Page 50 of Another Fox Bites the Dust

Jake blinks his eyes open. “What happened?” he croaks.

“I think you had the wind knocked out of you. How do you feel? Does anything hurt?”

“Terrible. So much pain.” He groans.

Archer holds up his middle finger a couple of feet over Jake’s eyes. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Jake lifts his head and focuses on the digit. “Saturday.” His head flops back to the ground.

Archer gives a quick nod. “Yep. He’s fine.”

Jake twitches on the ground.

Concerned, I lean over him, but the concern ebbs when it becomes clear that he’s laughing. Only a chuckle at first, but it’s infectious. Pretty soon we’re all consumed by the hilarity, practically crying.

“You’re such a dick,” Archer says, smacking Jake on the shoulder.

“You fucking love it, asshole. When’s lunch?”

A few minutes later, we’re sitting on a giant tire, our legs hanging into the center hole, eating sandwiches Archer procured from a cooler they had stashed over by the storage closet.

“How’s all that,” Jake waves a potato chip in the air, “song stuff going?” He pops the chip in his mouth.

“Good.” Except for the whole we might not have a producer thing, but I trust Mindy to resolve it. She won’t let me down, not only because she has just as much riding on this as I do, but because she’s good at her job.

“You should play for us,” Archer adds, tossing me a bottle of water from the cooler at his feet.

I catch the water and an immediate rejection flies to my lips, but I bite it back before it can escape. This might be exactly what I need. I’ve been playing in front of Mindy without issue, but we need to expand my circle if I have any hope of playing in front of a roomful of strangers. “That’s . . . actually a really good idea. I need to practice playing in front of people.” I swallow and waffle for a second before deciding to level with them. “I have a little problem with stage fright.”

Jake takes a bite of his sandwich and chews. “Yeah, we know.”

Archer nods. “Finley told me.”

“And Archer told me,” Jake adds. “No one keeps secrets around here.”

“You get used to it,” Archer says.

Jake takes a swig of water. “Wait, wait.” He holds up a finger. “Except for when Piper was in an abusive relationship and just avoided all of us for months and wouldn’t tell us anything.”

Archer dips his head in acknowledgment. “Right. Oh, and whatever is going on with Mindy and Taylor.”

Jake chuckles. “Yeah, good luck getting that out of them. They are like vaults.”

Pleasure uncoils inside me with the sudden understanding that Mindy shared a piece of something with me that she hasn’t shared even with her family.

Jake keeps going. “Let’s not forget that time Finley never told anyone about this place almost going bankrupt until it was almost too late.”

Archer waves a hand. “Okay, okay, so maybe theydokeep secrets but never other people’s secrets. Only their own.”

Jake purses his lips in thought. “That’s true. They love talking about everyone else. You know, sharing other people’s shame.”

“I’m not ashamed about my stage fright. It’s just an anxiety I have to deal with.”

Jake claps me on the back. “I know my handsomeness and general allure can be very intimidating, but you have nothing to worry about except for the not-so-silent judgement I will be rendering before, during, and after you perform. Sing for us, my man, and by the time we’re through with you, you will be feeling all kinds of shame, and maybe some self-loathing, too.”

Archer barks out a laugh. “You know, that’s actually a good idea. We can heckle you until you cry like a toddler without his binky. Then you’ll have experienced the worst and you will no longer have to fear it.”

Jake grins. “We’ll be so terrible, nothing else could possibly compare. You will dread no one and nothing like you will dread us.”

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