Pretty F*cked (Pretty Broken) by J.R. Gray

Author:J.R. Gray [Gray, J.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: GrayBooks
Published: 2023-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

PRESENT DAY

Caspian Locke

As the minutes ticked down to show time, I didn’t believe Iris would come. He had every right not to. I’d done a lot of thinking over the last week. How long could we push him past miserable? Hadn’t we done enough?

For the first time, I think I understood, and my world crashed down around me. I’d been this arrogant asshole, hiding behind my shield of “I did the right thing,” but it was clear I hadn’t. I hadn’t trusted him, but I expected him to forgive me and trust me again.

I had to take responsibility for my mistakes, and if that meant we couldn’t ever be together, I’d have to accept his choice.

The time of our show came and went, and I unplugged. It was time to tell Alexander he needed to find a stand-in singer for the rest of the summer, and then past that…I didn’t know. I was sure he’d drag Iris to court if he could find him, but I wouldn’t be fighting it any longer, and I didn’t think any of the other guys would either.

I took the first step down only to find Iris at the bottom.

Hazel had covered his scar in makeup the best she could, but there would be questions. The paparazzi had snapped a few long-distance grainy photos of it, so there was already speculation, but nothing like what the crowd would see tonight.

Alexander darted in to intercept Iris, but I blocked him.

“What are you doing?” he snapped.

“We have a show to put on. And you’re done fucking with him.”

Alexander scoffed. “Get out of my way.”

“We’ll all walk off. You’ve done enough,” I said. I knew it might make everything worse, but I wasn’t letting him get to Iris.

“We’ll be talking later,” Alexander sneered.

“What did you say to him?” Iris asked when Alexander stalked off.

I slipped my hand into his while our techs plugged us in. “We have a show to put on. Do you hear them?”

“Caspian.”

“I told you I’d be here for you. Trust me.” I drew him by the hand to the stage, not our normal entrance where River went out first and played us in.

I walked with him, hand-in-hand, arms stretched out between us to the middle of the stage. I didn’t turn toward the crowd as they erupted. It was dark, none of the lights on yet, but I was sure they could tell it was us.

“Sorry, we’re a little late,” I said, checking my mic was on.

The screaming got louder.

Iris smiled before turning towards them. “Cas and I needed a moment.”

“What for?” echoed through the audience.

Iris looked at me.

I shrugged. “To listen.”

“To reconnect,” he said.

The screaming reached a volume I’d never heard before.

“We ready?” Iris asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure River, Lowe, and Alister were in their places.

River led us in, and we started our set like we had hundreds of other times, but tonight felt different. Tonight, I felt good about Iris being on stage.

If singing could be sexual, Iris embodied it.

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