Page 1 of Social Sinners

Chapter One

Easton was pissed, and I knew it. He’d been rapid-fire texting me every fucking time that dumbass waitress came anywhere near me, and it was ri-goddamn-diculous. I hadn’t hooked up with anyone since Easton and I decided to be exclusive after last year’s bus accident, yet his insecurities kept resurfacing.

No matter what I said, it was never right nor was it ever enough…The story of my fucking life, never enough.

My phone vibrated the entire ride up the elevator, but I wasn’t about to pull it out of my pocket to respond. Not in front of the guys and not while he was banging the keys on his phone so hard all eyes were glued to him.

When we got back to the suite, he stormed in ahead of us and straight into our shared room.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Stoli asked, hoping one of us knew the answer. I did, but there was no way in hell I was airing our dirty laundry. Not until Easton and I were on the same page. But I had a feeling that things were about to come to an explosive end.

Joey and Mickey looked at each other, shrugging before Joey responded, “No clue.”

Easton came out a few minutes later dragging his rolling case behind him, walking right past us and out the door without a word.How the fuck am I going to fix this?

“What the fuck is going on?” Stoli again asked the group.

“Hey Diamond, what’s up with you and that waitress?” Mickey stupidly asked me which only pissed me off further. Considering he wasn’t privy to the inner turmoil I was battling, I needed to stay grounded and not blow up at him.

“Nothing, she just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I told him, eager that he’d let it go.

“Everyone’s paired off, when are you going to find a nice girl and settle down?” Joey added.

“That’s not gonna happen, man,” I told him, but I knew they wouldn’t leave well enough alone and now was not the time to have this conversation.Fix this, Diamond,I repeated to myself, pacing back and forth in front of the wall of windows in our suite.

“Are you all right?” Mickey asked, probably of me, but I ignored his question.

“Clearly,” Stoli stated, “he’s not okay.”

I ran my hands through my hair, barely resisting the urge to yank it right out of my skull. With each pass I mumbled to myself, at least I hoped these thoughts were still only in my head, but every solution that came to me was quickly squashed.Was it getting hot in here, or was it just me?

“Dude, his head’s gonna explode,” Joey said, using his hands in a makeshift explosion.

“Damnit! I fucked up!” I yelled, far louder than I’d meant to.

“You did?” Mickey questioned. “How exactly?”

“Stoli,”Stoli can fix this,I turned to him, “call Easton and get him back here.”

“You call him,” he retorted, blowing me off.

“He won’t answer my call if I do. Just do it!” I barked, and everyone jumped.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on first.” Stoli stood defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. Man, I was not in the mood for his arrogant ass, and for the first time ever, I got in his face.

“Get him back here, or I’m done,” I growled.

“What the fuck?” Joey and Mickey said at the same time. Benny and River curled up in the corner of the couch holding onto each other like the world was ending.

Stoli was pissed, he hated not knowing everything that was going on, but he pulled his phone out and did as I asked. “East, man. I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to come back up here. No, not tomorrow, now. Look, get up here now, or you won’t have a band to manage tomorrow!” Stoli threatened, hitting the end button on his phone hard enough to break it before stuffing it back in his pocket.

That was not what I wanted him to say, and I knew that was gonna come back to bite me in the ass. But fuck man. I was at my wit's end with Easton. He, of course, took his sweet ass time getting back up to the room, and when he came in, he barely walked two feet inside before coming to a stop. He remained in place, shifting his glare between Stoli and me. I wanted to take him over my knee and beat his ass, but that would’ve ended with me buried to the hilt inside him which wasn’t the answer this situation warranted. Nor would my brothers have been cool with that peep show.

“Look, I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but it ends right fucking now,” Stoli started in. “Do either of you care to explain, or should I just call Sal and ask him to change out our tour manager?”

Easton paled, his face fell in defeat, and I wanted to fucking throttle Stoli for making that threat.

“Come on, man, there’s no need for that,” Mickey said to Stoli.Way to go little bro.But will he still feel the same way once I out myself? Will any of them?

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