Give Me Love (41 page)

She mumbled an apology and began to fill another vial full of blood. How much was she going to take? I wanted to shout for biscuits and orange juice STAT before I started to fade away.

After she finished harassing me with medical devices, and after I’d told Mitch everything I could remember, twice, Coby took me home so I could sleep off the effects of the drugs. I spoke to both Mac and Henry before I dozed off, promising I would be in the best shape of my life to perform the last show of the tour at the Sydney stadium tonight.

In the early afternoon, Peter’s loud snoring woke me, and I could hear rummaging sounds in my wardrobe. Rubbing at my face as I struggled to surface into the real world, I heard a strange muttering that sounded suspiciously like “My God, Mac was right.”

When Tim bustled out of my wardrobe with an arm full of clothes, I flopped back down on my pillow, groaning at the return of the wrecking ball.

He dropped the clothes all over my bedroom floor and went rushing to the bedside table to hand over some Panadol and water.

“How are you feeling?”

I rubbed at my forehead wearily. “A hundred percent.”

He forced a laugh, peppering me with questions while he fussed for a few moments before disappearing back into my wardrobe, only to return with another load of clothes.

“What are doing?”

“Performing miracles it seems.”

I set the glass of water on the bedside table and sank back into the downy depths of the doona. “Oh?”

“Mac was right. We need to go shopping.”

He plucked a shirt out of the pile with the caricature of a person drinking a beer and held it up as though it was going to bite his face off. “‘Rehab is for Quitters’? That has
got
to go.” He shuddered with distaste and flung it across the room.

“Hey,” I mumbled. “That was a present from Frog.”

He held out another one and squealed. “'Come to the Nerd Side. We have Pi?' That is just weird! And lame. How many of these vile things do you have?”

“That one was from Hairy Parry. The rest are all from Cooper, so you can’t throw them away, Tim. Trust me, I wear the shirts he buys me around the house all the time. He’ll notice if I suddenly stop. What are you doing anyway?”

“A clean out for the Salvation Army by the looks of all this rubbish.” He eyed the piles distastefully as he made his way back into the wardrobe. “This might work.” He came back out holding a gold coloured silk camisole with shoestring straps. “I’m under orders from Mac to get you dressed and in Rockstar Goddess mode for tonight,” he explained. He laid the camisole on my bed and disappeared again. “Go and get in the shower.”

“We’ve got ages yet,” I whined and bunkered down, Peter snuggling close as he angled for a belly scratch.

Tim emerged long enough to throw me a withering look. “Have you seen yourself? Trust me, we need all the time we can get.”

“Fine,” I growled and whipped back the covers. “But I’m wearing what
I
choose to wear.”

As I stalked to the bathroom, I was pretty sure I heard him mumble something that sounded like, “Not in this life time.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mac

I stood off to the side of the stage next to Coby and Travis and watched Evie strut and chatter to the mammoth crowd of Sydneysiders crammed into the stadium. You couldn’t tell the shit she’d been through with the way she grinned and bantered with the audience, dazzling them with her sexy smile and glorious hair.

I grinned smugly to myself as I took in her outfit. Tim had come through, just like I knew he would. Her caramel hair hung down her back in her trademark glossy waves, and her skin glowed underneath the gold coloured strappy silk camisole. He’d teamed it with a thick gold arm band that encircled her bicep and a pair of vintage indigo Ksubi skinny jeans that I’d given her last winter when I realised, to my absolute devastation, they did her better justice.

My gaze moved to Jake as they hit the intro into the next song of their set. The conceited, egotistical bastard was shirtless again, as usual, and the muscles in his arms and chest rippled powerfully as he hammered the drums. Whatever it was about him rubbed me up the wrong way, and I knew he felt the same because whenever I got anywhere near him, he turned into a complete asshole. I gave him a good glare, not that he was watching, but it did make me feel a little better.

My gaze moved over to pretty boy Henry as he hunched over his guitar, his fingers moving along the strings like he was born doing it. He’d tried to teach me several times how to play, but I was a complete boob when it came to music, and after a while, he gave up, lacking the patience of trying to turn me into a musical genius. Maybe he thought I felt a bit left out of the whole music vibe, but I was glad I wasn’t in the middle of it. Standing out there while a bazillion people watched you? No thanks. I was confident and outspoken, but I’d rather sit around a dirty campfire in the middle of the Congo and converse with snakes while chewing on alligator steaks than walk out in front of that.

My thoughts turned to next week. The band had two weeks off to recuperate before they had to get started on the songs they were planning for the first album. While they would all be busy sitting on their asses, I had meetings to arrange with all sorts of departments, bookings to sort out for studios, plan a music video, press events to respond to, and photo shoots. I also had five interviews lined up for potential assistants to help me deal with all the crap. One of them looked promising, the rest not so much. I had all my hopes on the promising one, so I’d set her interview up first.

I pulled out my phone to check for messages. Nothing. Damn you, Jared. Where the fuck are you?

As the band wrapped up the song, Evie turned to give me a questioning glance. I knew she was waiting for me to tell her the minute we’d got hold of Jared. I hid the worry from her because the moment I showed any concern would likely be the moment she fell apart. Evie depended on me to keep it together, so I shrugged, but I saw the anxiety and disappointment flitter across her face before she tucked the emotions away and forced a smile.

That’s my girl.
She knew how to pack it away and get the job done.

