Free JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance by Vivian Lux Page B

up!"
    He leaned over me. I looked up at him, hovering over my bed. My breath was coming too quickly, my heart beating too rapidly. Realizing I was biting my lip, I licked them instead and his eyes went right to them. "It's given me a few ideas, frankly. How about it? Wanna do some research with me?"
    His offer hung there, for one, two, three heartbeats before I finally came to my senses. I reached up and pushed him away. "Oh my God, get the fuck out of my room."
    He stood up. "You never even heard why I was here."
    "I don't care, get out." I flopped over to my side and waited until I heard the door close before I finally exhaled.
     
    Chapter Sixteen
    Jax
     
    I stared at Lily's bedroom door, wondering how the fuck I had just gotten it shut on me again. I stayed up all night and into the late morning, wanting to apologize to her the minute she woke up, and yet somehow, I fucked that up as well.
    Dammit, this wasn't happening again. I raised my fist to bang on the door, ready to batter it down if I had to, when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it out of my pocket, ready to hurl it down the hallway when I saw Bev's name. My heart, already in my stomach, splashed right down to my toes.
    She was already talking when I pressed the green button. "… studio full of highly skilled, highly paid technicians and musicians, all getting paid to twiddle their thumbs waiting for you to show the fuck up. Where the hell are you, Jaxson?"
    "I'm right around the corner," I lied, tearing down the stairs. "Calm down, Bev."
    "Calm down? Do you know how much this is costing right now? Get here. Now."
    "Yeah, yeah." I was sprinting down the lawn, but I didn't want her to know that. "Go take a Xanax, or something."
    She hung up, but not before I heard her distinctly hiss, "Asshole."
    I stopped in the middle of the lawn and stared at the phone. I had nothing ready. Bev had handled everything, booking the studio time and the musicians on nothing more than my promise that I'd have the album written by then. Then, meaning now. Today.
    Fuck.
    Maybe I was the flash in the pan everyone claimed I was. Maybe “Cocky” was an anomaly and I really wasn't a songwriter. Because fuck me if I'd been able to write a decent song since.
    Part of me wanted to just skip it. Bail on them all and go get drunk with Annie's roadies. Pussy out and let them believe I sucked. I certainly believed it myself.
    But I knew I couldn't do that. I had a reputation to maintain. Ever since “Cocky” dropped, the press wanted to see me swaggering. I wasn't allowed to fail. It would ruin everything.
    I grabbed my keys and hopped into the 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO I bought myself with “Cocky” money and had painted a custom shade of electric blue. Like my hair. Image. I'd go to the studio and brazen it out. Fuck, maybe something would come to me on the drive.
    Even I knew I was lying to myself. I was a panting wreck by the time I double-parked outside of the studio, a full hour and a half later than I was supposed to be there. Banks was standing on the sidewalk, smoking one of his hand-rolled cigarettes that smelled like dirt. I lifted my chin at him.
    "You know, I honestly wouldn't give a fuck, since I get paid either way," he said coolly, letting a wreath of smoke billow around his head. "It's the fact that I have to show up to get paid." He stubbed out his cigarette against the building. "Must be fucking nice."
    "Oh, give it a rest, Banks. You might think you're better than me, but who the hell is paying your bills right now, hmm?" The keyboardist my label had hired still clung to his classical training like it meant something in this world.
    "Whatever. I turned down a pretty big name for this, Blue. I just want to get to work."
    Bev was on the other side of the door. "You ready?" she asked crisply.
    "Whaddya got for us, Blue?" Toad hopped up from the sofa in the lounge, his bass flopping around dangerously.
    "Were you finalizing, or something?" Casper asked. He was trying to cover for