"What do you mean, it's too late to change the line up?" I asked Jeff Morrison, one of our label execs. "It's my fucking fund raiser! I should have a say in who plays and who doesn't!" I shouted and then slammed my cell phone repeatedly against the wooden desk in the recording studio. I picked it up and stared at the now cracked screen and that just pissed me off more. Jinx took the phone from my hand, put it to his ear, and walked to the other side of the room. I could barely make out what he was saying to Morrison. I watched him from behind and when his shoulders slumped, I knew that was a bad sign. We couldn’t do anything about Nuclear Disaster being added to the play list.

"It's too late, man. I'm sorry. Morrison said that billboards have gone up and the media now has a hold of it and it's all over social media. I hate to say it, but, they're a big pull and if we refused to let them play, that could hurt donations and I know that's not something you want to do." Jinx explained.

"Fuck! Don't you think I know that?" I said, shoving my hands through my hair and yanking hard. I looked around the room at where Chance and Honor sat on the sofa with their heads together discussing something on Honor's phone. I took a deep breath and let it out in one swift whoosh. "What do you think?" I cocked my head in Chances' direction and eyed Jinx in question.

"What?" he asked.

"He looks clean today," I stated, but it was really more that I needed Jinx to confirm that he thought so too.

"Yeah. He looks fine to me. Had a long convo with him earlier and he seemed perfectly fine." I nodded my head in acceptance. If Jinx said it, I took it as truth. He's a solid leader and he'd never led us wrong. Now, I had to face Peyton and tell her there was nothing that I could do to get her asshole ex-boyfriend's band kicked out. I just hope she was gonna be okay dealing with him.

"Are we gonna do any work today or what?" Chance asked from across the room, shoving a handful of skittles in his mouth.

"Yeah man, Let's hit it," Jinx said, and we all followed suit into the sound area. It was gonna be a long fucking day.

Peyton

"So, you're going to meet the mom," Jules said, sitting beside me on her barstool, while swirling the little umbrella around in her drink. "You do realize that's some serious shit. Right?"

"I know and I'm so nervous. I-What if she hates me? What if she thinks I’m just some groupie that her son picked up after one of his shows?" I asked.

"Well, he did pick you up after one of his shows. Didn't he?" She quirked an auburn brow and smirked at me.

"I'm no groupie!" I said, a little too loud, causing the people around us to turn and stare.

"Back to what you were doing people. Nothing to see here." Jules announced, flicking her hand in their direction.

"I am no damn groupie and you know it!" I repeated myself again, a little lower this time.

"Calm down," she giggled. "I know you like the back of my hand." She held up her right hand and looked at it with scrunched brows. "What in the hell is that?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"Like the back of your hand, huh?" She scowled at me.

"You know what I mean and besides, my guess is that if he didn't have feelings for you, he wouldn't want you to meet his mother. Am I correct?" she asked.

"I guess. He did tell me that he loved me . . ." I wasn’t able to finish my statement, because Jules practically spit her drink across the bar top. She whirled on her stool to face me and placed both hands on my knees.

"Are you telling me that the Levi Cross, rock god of all rock stars, told you he loved you?" I gave her a nod and couldn't hold back the smile that spread across my face. It was so wide that my cheeks hurt. Jules squealed and threw her arms around my neck, almost knocking us both off our stools and onto the sticky bar floor. People were looking again.

"Mind your own business," I said, earning me an eye roll from the bleached blond sitting beside Jules. "Okay," I wheezed. "You're cutting off my air supply." I pushed her back onto her stool.

"So?" She bounced on her seat; both brows arched high into her hairline.

"So?" I shot the question back at her and her excitement turned into a scowl.

"You're a bitch. You know that right?" It was fun to mess with her for a change.

"For your information, I told him that I loved him too. I've never met anyone like him before, Jules. He's nothing like Teake. He's caring and kind. He really is a giving person. Did you know that he has a charity benefit every year to raise money for families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty in law enforcement?" She looked at me with tears in her big, green eyes.

"That's awesome! That's . . . Wow!" She held her hand over her heart and I could tell that it really touched her, too. "If there's anything that I can do to help, I'd love to," she said.

"I might just take you up on that, if you're sure." After all the research and planning that I did at the studio today, I knew there was a lot to be done and there was only one of me. "We did get some news today that I'm not very happy with, but there's nothing we can do about it." I scowled, picking up my ‘Sex on the Beach’ and took hefty sip. "Teake's band has been asked to play, and even after the guys discussing it with the label, they were informed that everything has been set into motion, meaning there's nothing that can be done about it." I blew out a breath and looked to my friend, who also had a scowl on her face.

"Well, fuck a duck."

"Yeah, something like that." I said and finished off my drink. "Maybe I'll get lucky and we won't even cross paths." I said, with wishful, thinking.

"Okay. No more of this ex talking shit. Girl you got the hottest guy out there, in love with you. You know what this means, right?" Her lip curved upward into a grin. I shook my head in question. "No more B.O.B! You have your very own hot rock star vibrator and I bet he's better than that bunny on the commercials. I bet he can go all night long and then some!" I could feel myself blush from head to toe. "Well? Am I right? Give it to me girl?" She threw her head back and laughed at my embarrassment.

"Bartender!" I held my hand up and shouted to get his attention. I was going to need a stiff drink, if we were going to be talking about Levi and sex. I could feel my sex pulse just thinking about him.

Levi

"Relax, babe. She's going to love you," I said to Peyton, as I grabbed our bags from the back of my car. She had fidgeted nonstop on the way over here. It was only supposed to be dinner but, Mom called and talked us into staying overnight, so that she could cook us my favorite breakfast in the morning. Since I didn't get to see my mom that often, because the band traveled so much, who was I to turn down her special, strawberry pancakes. I threw our bags over my shoulder, wrapped my other arm around my girl, and headed up the sidewalk just as the front door flew open. Out flew my mom. Something was different. She looked a little thinner and paler than the last time I'd seen her.