’s that mean? You’re not surprised?”
“If anybody was gonna get to you I knew it would be her.” He shook his hand out. “Dude, that is one sexy little spitfire. A little too much like my Brook, if you wanna know the truth. Be careful, Knox. You best be keepin’ it in your pants if you don’t wanna lose it.”
I laughed before setting my guitar down and walking to the stage. I jumped up, letting my booted feet hang over the edge when I sat down. “Cheating on her? Not even an option. There are some things you don’t risk for anything. Cece’s one of ‘em.”
He eased off his stool and crossed the floor, his cowboy boots echoing off the hard surface. “You’re a hell of a lot smarter than I am, I’ll give you that.”
I grinned. “Coulda told you that, dumbass.”
His smile was faint when he said, “Take it from me, Knox. Do right by her, ‘cause you don’t wanna be where I am right now. It sucks.”
Even though it probably wouldn’t help, I intended to call my old friend, Brook, ‘cause it sure couldn’t hurt. And I knew Reed would do the same for me.
* * *
I was alone in my bus, scrolling my texts from my baby. I hadn’t been able to talk to her because she hadn’t left the ICU since she got there and all the machines prevented her from placing calls. She promised me she’d call just as soon as she could. In the meantime, I’d made sure the hospital knew Chee should get the best possible medical attention and I wanted all the bills for his care to come to me. It was the least I could do, since I couldn’t be there to hold her hand.
I sighed before scrolling my contacts and finding Brook’s number. She worked for a promoter and she and Reed met when her firm was hired to market one of his tours. She’d done some work for me in the past too, so I was pretty confident she’d at least take my call.
“Brooklyn Taylor.”
I smiled at the sound of her voice. Clearly my number had come up unknown, which meant I was probably the last person she expected to hear from. “Hey pretty lady, it’s Knox.”
“Knox! It’s so great to hear your voice. How’ve you been? How’s Cece?”
Cece and Brooklyn became fast friends when she helped promote one of our first headlining tours. I knew Cece would tell Brook about our relationship when the time was right, so I said, “Uh, actually she’s not on the road with me right now. Her dad had a heart attack so she needed to be with him.”
“Oh no! I’ll have to call her, see if there’s anything I can do.”
“I doubt there is, but I’m sure she’d love to hear your voice.”
Brooklyn was a sweetheart, which made me question my buddy’s sanity all over again. No way would he ever find anyone better, who loved him more than Brook.
“So, how’s the tour going? I would have loved to work on it, but I’ve got my hands full right now, so they assigned it to Calvin, I think. He’s treatin’ you right though?”
Brooklyn was a Georgia girl and her sweet southern drawl always made me miss home. My mother was from Georgia too and Brook’s lilt reminded me it had been too damn long since I connected with my mama. I could only imagine what mama would say when she heard about me and Cece. She’d be booking the caterers and scouting venues, no doubt.
“Yeah, no complaints.” I didn’t get involved with event promo, but knew if the guy wasn’t doing a good job I would’ve heard about it from my team. Sold-out shows and happy fans were the name of the game and we had those.
