Page 26 of Addicted to You
Silas
We had arrivedin LA earlier in the day, and after a few hours of hanging out with some of my local friends, I finally crawled into my bed for the most comfortable sleep I’d had in a month.
The next morning, the ringing of my cell woke me up, and I groaned when I saw the time on the screen. Why the hell was our manager calling me so early?
“Hey, Rina. What’s up?” I greeted, my voice gravelly from sleep.
“Silas, I need you to come to my office for a meeting right away.”
I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. “Why?”
“I’ll explain everything when you get here,” she snapped before the line went dead.
Whatever the meeting was about, it had to be pretty damn serious because she’d never demanded that I come to her office before, nor had she ever hung up on me after barking out an order. Wondering if any of the other guys knew what was going on, I sent a message to our group chat:
Did all of you get called into Rina’s office this morning? Or should I be worried that I fucked up somehow?
Elliott: I got the call too, but I have no idea what’s going on
Malachi and Jesse didn’t respond right away, so I forced myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Luckily, I wasn’t hungover from the party the night before, and the effects of the coke I’d done were long gone.
After a quick shower and a jolt of caffeine from my espresso machine, I was ready to go. When I arrived at Rina’s office, her assistant ushered me into the conference room without saying a word. Inside, Elliott and Jesse were already seated, and Jesse looked pissed.
“Everything okay?” I asked, dropping into a chair across from my two bandmates.
“Did you know?” Jesse growled.
I balked. “Know what? I have no idea what’s going on.”
Elliott glanced at Jesse. “Uh. A picture of Malachi and Jasper kissing was posted online.”
My eyes widened, and I turned back to Jesse. “Kissing? Seriously? Are you sure it was them?”
The situation didn’t make sense. Jasper’s sexuality had never been a secret, but I wasn’t aware of Malachi ever hooking up with a guy before. Not that him being involved with a man mattered, but he was risking a lot by messing around with his best friend’s younger brother.
“The pictures were clear,” Elliott replied. “It was them.”
A moment later, Rina came in with Malachi on her heels.
Jesse sprang from his seat and charged toward our friend. “You didn’t think to tell me you were messing around with my brother?”
His fist connected with Malachi’s cheek, and Elliott and I jumped up to intervene.
“Jesse, stop!” Elliott grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to pull him back.
Malachi lunged forward and pinned Jesse againstthe wall. “You think this has been easy for me? You think I wanted to lie to my best friend? You have no idea what it’s been like!”
I didn’t know what to do. Over the years we’d had disagreements just like others who had been friends for years, but none of our arguments had dissolved into physical violence before.
Jesse struggled against Malachi’s hold. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Why did you do it behind my back?”
“That’s enough!” Elliott barked as he got between them again.
Malachi and Jesse both stepped back but continued to glare at each other.
“We’re supposed to be brothers.” Jesse sounded heartbroken. “How could you do this?”
“We are brothers,” Malachi replied.
