Page 71 of Strange Lad

“And I wouldn’t have been a bitch if you weren’t up my metaphorical ass all goddamn night.”

“Excuse me for giving a shit,” Devon says hotly. “Excuse me for worrying about you.”

“You don’t need to. I had it handled.”

“Sure you did.”

“That’s enough!” Kelly interjects, rubbing her head. “I can’tstandthe drama. Either take it outside or shut up.”

The studio goes deathly silent. No one likes making Kelly mad. She’s almost as bad as her cousin when it happens.

“Sorry, Kel,” Michael mumbles.

“Yeah, sorry,” Devon agrees.

“We are afamily. Start acting like it.”

They give each other a look and nod.

As if the tension in the room summoned him, the door swings open to reveal our twenty-five-year old evil overlord storming into the space. His amber eyes sweep to Devonimmediately. Lex is about 5’4, but he scares the shit out of me. I cling to Phoenix, so I don’t get zapped with any mental laser beams.

“You,” Lex snarls, waving his finger at Devon. “I specifically said to cut ties with Dark Wing.”

“I sharedonepost.” Devon holds his stare. “What’s the fucking issue with them now, Lewis?”

Lex bristles. Right, soLexisn’t his first name. It’s Lewis, and he hates it, so he goes by his middle one. Only Devon is brave enough to poke the bear like that.

Blowing a strand of auburn hair away from his eyes, Lex ignores the comment and continues. “There’s been word that Alex fucked some underage girl. It’s a PR nightmare, and we don’t want to be associated with sexual predators.”

“Wasn’t she like almost eighteen?” Michael asks.

“It’s illegal,” Lex hisses and tugs on his lavender hoodie. “First the cocaine incident in Berlin, and now this. We are done. No more.”

“What cocaine incident?” I ask because this is all news to me. Devon usually handles the social media stuff.

His cheeks darken as he spins his thumb ring. “Alex got caught with some coke. He was giving it to Leon from Headhunter.”

Phoenix stiffens. “What?”

“The guy is worse than—” Lex stops himself from sayingEli.

We all look at our manager, who huffs and taps his foot. “Need I say more?”

“I’m unfollowing them now,” Devon declares.

“I’m deleting Alex’s number,” Phoenix growls.

We all purge our contacts and social media, and Lex nods in approval. “Now, what is the hold up with the rest of the album? You all have been sitting on your asses for weeks. We have a schedule. We have deadlines. I can’t get you signed with a label if you put out music slower than Devon can style his hideous hair.”

“Low blow, man,” I defend my friend. “Not cool.”

“Well?” Lex insists.

“I’m out of ideas,” I say.

“I’m busy with Eli,” Phoenix admits.

Kelly sighs and tells her cousin, “Frankly, I’m exhausted, and my carpal tunnel is acting up.”

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