Play Me (Jaded Ivory Book 5) Read online

  I brought Aiden over to where Monty and Heath stood.

  “Last one.” Heath pushed the plug into the amplifier. “Hey, Aiden.” He held his hand out when he saw us approach.

  Aiden took it with a smile. “Heath, good to see you again.”

  “Likewise. I saw Violet Obsession is a few bands after us tomorrow night.”

  “We are.” Aiden turned to face Monty. “How’s married life treating you?”

  Monty smirked. “Can’t complain. Allana likes—”

  “Actually, before you head down a long, dark path of too much information, Aiden just told me something I think you’d all be interested to know.”

  Heath’s brows drew together.

  “More interesting than my sexcapades?”

  “For fuck’s sake, Monty.” Heath shook his head, but Aiden just laughed and peeked at me out of the corner of his eye.

  “It’s gonna be an adventure.” Aiden smirked.

  “What is?” Heath asked, ignoring Monty’s snicker at his own joke.

  “Let’s just say we’re going to be seeing a lot of Violet Obsession in a few months.”

  Both Heath and Monty stared at me, neither having a clue what we were talking about.

  Aiden smirked. “We’re heading out on the road with you for a double headliner tour.”

  Monty’s eyes widened. “No shit.”

  I chuckled. “That’s exactly what I said.”

  “I’m liking the sound of this, but I’m surprised Pure Beat and LiteStar were willing to work together on it,” Heath said.

  Aiden lifted a shoulder. “It’s easy when LiteStar now owns Pure Beat and picked up all of our contracts.”

  “You’re kidding.” Heath’s mouth dropped open.

  “Nope. Not at all.” Aiden took his phone from his pocket. “Right, boys, catching up was great, but apparently Miles is having a problem I need to deal with.”

  Miles was the keyboardist for Violet Obsession.

  “Well, we have lots of time to spend together on the road.” I clasped Aiden on the shoulder. “We’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

  “That you will.” Aiden said his goodbyes and gave Mari and Sawyer a wave on his way down the stairs.

  Monty rubbed his hands together. “This tour is going to be a shitload of fun. A whole new crew of people to corrupt.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I grabbed my guitar from the stand. “Let’s worry about tomorrow night’s show first.” Then I picked up his bass and handed it to him.

  He lifted the strap over his head. “Not gonna let you rain on my parade. I’ll dream about the fun and still play every note right.”

  Of course he could play them without paying much attention. I would expect nothing less when you wrote half of the songs on the set list.

  “Smug bastard,” I muttered, moving to my spot on the stage.

  Mari came forward and Heath walked over, handing her a piece of paper. “Got the set list?”

  “Thanks.” She set it on the table next to her.

  I glanced over at Sawyer and nodded for him to start. The first song in the set had a pretty heavy drum intro. The next two songs went smoothly. By the forth song, I noticed a problem.

  Mari sang the last word, and as we played the final notes, I knew something didn’t sound right. When the song ended, Monty set down his bass and walked over.

  “One of your strings is off.”

  Apparently, I hadn’t been the only one to hear it. “That’s what I thought, but I tuned it right before we started.”

  Monty held out a hand to me. “Let me see it.”

  Normally, I’d argue with him, but if there was any of us who could tune it perfectly by ear, it would be Monty.

  He strummed the strings, turning the tuning pegs. One twist of the middle peg on the right-hand side and I heard a pop. The string had snapped.

  “Well, that explains it,” he said.

  “Damn, I didn’t think the strings were that old. I feel like I just replaced them.”

  He shrugged and handed me back the guitar. “Probably a faulty string. Do you have any in the equipment truck?”

  “Yeah.” I set the guitar on the stand. “Let me grab it and we can get it on.”

  “I’ll tune it as soon as you’re ready, but first I’m going to find a snack.”

  I rolled my eyes and turned to look for Heath. He was behind the drum kit, talking to Sawyer. “Heath, do you have the keys to the van?”

