Page 68 of Mine

“Was I worth it?” I asked, not keeping the venom out of my tone. I was over his behavior and Jack’s.

Was Jack wrong to give a warning?I knew Pepper wasn’t using me in any way. But the fact that he’d guessed so easily that there was something between us made me wonder if I was being reckless.

Dale blanched. “You were. I’m sorry I was a dick earlier. She just rubbed me the wrong way. If anything, I probably owe her now for running the lights…”

“You do. I’m going to go sit in the light booth with her.”

Dale nodded, but clearly there was something else he wanted to say. I raised a brow as I waited, and he finally spilled. “I just want you to be careful. I know tonight didn’t go as smoothly as usual, but your performance was great. And I just want to warn you about having someone like Pepper interested in you. Just be careful.”

Ugh. Everyone was on me tonight. “She can’t hurt me,” I said.

“She can hurt anyone in this city, aside from a handful of CEOs of other companies. Rosethorn may be a small label, but it’s the biggest independently owned one there is. The roster they have is damn good. Everyone wants to work for them, especially since they treat their artists and employees well.”

“And all of that is because of Pepper,” I said. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

He winced. “I don’t like her because of what happened to my sister. But I don’t like any of the suits in this town, they’re all a bunch of snooty assholes. I don’t want to see you get trapped in something you can’t get out of.”

“I’ll be careful.” Frustration clawed up my spine. His warning was starting to get under my skin. So was Jack’s.

They were wrong about her.

But I knew a different Pepper, didn’t I?

The one he knew was the woman who told him his sister was a piece of shit to his face.

The one I knew was the woman who’d begged me to fuck her.

Needless to say, we weren’t the same. But he didn’t know that.

“I’ll be in the booth,” I said. “Can I leave my equipment back here? I’ll grab it after the show.”

“Of course. We'll pay out once the show ends and the bar closes. It’ll be a late night.”

“Thanks,” I said. I set down my guitar case against the wall, but kept my bag in hand. “I’m going to go cool off.” I needed to get the fuck out of here. Between firing Jack and dealing with everything else, I felt claustrophobic. Like walls were caging me in.

I wanted Pepper. It’d been days since I’d felt her skin against mine, and I was desperate. Crazed for her.

“Maybe pull your hood up if you don’t want to be stopped,” he suggested. “They’re a little wild for you. We sold a lot at the bar and our social media girl told me the bar is getting tagged online a lot. It’ll be a good payout.”

If the comment section on my most recent video was any indication, he was right. But, I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy it. I may or may not have been an attention whore sometimes.

But I needed Pepper’s attention the most right now.

SEVENTEEN

SALT

I saidgoodnight to Dale and pulled my hood up before going out the door. I was quick, moving along the edge of the crowd, sticking to the wall, avoiding eye contact. I made it to the door on the other side, pushed it open, and darted up the staircase. The scent of smoke and stale beer followed.

The door to my right had to be the one to the lighting booth. I stepped through it quickly. A squeal followed.

My eyes widened as I shut the door slowly behind me.

It was dark in here, but that didn’t keep me from seeing how flushed Pepper’s skin was. She had her skirt tugged down, her eyes wide as she stared at me like I was a ghost.

Slowly, very slowly, I narrowed my eyes on her. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” she rasped.

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