Behind the Mask: A Rockstar Romance(32)

We both laugh, then she pulls me in for a hug.

“With everything going on, I completely forgot.” I sit on top of the toilet seat. “Nate and I just had a short grinding session in his room before he jumped away from me like I have the plague,” I tell her. She kneels down with big eyes.

“Nate and you were dry humping?” Of course she would know the right word for it.

“Yeah, you know, he was chasing me, then pinned me down on his bed and I accidentally rubbed myself against him trying to get free, and then we started grinding. I swear he was this close...” I lift my hand, showing a little space between my thumb and finger. “To kissing me.”

“Holy shit. He almost kissed you.”

“But he didn’t. I’m starting to get annoyed with the hot and cold thing he has going on. I can’t keep doing this, waiting for scraps of affection he is willing to throw my way. I quit.” I stand up.

“The band?” Naomi asks with a worried look.

“What? No. I quit him. From this moment on, I’m moving on. I will stay with the band until Tegan is better then I’m leaving. I’m going to leave the band for good.”

Naomi looks at me with surprise.

“You’re being serious, aren’t you?”

“I am. I can’t keep doing this. I’m twenty-two, pining over someone I can’t have. Longer I stay here, the longer I’m going to be alone.”

“What will you do?”

“Be a music teacher, write songs for other bands. I may even start my own band.” I shrug. “I will get Nate to pay me everything I’ve earned and that will keep me going until I figure things out.”

“If you leave, I’m leaving with you.” Naomi holds both of my hands. “I can’t not have you in my life. Wherever you go, I’ll be going with you.”

I shake my head at her.

“I can’t make you give up your career for me. What about Troy?”

“I love you more than any guy. I did this job straight after college. I met you and you made me want to stay. This can be a new adventure for us.” She claps her hands in excitement.

“We need to hand in our notice, though,” I say. “I don’t want the guys to know or they will try and stop us.” I bite my lip. Naomi thinks it over before smiling.

“I got it.” She opens the bathroom door, yelling out to Tegan to come over.

“I’m busy,” Tegan shouts back.

“Yo, Ice-Queen, if you don’t get your ass over here, you will regret it,” Naomi shouts back at her. I see Naomi glaring at her, so I’m sure they are having a glare-off.

“This better be good.” I hear Tegan say.

“What are you doing?” I whisper to Naomi.

“You will see.” Naomi pulls Tegan into the bathroom.

“Spill it,” she says.

“How badly do you want your sister out of the band?” Naomi asks Tegan.

Tegan looks at me then back at Naomi.

“What is this about?”

“What if I say that your sister wants to quit the band once your hand is healed?”

“She is only in the band for three weeks then she’s out,” Tegan says. Naomi rolls her eyes.

“I mean leave the band for good. No more of her being your lapdog. She will move away, leaving you to it with the band.”

Tegan looks at me confused. “You want to leave us?”

I shrug. “Like you said, this band is yours. I kind of want to do something that’s mine.”

For the first time in a long time, I see Tegan’s eyes soften.

“Why are you telling me?”

“We don’t want the guys to know,” I tell her. “I want all money owed to me, then I will be out of your hair. I need a new start, sis.”

“What brought this on? Has someone hurt you?” Her eyes get angry. I want to say Nate, but if they are having something intimate, I don’t want to get involved. Just remembering that my sister and Nate could be an on/off again relationship, then there’s me rubbing myself against him.

I am the shittiest sister ever.

“No one has hurt me. I just realized that this isn’t for me anymore. You know how boring I am.”

She looks at me before sighing. “Well, you never ever signed any contract, so you don’t need to hand in any notice. I will make sure you get paid every cent, but promise me one thing?”

“What’s that?” I ask suspiciously.

“Keep in touch.”

I step back, taken aback. That I didn’t expect.

“Of course, you are my family. I love you.”

Tears brim in Tegan’s eyes before she pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry I’m always hard on you,” she says against my head. Soon I feel Naomi’s arms around us.

“I feel the love,” Naomi says, causing us all to laugh. “Who knew you can actually be nice. Feels like we are in the twilight zone,” she jokes. “Why are you a bitch? Especially toward your own sister?”

Tegan sighs, leaning back against the door. “Honestly…” She pauses. “I’ve always been jealous of you, Blair.”

That I didn’t expect her to say.

“Jealous of me? You have nothing to be jealous of. It’s me who is jealous of you. You are following your dream. Your band is famous. You are set for the rest of your life.”