  He pulled them out of his pocket and approached me. “Yeah, I’ll walk over with you. I need to grab a wire. One is starting to fray.”

  I started down the steps on the side of the stage when something crunched beneath me and my body fell to the left, but my ankle rolled to the right and underneath me as I landed on the ground. A loud pop sounded and pain shot straight up my leg.

  “Motherfucker,” I screamed, falling to my back to pull my leg out from under me.

  “Jesus Christ.” Heath appeared at my side. Somehow, he’d managed to make it down from the stage without falling on his ass. Sawyer and Monty were standing at the edge of the stage, staring down.

  “What the hell happened?” Monty asked as he sat on the edge and slipped down to the ground.

  Heath pointed behind us. “Stairs freaking collapsed.”

  “I’m calling Reagan now,” Sawyer said with the phone already to his ear.

  “Goddamn, that hurts,” I groaned, holding on to my ankle to keep it from moving. I glanced up and saw Heath wince. He crouched down next to me and carefully lifted the bottom of my pant leg. Every little movement felt like knives stabbing into my leg.

  “Let’s get your shoe off. That shit is swelling fast.”

  “Holy shit.” Monty’s brows hit his hairline as he stared at my leg.

  I glanced down and had to do a double take. My ankle was closing in on the size of my calf. Gritting my teeth, I pushed on the ground, attempting to stand. Pain radiated up my leg. My head spun and my stomach churned.

  “Shit,” I panted, clenching my eyes shut, trying to breathe through the pain. When it had receded enough that I didn’t think I would puke, I opened my eyes to see the three guys watching me.

  Heath shook his head. “I think it’s time we called for an ambulance.”

  “I don’t need a damn ambulance. One of you can drive me to the hospital.”

  Monty crossed his arms over his chest. “Aw, hell no, man. You looked like you were about to puke your brains out and you barely moved an inch.”

  “I really don’t need this today,” I groaned.

  “Better safe than sorry,” Sawyer said. “You need to make sure it’s not broken.”

  “Fuck.” I pounded my fist on the ground. “We have to play tomorrow night.”

  “All the more reason to get you to the hospital,” Heath argued and turned to look over his shoulder at Sawyer. “Call for the ambulance.”

  4

  Jackson

  “Jesus Christ.” I leaned my head against the stretcher. “I did not need a fucking ambulance.”

  Heath raised a brow and glanced at my ankle, which was wrapped between two long red plastic boards.

  “And how were we supposed to get you to a hospital?”

  “Drive me there?” I said, the sarcasm dripping from my voice.

  “I wasn’t carrying your ass to the car or into the hospital.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can walk.”

  “Not likely.” He pointed to my swollen ankle. “It’s the same size as my thigh at this point.” A bit of an exaggeration, but he had a point, my ankle was twice its normal size.

  I smacked my hand down on the side of the stretcher. “This can’t be fucking happening. We’re supposed to play the charity concert tomorrow night. A broken ankle is not what I need right now.”

  “We’ll deal with it. Even if we have to get you a stool and a chair to rest your foot up on.”

  I moved slightly on the stretcher and fire burned through my le
g, making me clench my teeth together.

  The paramedic looked up from the chart in his hands. “Sorry, man. We’ll be there in about five minutes. They’ll be able to give you something for the pain.”

  “I’m good, don’t worry about it.”

  “Liar,” Heath mumbled under his breath.

  “Shut up, asshole,” I growled at him.

  “I’m not the clumsy ass who tripped going down the stairs.”

  I flipped him off. He knew very well I hadn’t tripped. If I’d let him go down first, his ass would be stuck on the stretcher instead of mine.

  The ambulance slowed and stopped outside of what I could only assume was the emergency room entrance. The back door opened and I wanted to groan at the thought of being wheeled through the ER for a busted-up ankle. Absolutely ridiculous. There were people who had worse problems than me, sitting in the waiting room while I got sent right back because my friends felt like I needed an ambulance ride.

