Insider (Exodus End #1)(35)
Author: Olivia Cunning

“That boy,” she said, nodding at the young Exodus End fan she’d accompanied, “he reminds me a lot of Jeff. I guess that’s why I followed him in here.” She smiled as she watched the kid chatter excitedly with his guitar hero. “He looks happy to be here. I’m glad I could give him that.”

“Well, since you’re here, you might as well have a beer. I promise we won’t sacrifice any goats in honor of Satan tonight.”

She laughed. “It’s not nice to poke fun at a helpless old lady.”

“Helpless? I don’t see a helpless old lady. Though you must be terrified to be in the same room with Max, and who can blame you.”

Toni chuckled and finally released her hug. Logan wrapped an arm around her to keep her from moving away.

“Which one is Max?” the woman asked.

“That tall one over there in the leather pants.”

The woman craned her neck and gasped when she caught sight of Max in a crowd of female admirers. “The tall one with the short hair?”

“Yeah, he’s our lead singer. He comes up with most of our evil lyrics.”

“Now that one is easy on the eyes,” she purred.

Toni bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh.

“Go introduce yourself,” Logan suggested. “He’ll get a kick out of it.”

“I think I will,” she said, stopping to grab a beer out of the nearest cooler as she wandered off in Max’s direction.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get rid of her,” Logan said before stealing a kiss. Someone lifted their cellphone to take a picture. Logan spun toward the camera and pulled Toni behind him. She understood why he wouldn’t want anyone to have photographic evidence of him kissing her, but it still made her chest ache and her ire rise. She pulled out of Logan’s grasp and marched toward Dare. She still owed him a hug. She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to lose an unborn child and have the baby’s mother commit suicide over the tragedy. No wonder he tried to keep strangers at a distance.

Eleven

Logan spun around, wondering why Toni had suddenly stomped off in the opposite direction. Had she wanted her picture all over the Internet with speculation about why he’d been kissing her in public? Kissing her in front of everyone hadn’t been his brightest move, but he couldn’t help it. He liked to kiss her. And he didn’t mind who knew it. Yet he knew how brutal people could be to the significant others of famous people, so he wanted to protect her from the bullshit. Hadn’t she recognized that? Where in the hell had she gone? He scanned the room for a mane of thick brown hair.

When Logan spotted her with her arms wrapped around Dare, his jaw dropped in disbelief. Dare knew that Logan liked her. Where did he get off putting his hands on his woman? Maybe Mr. Know-It-All wanted to prove to Logan that he wasn’t ready to commit to her. Maybe Mr. Can-Do-No-Wrong thought this would make Logan give up on her. The bastard.

Logan stalked across the room and shoved Dare in the shoulder. “Get your fucking hands off her, Mills.”

Dare looked at him as if he were speaking Klingon. “What?”

“You heard me. Don’t touch my woman.”

Dare blinked especially hard. “Your woman?” He grinned wickedly and then tugged Toni closer. “I think she missed your memo. Looks like she’s with me.”

Logan’s arm moved of its own volition. He honestly hadn’t meant to punch Dare in the face. It didn’t actually register that he’d hit him until Logan drew his stinging knuckles away from the nose they’d connected with. Before Dare could retaliate, Toni had Logan by one ear and jerked him down to her level.

“What is wrong with you?” she bellowed.

He’d never seen her angry before. Why was his fly suddenly so tight?

“Me? You’re the one hanging all over Dare.”

“I’m going to fuck you up later, Lo,” Dare said. He held his head tilted backwards with the bridge of his nose pinched between two fingers. One of the security guards was forcibly directing him toward the bathroom.

“I wasn’t hanging all over Dare,” Toni said. “I was hugging him.”

Logan pulled her hand off his ear and straightened to his full height. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at her. “Same difference.”

“It is not the same. At all. And since when am I your woman?”

“Since I popped your cherry.”

She gave him a frosty stare. “I would have let any member of your band pop my cherry,” she said. “You know that, right? I just wanted it over and done with. I didn’t care who did the deed.”

His heart twisted in his chest, cutting off his ability to take a decent breath. She couldn’t mean that.

He glanced around at their spectators. Maybe the meet and greet wasn’t the best place to discuss this. He grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the bathroom. He’d forgotten that Dare was already in there until he was confronted by a pair of grass-green eyes above a freely bleeding nose. No way was he confining himself with that caged tiger.

“Did you come to apologize?” Dare asked as he stuffed a tissue up one nostril. “It won’t save you. I’m still going to fuck you up.”

“Actually, I forgot you were in here,” Logan said.

“Figures.” Dare shoved him aside and left the room. The roadie, who went by the nickname T-Bone, grabbed the first aid kit and scurried after Dare.

When they were alone, Toni yanked out of his hold. “Why are you acting like such a jerk?”

She thought he was a jerk? Ouch. “I-I don’t know.” He’d never felt so confused before in his life. And worried about what someone else thought of him. And afraid that he’d done something that she’d never forgive him for. He was less concerned about Dare fucking him up than he was of Toni’s disapproval.

“How could you think I’d mess around with Dare? Especially right in front of you?”

“I didn’t just think it, I saw it.”

“I was hugging him, Logan. What you said about him losing his baby and the mother committing suicide, it made my heart ache and I needed to hug him.”

So she’d been behaving like a first-class sweetheart and he’d been behaving like a first-class asshole. “It wasn’t even Dare’s baby. It was Max’s.”

Toni stared at him open-mouthed for a long moment before licking her lips. “I thought she was Dare’s girlfriend.”