Take Me for Granted (Take Me #1)(54)

“Oh, Vin, baby,” Sydney said in a chipper voice. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Bro, are you f**king my girl?”

Miller leaned against the doorframe, crossed his arms, and gave Vin the best eat-shit-and-die look I’d ever seen from him. He didn’t need to say a word. That look had done the trick.

“Whoa!” I said, slamming my hand down onto Vin’s chest. “Fucking chill out. You were f**king someone else last night.”

“He f**king knew I was into Sydney!” Vin cried, trying to push past me.

He had more bulk than I did, but I wasn’t going to let my brothers kill each other. Miller was tall and lanky, but I knew firsthand that he packed a punch. He had been taking jiu-jitsu and various other martial arts classes since he was a kid.

Sydney rolled her eyes. “Vin, baby, calm down.”

“Don’t f**king tell me what to do!”

I shoved Vin backward. “Don’t talk to my f**king cousin like that, jackass.”

The other doors to the suite opened, and Aribel and McAvoy appeared out of nowhere. McAvoy came over to help block Vin’s path to Miller.

“What’s going on?” Aribel asked.

“We got it covered, Ari. Just go back into the room.”

She gave me a look that said, No chance in hell.

“You motherf*cker!” Vin yelled at Miller, ignoring the bodies standing between them. “You broke code.”

“What code?” Miller was completely calm. “Did you claim her? Is she sharing your bed? Has she been there since high school? No. And last I checked, Sydney is perfectly free to decide where she wants to spend her nights.”

Sydney turned and smiled at Miller. Oh f**k! This hadn’t been just some scheme on her part, like normal. She actually liked Miller. Well, just f**king great. Way to split up the group, Ono.

“Vin is just overreacting. I don’t have time for this,” Sydney said with an exaggerated eye roll. She turned, grabbed her parka, and walked out of the suite.

I f**king knew she was going to be a disaster.

“We have a show in ten hours,” I said. My eyes darted between the two guys. “Are you going to f**king get over this shit before then?”

“There are going to be scouts,” McAvoy said, surprisingly coherent. His eyes weren’t even bloodshot. He nodded his head at me when he saw me notice.

“This is huge for us,” I repeated Miller’s words back to him.

“He f**king slept with Sydney.”

“Yeah, we all got that,” Miller said.

“Enough!” I yelled at both of them. “You should just go find your ginger and f**k her the rest of the afternoon to get over this.”

“Hey! That’s my friend!” Aribel called.

“You want to go for a spin, honey?” Vin asked with a wink.

Aribel narrowed her eyes.

I was ready to knock that shit look off his face, but McAvoy jumped between us.

“He’s just pissed. He doesn’t need a broken nose, too.”

“Maybe he does,” I growled.

“Look,” McAvoy said, raising his voice.

That caught our attention. He never raised his voice.

“We have a f**king show tonight. We shouldn’t be arguing over some f**king girls. It’s about the music. It’s always been about the f**king music. Why have I been the only one who seems to remember that lately?”

Miller stood up and dropped his arms. Vin looked away from McAvoy’s gaze. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. These were my brothers. We didn’t need to be arguing like this.

“He’s right.”

“Yeah,” Miller said.

Vin continued to look off toward the TV.

“Vin?” McAvoy prompted.

“Yeah. It’s about the f**king music.”

“So, go get laid, blow off some steam, whatever you need. But when we step onto that stage, this shit never happened.”

Chapter 32: Aribel

Grant stormed back into the room like a thundercloud. Our breakfast had been forgotten in the midst of Vin and Miller’s fight. He slammed the door closed behind him, scooped me up like I weighed nothing, and tossed me back onto the bed. I bounced once and then lay flat.

“Are you turning into a caveman on me?”

“Is this some new thing?” he asked, yanking his shirt over his head.

“I suppose not. Are you pissed about Sydney?” I could tell he was, but I wanted him to talk to me about it.

“I knew she’d f**king be trouble on this trip the moment she called and asked me to take her with me. She’s a f**king mess—bed-hopping, wearing those ridiculous clothes, acting like a dumb slut.” He shook his head in frustration. “She’s actually a really smart girl. Full scholarship to the University of Tennessee, straight A’s, on the f**king Dean’s list. She’s just a f**k-up in her personal life.”

“Doesn’t sound like anyone else I know.”

Grant turned his dark eyes on me, and his whole body softened. “Nah. I’m not as smart as Sydney.”

“You wouldn’t say you f**ked up your personal life?”

“Last I checked, you’re in my bed, Ari. I’m a f**k-up, that’s for f**king sure, but I must have done something right because you’re here. Or maybe I’m a real f**k-up, and you deserve someone better than me.” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he even realized what he’d said.