  I wanted to roll my eyes as Heath jumped down and they wheeled the stretcher off. The creak of metal hit my ears as the wheel lowered to the ground.

  The doors slid open and off we went. If it hadn’t been for the throb in my ankle growing worse, I would have refused treatment and gone home to put ice on it. As it was, the pain started to spread into my foot and up my leg.

  Heath followed silently as they pushed me past the desk into a curtained off area. When the guys reached for the sheet to lift me from the stretcher to the bed, I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “I got this.” And before they could argue, I bit the inside of my cheek and used my arms to push myself sideways onto the other bed. No way in hell was I letting them move me around like an invalid anymore.

  The driver shook his head. “Stubborn. I’m going to go find your nurse and have her sign off on the transfer.”

  He walked out and the other guy turned to me. “Good luck. I hope it’s not broken. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow night.”

  Heath reached out a hand to him. “Don’t worry, we’ll play. He’s too stubborn not to.” He handed him a card. “Hand this to the guy at the door. He’ll get you up front.”

  The guy’s eyes rounded. “Thanks! It’s nice to meet you guys.”

  I lifted my hand in a wave. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for the help today.”

  He nodded. “Just doing my job. See you guys around.”

  The paramedic stepped through the door, leaving me and Heath alone.

  “How’s the ankle?” he asked, taking the seat in the corner of the room.

  “Hurts like a motherfucker. Hopefully, they’ll bring me something soon.” I dropped my head against the back of the bed, doing my best to ignore the throbbing pulse in my leg. “Damn, a couple of Advil would be great right about now.”

  “I’ll see what I can do about that.” A familiar female voice drew my attention to the door.

  “Fucking hell. Could this day get any worse?”

  Heath’s gaze snapped from the nurse back to me. “If she’s gonna bring you pain meds, I don’t see the problem.”

  Of course he didn’t. He had no idea the woman with the blond hair in a ponytail was none other than…Megan.

  Her gaze stayed focused on me as she walked over to the bed and answered Heath.

  “I’m pretty sure who I am has more to do with his mood than what drugs I can bring him for the pain.”

  Heath looked back at me and I knew I didn’t have a choice but to introduce her. At least then he’d understand. Megan took hold of my wrist, and I yanked it away only to have her narrow her eyes at me and pick my wrist up again. This time I didn’t fight her, knowing she wouldn’t give up. Her fingers rested on my pulse point and I turned to face Heath.

  I lifted a hand in her direction. “Heath, meet Megan.”

  His eyes rounded to the size of saucers. “Megan? Who’s Megan?”

  Her eyes moved away from mine then, focused on removing the blood pressure cuff from my arm. “That would be me. Although I tried to explain what happened when I ran into him at the movie theater last night.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t need an explanation, Megan. I have my life and you have yours. No need to rehash the past.”

  Heath’s brows drew together. Whatever was going through his head wouldn’t be good for me. The wheels spinning behind his eyes was abundantly obvious.

  When Megan finished taking my vitals and filling out her chart, she pushed the pen into her pocket and hung the clipboard on the end of the bed.

  “I’ll go get the doctor and be back with something for the pain.”

  It was hard to miss the sadness and longing that filled her eyes when she gave me one last look before walking out the door. A look to create sympathy, but I had none. She made her decision seven years ago.

  I glanced over at where Heath had taken a seat again, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the wall.

  “I can see your wheels spinning over there. Whatever you’re thinking, let it go.”

  He stood and walked over to the bed. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what she has to say?”

  “Nope.”

  He studied me for a little too long. “You realize how pissed at her you still are, right?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not pissed, I just don’t give a shit.”

  He laughed humorlessly. “You may not want to admit it, but you’re still pissed as hell. Might do you some good to hear her out.”

  My mind flashbacked to a few years back when he helped Cole get backstage to talk to Mari. “Stop thinking you can get us to talk and everything will be rainbows and fucking unicorns. I’m not Mari.”

