Free Rocked Down & Out (Rocked #11) by Clara Bayard Page A

the band, but this one was just plausible enough to be true, and, I imagined, that was exactly the point. A break up now, in the middle of the delayed tour wouldn't be surprising, but it would be huge news. And it would all but guarantee a fully sold out run. Looking around the room I wondered if I was the only one wondering where the story had come from, and if it was meant to hurt or help the band.
    I wrapped up with all of this swirling around in my mind and thanked the guys for their time. Becca gave them an hour for lunch before heading over to the venue for tonight's show. I hung back for a minute, thinking about spending that time with Matthew, but all four of the guys were talking and I figured they could use a little bonding time. I said my goodbyes and headed back to my hotel room.
    Once I was alone downstairs I uploaded the footage from my camera and sent it off with some notes. I checked the HSTV website and there was already a huge banner touting my "exclusive" response from the band, and I rolled my eyes, but was kind of pleased.
    With a few minutes to kill, I surfed some gossip sites and found the original file of the alleged contract. It looked legit to me, but that definitely wasn't my area of expertise. I shot off an email to a colleague to see if they could research the issue for me, if it was common for a contract to be drafted without the artist's knowledge.
    I was running through a long list of emails I needed to answer when my phone rang. I glanced down at the screen and was shocked. It was Steven, and I picked up after a moment of hesitation. "Hi."
    "Hey, little sis." He sounded nervous, which made me sad. "You busy?"
    "Always, but I guess I can spare a minute for you." I said it playfully, trying to pretend it didn't sting that we were uncomfortable talking to each other.
    "How kind of you." He coughed. "I should have called before."
    "It's all right." The two thousand miles between us felt like two billion.
    "No, look. I owe you an apology."
    "Steven…"
    "Please," he said softly. "Let me get this out. You know how pig-headed I am, and that I never say I'm sorry. But you're my sister. My only family and my best friend. What I did was wrong, even if it was for the right reason. No matter how I felt, we're a team, and you gave your word, which I should have respected."
    Tears stung my eyes. "Thank you. I'm sorry I got so mad."
    "Hell, you've always been a bitch, shouldn't have surprised me."
    I laughed. "Asshole."
    "Always." He chuckled. "Okay, one more thing before I vomit from all this niceness."
    "Yeah, get on with it. I'm way too important to sit here talking to you all day."
    "Shut up, brat. The other thing I wanted to say is, I'm proud of you. I've been checking the site every hour and you're killing it out there. Camera work is shit, but that's not your fault."
    I got up and paced back and forth in front of the window. "Yeah, well, I do the best I can on that front."
    "Your best is terrible, but I assume you're getting someone new?"
    "Yeah, today, actually. But they'll never replace you."
    "Better not. Anyway, I'll let you go. But keep in touch, okay?"
    "Of course. We're family, stuck with each other."
    "Unfortunately," he joked. "Smell ya later, brat."
    I giggled and then rolled my eyes as he hung up, always having to have the last word.
    *
    Hours later I was having the time of my life. The HSTV website had exploded once my interview went up, and my bosses were over the moon. I'd managed to at least start down the road towards patching things up with my brother, and I was on tour with one of the greatest bands in the world. I'd met my new camera guy and he was nice and good at his job, and the show had gone great.
    Not to mention, I was currently hanging out with the sweetest, sexiest man I'd ever met, and he hadn't taken his eyes off of me all night. An after party raged all around us, the crowd in the club big enough to hide in. Matthew and I had found a slightly private corner of the VIP