Jax rubs his mouth and chin. “Mine. Why?”
“I told you we shouldn’t have fucking played the song,” snaps Ruby.
“We know Rising. Always played the song in the early days,” says Will, darting a look between the two hostile band members.
“I said we should’ve played all our own stuff.” Ruby fixes her darkened eyes on me. “Right?”
“Correct,” I say.
“Shit!” Ruby drops the mat onto the table and grabs her bottle. “He hated it! Nice one, Jaxon.”
“I’ve heard you play a few times now, one shit cover of my song isn’t a deal breaker. Just don’t play my songs around me again.”
“He’s very protective of his children,” says Bryn. “If he had his way, nobody but Blue Phoenix would play them.”
“Sorry, man,” mutters Jax, glancing at the furious Ruby.
“Have I heard all your work?” I ask.
“Think so,” replies Jax.
“When’s your next gig?”
Everyone looks at Ruby who shifts in her seat, avoiding looking at anyone.
“We have one booked in a couple of weeks; Ruby needs to check if she can get time off work,” Jax says.
“How long since you booked the gig?”
“Couple of weeks,” says Jax.
The brothers have gone quiet and the atmosphere shifted to unease.
“How long does it take you to book time off work?” I ask Ruby. “What do you do?”
“Work at a coffee shop.” She takes a swig from her bottle.
“So you can’t plan your shifts a few weeks before?”
Jax stiffens next to me. “Things are complicated for Ruby.”
She shoots him a death stare. “Shut the hell up, Jax.”
“It’s true. We have issues planning gigs because of your complicated lifestyle.”
“So find another fucking singer!” She stands.
Shit, this girl’s fuse is short.“No,you’rethe singer,” I say quietly. “I’m interested in you guys as a group and how you are now.”
Until this point, Ruby avoided my eyes; but at my comment, she turns to me. Again, the weird something that’s causing problems reaches between us. Truthfully, if the singer wasn’t Ruby, this would be easier. There’d be no temptation to touch her, no need to get any closer to the girl who not only triggered off the dreams about Liv, but who also reminds me too much of myself. But in reality, if the singer wasn’t Ruby, the band would be a different creature and I wouldn’t be interested.
“So you’re keen?” pipes up Nate.
“Yeah. I’ll give you guys a go, help you organise some more gigs and watch how you cope.”
“Whoa! Really?” Will rubs a hand through his spiky black hair and practically bounces out of his seat.
“Yeah, but if I’m gonna commit some of my time to you, you need to be a hundred per cent committed, too. I haven’t got time or patience for wannabe kids.”