  “Maybe not, but like Mari, I think there’s things you need to hear from her.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look how bad we fucked up with Allana and Monty. You already admitted to Allana what Megan did broke your trust in women.”

  “Yeah, but I know better now.”

  Before he could say anything more, there was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in, followed by Megan, who handed me a small cup with two white pills. After popping the pills and chasing them with the cup of water she handed me, I did my best to ignore her presence and focus on what the doctor was saying.

  “Good evening, Mr. Hadden, I’m Dr. Rickett. Want to tell me what happened?”

  While I relayed the story of how I ended up on my ass, he wrapped his hands around the sides of the splint and pressed lightly on the top of my ankle.

  I hissed out as pain shot straight up my leg.

  My knuckles turned white as I twisted them up into the sheets. “That fucking hurts, Doc.”

  He glanced up and moved his hands away from my ankle. “I imagine it does. While I don’t believe it’s broken, with this much swelling, I want to see what the X-ray says before we decide what to do next.”

  He picked up the chart, scribbling something before handing it back to Megan.

  “Let’s get Mr. Hadden an X-ray.” He looked back over at me. “Once we know the extent of the damage, we can determine the next step.”

  He handed the chart to Megan. “I’ll call up now to get him in.”

  “I’ll be back once we have the films.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Rickett,” I said, glaring at Megan.

  He must not have noticed because he smiled and walked out the door.

  “I’ll go call X-ray and make sure they’re ready for us.”

  “Cut the shit, Megan, and get me another nurse.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I’m the one assigned to your case and if this is the only chance I’ll have to get you to listen, I’m gonna hang onto it with both hands.” Rendered speechless for the first time by her attitude, I sat silently as she continued. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to wheel you up to radiology.”

  She spun on her heel and practically stormed out the door. Where did that come from? She’d been meek, almost pleading last night.

  I turned to Heath. “Can you go out t
here and get someone at the desk to switch my nurse?”

  Heath watched me for a minute, then shook his head. “I’m gonna go see if the rest of the band is here yet.”

  I sat forward, wincing with the movement. “Don’t you dare leave me, fucker.”

  “Something tells me you need this. You need to hear what she has to say. I’ll be here when you come back from getting X-rays.”

  Asshole fled the room before I could say a goddamn word. If it hadn’t been for my ankle, I would’ve chased him down and beat his ass.

  Déjà-fucking-vu.

  “I might have been an egotistical dick, but I would never have intentionally destroyed someone else’s property,” Cole pleaded with her.

  “Just their self-esteem,” Mari snapped.

  Why Heath insisted on standing outside the door was beyond me. “Please, Mari. I know I’ve made so many mistakes with you, I don’t even want to count them. At least let me take you to dinner and I can use the time to grovel for every single one of them.”

  “How did you get back here? This place isn’t like the other ones we’ve played. You need a pass to get backstage.”

  Suddenly Heath stepped around the door, leaving me no choice but to follow. “I helped him.”

  “I trusted you,” she whispered, betrayal written all over her face.

  Mari brushed past Cole and went to do the same to me and Heath when Heath stepped in front of her, wrapping his hands around her upper arms.

  “You did and now I’m asking you to keep trusting me.”

  “Please, Mari. Just listen,” I begged of her.

  Karma was a bitch and apparently, she’d come for me tonight. Helping Cole seemed like the right thing to do at the time. He wanted to apologize for everything he’d done to Mari and in the end we’d been right to help him. But now, sitting on the other end of that situation, we were lucky she didn’t punch the two of us. Hell, I kinda wanted to punch myself for all of it.

  I lay back, resigning myself to having to deal with Megan at least until they were done X-raying my ankle. After that, I’d get Monty or Sawyer to fix the nurse problem.

  The throbbing in my ankle slowed and I let my eyes slide closed. How did I end up in this mess?