Free Fractured Beat (Meltdown Book 1) by RB Hilliard Page B

the band?”
    “Wait, didn’t I meet everyone last night?” She bounced out of bed, which was a good thing because I was seconds away from losing my cool and kicking her out. She pulled on her dress and grabbed her shoes before turning to address me. “You sure you’re good because you, ah, kind of passed out before finishing last night.” Luke’s muffled bark of laughter from behind the door made me sigh. I was going to catch shit about this later.
    “I’m good,” I assured her, “go ahead and meet the boys. Maybe I’ll see you tonight.” With a wave of her hand she was gone. Just in case she changed her mind, I bolted from the bed and locked the door behind her. Then I hauled ass to the bathroom to piss and scrub off last night’s stupidity.
    Twenty minutes later Becki with an i was gone and I was dressed and waiting with the rest of the guys for security to come retrieve us and escort us down to the conference room.
    “Does anyone know what this is about?” Luke asked. No one responded. Grabbing a bottle of water I washed down three pain relievers.
    “You okay?” Chaz asked, and all eyes turned to me.
    “I’m good. Thanks for saving me,” I told Luke.
    “You should have seen your face when she told you your dick malfunctioned last night,” he teased. Everyone laughed, including Nash. It was good to be laughing with the guys again, even if it was at my expense. Hank and Sean walked in and the room instantly sobered. Hank shot me a look and I got the feeling I wasn’t going to like what was in store for us. We filed into the elevator, rode down three floors and filed out into the conference room, where Blane, Kirkland and Mallory were waiting. I couldn’t remember if Mallory was there last night or not. If she was, I’m sure I would hear about it. Once everyone was seated Kirkland stood up. I glanced over at Blane and noticed his clenched jaw.
    Uh oh.
    “Good show last night,” Kirkland congratulated. Insincerity bled from the man’s pores. At least Blane actually gave a shit. All this guy cared about was the bottom line. “Too bad you had to go and blow it. From this point forward there will be no after parties in the dressing rooms.”
    And there it was, the reason we all were here.
    The room exploded. “You’re fucking kidding me!” Luke’s voice rang out over everyone else’s.
    “I asked you to keep it low key. I warned you to stay off the radar,” Kirkland directed at me, “and what did you do? You threw a party with naked women and spent over twenty-five hundred dollars on booze and God only knows what else. Are you trying to commit career suicide? Because that’s how it damn well appears!”
    “We always party after a show, and the women weren’t naked,” Chaz defended. Chaz just became my new best friend. The look Kirkland gave Chaz was the exact same look my dad gave me when I’d done something boneheaded. I respected it from my dad. Coming from Kirkland I fucking hated it.
    “Did I not tell you to curtail it?” Kirkland snapped.
    “Why are we even answering to you?” Nash challenged. It was good to see Nash showing some backbone again.
    Kirkland looked over at Blane. “You want to explain or do you want me to?” When Blane refused to respond Kirkland let out a deep sigh. I braced for the onslaught and was shocked when all he said was, “I have been asked to step in and assist in the running of this label. As I stated in yesterday’s meeting, after the incident two weeks ago we are being closely watched by the media as well as our sponsors. They will drop their support for any reason and you boys are practically handing them one.” It wasn’t like Kirkland to hold back.
    “Our after parties are for VIP fans that pay to hang with us,” Luke angrily stated.
    “Last night was not simply hanging with your fans. In fact, it was a gross display of incredibly bad taste,” Kirkland disputed. He was right, last night was not the norm but how would he know that? He was