“What the hell?” Chandler balks as the four of us walk off stage. Mouth agape, he looks at Phoenix. “Did you know she could sing like that?”
He stays silent.
Beaming, George slings an arm around my shoulders. “Have any other hidden talents, beautiful?”
I find myself grinning. “Not really. Although I—”
“She sucks a mean cock.” Phoenix shoots George an icy smile. “Not that you would know.”
So help me God, I’d reach over and throttle the douche if there weren’t so many witnesses around.
I turn my attention back to George—the guy who actually deserves it. “I play piano.”
Seemingly impressed, his face lights up. “That’s awesome. Ever write any songs?”
The shattered pieces of my heart stir painfully in my chest and the knife wedged into my back twists.
Writing songs was my outlet for all the pain I held inside.
It’s what made me go on living when life got too hard.
My stare locks on Phoenix as we walk past him. “Not anymore.”
He took that from me, too.
CHAPTER 39
LENNON
My stomach growls as I head for the greenroom. I am starving, and the pepperoni pizza I picked up for me and Skylar smells heavenly.
We’ve both had salads for dinner the past three nights, so I figured we deserve to indulge a little.
Balancing the pizza box in one hand, I push open the door.
“Got us some dinner.”
Skylar doesn’t look up from her laptop. The deep wrinkle forming between her brows indicates that whatever she’s looking at not only has her full attention, but also has her concerned.
I place the pizza down on the table in front of her. “What’s up?”
She taps a few keys. “Turns out this fifteen-year-old baby mama is quite the stalker.”
That doesn’t sound good.
I scan the room for some paper plates, but come up empty. “What do you mean?”
“Well, since the articles didn’t print her name—given she’s a minor and all—I bribed one of the sleazy journalists for her info…then I did a little social media recon.” She reaches for her coffee cup. “Her name is Quinn Moore. She’s from Chicago. She’ll be sixteen at the end of August and she’ll start her junior year of high school in the fall.”
Talk about impressive. Impressive with a side of scary.
“Damn. You’re like a detective.”
She gives me a pointed look. “All girls are detectives when they need to be.”
Her pretty eyes narrow as she zeros in on the screen again.
Curious, I peek over. I see a list of dates. A long list of dates.
“Anyway, it turns out that this girl has been to a lot of shows.” She gives me the side-eye. “Do you know what that means?”
“She has a lot of time on her hands?”
Time and money because these concerts aren’t cheap. Neither is transportation.
“Not just that, but she and Memphis have obviously been in the same place before.”
Right. “Oh.”
She mutters a curse. “Knocking up a bimbo reality star is one thing…but it’s gonna be hard to fight these allegations now.”
I like Memphis. A lot actually. So much so, I—much like Skylar—really wanted to believe that this whole knocking up a minor thing was nothing more than a stupid rumor started by a crazed fan seeking attention.
Knowing there’s a high probability it’s true churns my stomach.
“I can’t believe he slept with a minor.”
Granted, he wouldn’t be the first musician to turn into a creep.
I just hoped he—and the rest of Sharp Objects—would be better than that.
Skylar fixes her glare on me. “Memphis swears he never touched a minor.”
Shocker. “So did a certain R&B singer who’s now—rightfully so—behind bars.”
She peers down at her shoes. “I get why you would assume the worst about him. But Memphis and I go way back. I know him, Lennon. He wouldn’t lie to me.”
My heart squeezes painfully in my chest.
Phoenix and I go way back, too.
“Sometimes the people you think you know best…turn out to be nothing but impostors.”
“I’ll get to the bottom of this one way or the other,” she declares. “Trust me. I always do.”
I want to ask her to elaborate, but the band barrels into the greenroom.
“There’s my girl,” George says when he sees me.
I get off the couch. “Hey.”