Not wanting to get an earful about how much of an ass I was, I avoided the girls and looked around for where we were supposed to play. There were a surprising number of people here. Most I didn’t know, but a few familiar faces stood out. A couple of Pete’s waitresses were here, including Kate, the uppity one who never let me grab her ass. She was standing with Justin, the lead singer of Avoiding Redemption, one of the bands we were leaving on tour with tomorrow. Justin and Kate had been bumping uglies for a while now, but I didn’t think they were heading to the altar anytime soon. At least, they shouldn’t. They didn’t even live in the same city. How the heck was that supposed to work out? Exactly. It wouldn’t.

When Justin spotted me, I raised my glass in a toast to him. He nodded his head up in greeting, then turned his attention back to Kate. The other members of Justin’s band were drifting around the room. There were around six thousand of them, I swear. Okay, maybe not, but however many there really were, it was too many. Bands should be small and simple.

Other bands were here too. The three members of Holeshot, and most of the members of Poetic Bliss, the chick band that had replaced us at Pete’s Bar. The drummer, Meadow, was hanging out by a purple-and-pink painting with her girlfriend, Cheye…something. I don’t know. I couldn’t remember. All I knew about her was she used to dig Kiera. Maybe she still did? Yeah, wouldn’t surprise me if she was lusting over Kellan’s wife. Maybe they made out from time to time? Mmmm, that was a pleasant thought.

Realigning the stiffy growing in my pants, I turned around to find something else to focus on. Denny and his wife were standing right in front of me. Denny’s dark eyes were wide as he took in my outfit. “Interesting suit. Very…red,” he said. His voice had a light Australian accent to it that girls went crazy for. I practiced it as often as I could, so I had it down; I practically sounded like I was from there.

“Yeah? Thanks, mate. That means a ton coming from a bloke like you.” Nailed it. I should apply for dual citizenship, since I was nearly a native.

Denny frowned while his wife, Abby, laughed. “Please stop trying to sound like me,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.”

With a wink, I told him, “For you, maybe, but the sheilas go crazy for this crap. Practically tear my clothes off when they hear how awesome my voice is.”

Abby laughed a little harder while Denny cringed. “I can guarantee you they don’t think it’s awesome.”

“Please. You’re just upset that we were almost brothers, until you lost your woman to Light-Socket Hair over there.” I jerked my thumb over to where Kellan was standing with Hailey, who was his half sister, or some shit like that. Denny and Kiera used to date until Kiera dumped Denny for Kellan. I think that’s how it went. The details were fuzzy. If the drama didn’t have to do with me, I didn’t pay much attention. With a smile, I told Denny, “I’d be upset over missing out on being related to me too. I’m pretty amazing.”

“So I’ve heard,” Denny said, his jaw tight. Then he smiled and added, “Actually, that’s the one thing I’m thankful to Kellan for. I think I would wither and die in your shadow.” He let out a sad sigh. “I’m not man enough to be your brother. I’ll just have to settle for being your manager.”

His lips quirked like he was joking, but I thought he made an excellent point. I raised my glass to him as he started pulling Abby away; she was still laughing. “You make a valid argument, sir,” I said in my regular, non-accented voice. “Cheers.” I downed the rest of my champagne.

I was just wondering how much the D-Bags paid Denny and Abby to manage the band when I felt someone tugging on my arm; a little of the champagne in my second glass splashed onto the floor. “Watch it,” I said, snapping my head around.

Matt was standing there, beads of perspiration on his forehead. He seriously looked ill. “We’re on,” he choked out.

Feeling a little sorry for the pathetic specimen of a man in front of me, I handed him my drink. “Here, drink this.” Without hesitation, he gulped it down, then handed me back the empty glass. Wow, he really looked like shit. If he was this torn up, maybe he really shouldn’t go through with it. “Dude…you gonna hurl?”

Matt frowned. “I’ll be fine. I just want to get this over with.”

Nodding, I suddenly realized there was one positive thing that I could look forward to from this unnecessary spectacle. “So…where we going for the bachelor party? Vegas? New York? Bangkok?” I couldn’t even say that last one without sniggering. Bangkok…

Matt gave me the evil eye. “Let’s just get through tonight, okay?”

Shrugging, I followed him when he started weaving through the crowd. We had plenty of time to plan a killer party. And as family, it was my duty to make sure his bachelor party was unforgettable. The night wouldn’t end until I had thoroughly embarrassed his scrawny ass. I’d need llamas, licorice, and lasers. This was going to be fun.

When we got to the section of the gallery that was clearly set up as a stage, I frowned. “Ummm…far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, but aren’t we missing some stuff? Like…almost everything?” The instruments were there, but none of the speakers, amps, and microphones. Nothing electronic at all actually.

Matt put his hands on his hips. “We talked about this. A couple times. I swear you never listen to a word we say, which is yet another reason why…” He stopped talking, like he didn’t want to get into it here. I kind of wanted him to continue. Just where the fuck was he going with that? Matt let out an annoyed huff, and instead said, “We’re in an art gallery, so we can’t do a normal set. We’re going acoustic.”

I frowned as I looked over at my sad, quiet acoustic bass. “Well, that’s lame. If we can’t play loud, what’s the point of playing at all? We can just play the freaking CD on low…then we’d have more time to drink.” I pulled out my flask and took a long gulp. It burned going down, then warmed me, head to foot. So good.

Matt looked about to curse me out—shocker—but a pair of arms wrapped around his chest. “Oh my gosh! I’m so excited! It’s going so well, don’t you think?”

Jenny pulled back to stare up at Matt. Her blue eyes were sparkling, her pearly whites were gleaming, her pale hair was glowing, and hope and goodwill for all mankind was radiating out of every pore. The word “perky” was too small an adjective for Jenny. Especially now…when she was a little tipsy. She loved everybody at the moment, probably even me.

While Matt tried to smile through his nerves, Evan unwrapped his fiancée from him. “Babe, remember what I said about tackling the guests? We want them to come back after tonight.” Evan’s grin was just as big as Jenny’s.

Jenny nodded, then shifted to squeeze Evan. “Right. Sorry, honey. I’m just so excited! This is a dream come true for me.” Her eyes glistened and she sniffed, like she was going to start crying. Oh God, please don’t. I hated it when women cried. Kiera patted Jenny’s shoulder, but I knew that wasn’t going to stop the tears. Jenny needed a distraction.

After Evan left her side to set up his drums, I walked over to her. “Hey, Jenny, if you really want to make your dreams come true tonight, we could go to the back room and I could…” Leaning down, I whispered in her ear everything I could do to her. I was very explicit.

She slugged me in the arm. “Griffin! Ewwwwww! No, no, and hell no! Ugh…I need to go rinse my ears out now. Maybe scrub my brain…”

Laughing, I shrugged as I started walking to my guitar. “Your loss.” Mission accomplished. She no longer looked like she was going to start bawling.

Once Matt, Evan, and I were settled behind our instruments, Kellan whistled to get everyone’s attention, and the crowd gathered around us. Jenny narrowed her eyes at me before turning to smile at Kellan. Rachel gave Matt an encouraging grin, since he still looked like he was about to throw up, and Kiera beamed up at Kellan like he was the most amazing male specimen to ever walk across the face of the planet. Whatever. Anna was standing beside Kiera. She gave Kellan a cursory glance, then shifted her eyes to me. Ha! Take that, Dreamy McDreamerson. My girl likes me better.