She was perfect for Jared. Her demeanour, so radiant and cheery, brought out Jared’s playful side, and offset his tendency to be too serious, yet she was capable enough to pull it all together when she needed to. I loved both of them and could see the love they had for each other. When they were together, Jared couldn’t take his eyes off her, and Evie’s would shine. It was mushy, heart-warming stuff, not that I would admit it, but now, seeing them like this was painful. Deep down I was worried. I didn’t want to see Jared alone and Evie full of regret for not taking a chance. Unfortunately, between the two of them, they were about as useful as a fart in a thunderstorm when it came to sorting their shit out. I was tired of standing back and letting them bumble around like twats. It was about time I interfered, well, interfered more than I already had. Truth was, I couldn’t wait to be an aunty. Aunty Mac had quite the ring to it, and the pink frilly outfits I’d already been eyeing wouldn’t buy themselves.

Whipping my phone back out, I dialled Jared’s number again. Straight to voice mail. I wanted to scream with frustration. I wasn’t worried about Jared physically; I knew he could take care of himself. My brother was smart, quick, and packed a shitload of muscle. I was more worried about what was going on in his head. When Evie arrived at the stadium earlier, I’d managed to pull her aside and got the lowdown on last night and this morning’s events, right down to the last word and expression on Jared’s face which just about broke my heart. Afterwards, she looked tired and worn out, and I regretted dragging her through all that again. Now my brother was out there thinking bad shit, and no one could freaking get hold of him to sort the whole sorry mess out.

Travis was standing next to me on the side of the stage. “Heard from Jared?” I asked.

Travis pressed his lips in a flat line as he checked his phone and then shook his head. “He’ll be okay, Mac.”

“I know, Travis. If only he would just check in so we could sort this freaking mess out.”

“He’ll show up,” Travis said patiently.

I think my brothers sucked all the patience genes out of my mother before I was born because I didn’t have a single one in my body.

“Yes, yes. I know he will eventually and love will prevail and I’ll finally get my little niece, but I’m not the most patient of people, Travis.”

He snorted. “No shit.”

“So any idea of what you think this Jimmy asshole might do tonight?”

He shook his head in frustration. “Nope. Every single person who has walked into this stadium has gone through detectors, not to mention we’ve got sniffer dogs roving the area and bodyguards posted at every single entrance to the stadium. We’ve done everything humanly possible to ensure Evie’s safety. Trust me. He can’t get at her in here.”

“Trust you, Travvie.”

I gave him a quick pat on the back and turned to see Marcus walking up behind me. I raised a brow. “Marcus, what a surprise. What are you doing here?”

He grinned and waved a ticket. “Wanted to see the show of course. Can I...uh...talk to you in private for a minute?”

I glanced around at the stage to make sure everything was running smoothly and saw Jake frowning at me. Typical, the wanker. I frowned back before I turned to Marcus. “Sure,” I clicked off my headset. “Just for a minute though, right?”

He nodded.

“Okay, follow me.” I led him down the stairs and around the back into the makeshift dressing room.

As I pulled the door shut behind him he grabbed my arm and shoved me up against the wall. “Why haven’t you called me?” He growled and planted his lips on mine for a kiss that sucked all the breath from my body. I kissed him back for a moment before I shoved him away, panting hard.

“Christ, Marcus.” I walked over to the mirrors and freshened my lipstick, more so to gain some equilibrium than concern over my appearance. I looked at him through the mirror. “I’ve been busy, you know, with the tour.”

He looked a bit sheepish. “Right, sorry. I just thought…”

“You thought what? We’re only dating casually, Marcus. I did tell you that was all I wanted when we first went out, right?”

He sat down. “Yeah, yeah, I know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Uh oh. He looked nervous. This did not bode good things.

I walked over and sat down next to him. “Marcus, I don’t want to be rude, but I really need to get back. Do you want to talk now or some other time?”

He hesitated. “Might be better some other time.” He gave me a hopeful smile. “Dinner next week?”

I sighed internally as I mentally reviewed my crammed schedule for next week. “Sure, that sounds good. Can I call you to set up a time and place?”

He nodded and I leaned over and placed a gentle reassuring kiss on his lips.

“Good then. I’ll look forward to it,” I said and stood up. “Right, I better get back. Come on, I’ll walk you back out.”

He followed me out and as we reached the stairs to the side of the stage I gave his arm a quick rub, telling him I'd see him soon, and walked up the stairs.

I really liked Marcus and I had nothing against relationships, which should have been obvious with the way I kept trying to shove Jared and Evie together, and one day I even looked forward to having one all of my own. One day. I liked dating. I liked meeting and getting to know different people and not having to answer to anybody. I wanted to keep it that way. Not forever, just for now. Hell, I was still only twenty-four, just a spring chicken by current standards. Besides, finding a man who could put up with a ball busting bitch like me and then go through the gauntlet that was my three older brothers was not the most simplest of tasks.

I reached the side of the stage and took my place next to Travis, clicking my headset back on. Jake caught me with another frown, and I had to put my one free hand in my pocket to refrain from giving him the finger. Dumbass. I couldn’t believe he actually accused me of being a maneater. Of all the freaking nerve. I’d never been anything but honest, maybe more than I needed be. Evie had mentioned more than once that I needed a prescription for tact pills. I tried, really, but I was who I was, and if some people couldn’t accept that then they could stick it up their hooha. You couldn’t like or please everyone right?

A voice crackled in my ear. “Mac? George. I’m at Gate E. There’s a delivery for Jamieson.”

“Another one? Roger that, George. Let me check the schedule.” I flipped through the paperwork on my clipboard. “I can’t see anything. Do you know what it is?”

“Just looks like a case of booze. Do you want it scanned?”

“Hang on, I’ll check.” I turned to Travis. “Another unscheduled delivery for Jamieson,” I said with a sigh. “Do you want it scanned? George thinks it’s likely just alcohol.”

Travis nodded. “Scan it first. Tell George to trust nothing.”

I spoke into the headset. “Scan it please, George. Travis said to trust nothing. Then let me know.”

“Roger that, Mac.”