Page 101 of The Encore Effect

Logan held a hand out to Beckett, helping back to an upright position. “You good?” he asked.

Beckett grunted, his knee angrily protesting the extra movement. “Thanks.”

Derek emerged from the wings of the arena, shuffling a stack of folders. “All set, Lana?”

“Yeah, I think these boys will do alright,” Lana teased, patting Zach on the back. “We just need to run through the trap door drop a few times.”

“Won’t be necessary,” Derek said. “We’re pulling it.”

“It’s the single most posted-about moment in the entire show,” Nico protested.

“So my wife tells me,” Derek deadpanned. “It’s cut. Too much of a liability, especially with you four already adjusting for one less person on stage. We can’t afford any more accidents.”

Logan wiped the sweat from his forehead with a small black towel. “What are we doing instead?”

“Blackout,” Derek said. “John adjusted the lighting cues this morning.” He glanced around at the members of the band, his eyes lingering on Beckett’s scowl. “I know it’s disappointing.”

“There’s a lot that’s disappointing lately,” Zach said, throwing down his own sweat-soaked towel with more force than necessary.

“Hopefully this is the last thing, then.” Derek handed them each a folder.

“What’s this?” Logan asked.

“Conduct agreements. For the remainder of the tour—”

“All two cities of it?” Nico asked.

“—you’re agreeing not to get on stage, attend a rehearsal, or conduct an interview or other official appearance while under the influence of anything stronger than an Advil.”

Beckett scanned the brief legal document, scrawled his signature on the bottom line and handed the folder back to Derek. “That all?”

Derek collected the signatures from the other members of the band. “That’s all. Get some rest before tonight’s show.”

Nico, Logan, and Zach headed off the stage, teasing Lana the whole way about how hard she’d worked them that morning, but Derek stepped in front of Beckett, blocking his exit. Beckett arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Derek to say what was on his mind.

“I saw Jackson this morning,” Derek said at last.

Beckett huffed a laugh. “He must have loved that.”

“I know you don’t believe this right now, but I care about him. About all of you.”

Beckett did believe it; it was just hard to feel it when Derek was the one wielding the consequences of all their bad decisions.

“Have you heard from her?” Derek asked.

Beckett scraped his hand through his hair. “This morning after she landed. She said she’s staying with Jo.”

Derek flashed a wry smile. “She’s in good company. My wife isn’t too happy with me right now either.”

“She’ll forgive you.”

Derek nodded. “So will Kat.” He tilted his head off stage in the direction Beckett’s bandmates had gone. “So will they.”

When Beckett got back to the green room, the rest of his bandmates were already there picking over the catering table piled high with pierogies and kielbasa. The joking and teasing fell silent as Beckett pushed into the room, Nico shooting him an apologetic glance before spearing a piece of kielbasa with his fork.

Beckett leaned against the wall to take some of the pressure off his knee. “Look, I’m shit at this, okay?” he said. Zach eyed him warily over his plate. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

Logan glanced at Zach, as if confirming that he could act as their spokesperson, before turning to address Beckett. “We understand why you wanted to keep it a secret.”