CHAPTER TEN
CARLY

Knock, knock.

I bang my fist louder on the door, since the doorbell did literally no good. Calling him before I showed up didn’t do any good either. The door finally cracks and then swings open revealing a still dripping wet Adair without his shirt.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, rubbing his hair with the towel still in his hand.

“I… uh,” I stammer, shaking my head to clear the hormonal fog. “We have a problem,” I say, placing my palm on his rock-hard chest and pushing him back enough I can step inside. “You didn’t answer your phone.”

“I was in the shower,” he says with a smirk.

“Clearly,” I find a t-shirt tossed on the back of the sofa in the living area. “Here. Cover yourself up, please.”

One eyebrow raises as a smirk creeps across his face. “Is this distracting?” He flexes his pecs like an idiot.

“Only because it’s creepy and makes me wonder if Travis might actually be the smart one out of the two of you.” I force myself to look away, finding a place to prop up my tablet for the conference call.

“I would’ve called you back.”

I let out a deep breath giving myself time to refocus. “Well, The Machine is taking things to the next level and Griffin asked us to stay on top of it. So, waiting for a call back isn’t really going to work for me right now.”

“Fair enough,” he nods, plopping down on the sofa beside me as I’m setting up the device. “What’s changed in the last twelve hours?”

“Stone’s already started.”

“Started what?”

I pull up an article with a video of my brother doing charity work at an animal shelter with a small town’s local volunteers. “This.”

“So?”

“The entire Amaryllis brand was built on community. The Machine has been whining in the media that Amaryllis disowned their community by bailing before your contract was up.”

His eyes slowly go back to the video of Stone as the realization hits him. “And they’re building a campaign showing Stone helping out in local communities.”

“Exactly.”

He shrugs and throws his feet up on the coffee table. “It won’t take long for them to realize community is the farthest thing from Stone’s mind.”

“I don’t disagree, but we can’t drop the ball.” I tap the button to video chat the rest of the band. “We have to respond now. I don’t have the time to dig into Stone’s motivations right now.”

Griffin’s face is the first to pop on the screen with Carter playing video games in the background. “What’s up, Carly?” His eyes shift to Adair. “What are you doing there?”

He just shrugs. “She can’t resist me,” he teases jabbing me lightly in the side.

“Try to keep your ego under control for at least five minutes, please.” I tap my phone screen to send a message out to a few of my contacts and hope for the best while Nash and Travis join. “We need to respond in the media now to stay ahead of this. Are you guys willing to do a charity event next week if I can get it thrown together in time?”

“Of course,” Nash says. “What do you have in mind?” His eyes shift to the opposite side of the screen. “Hang on. I can’t focus. Travis what are you doing?”

“Shh.” He says, tucking his head down and slowly opening his truck’s driver side door. “One second.”

“Travis,” a high-pitched voice calls out in the background.

“Crap,” he growls, throwing himself in the driver’s seat. The engine roars to life as he throws it in reverse and docks his phone on the dash. “There.”

“I don’t even want to know anymore, man.” Nash just shakes his head and keeps looking straight ahead. “As you were saying, Carly?”

“I—” I try to shake it off, but can’t. “Travis, what are you doing?”

He looks in the rearview as the sound of his engine grows louder. “Escaping with my life if that’s okay with all of you.” He scowls at the screen.

“Okay, moving on.” I share the video of Stone with the group. “We need to get ahead of this, and I think I know how. I’ve sent a message out to my contacts, but I need your agreement before I schedule anything.”

Griffin nods and is the first to speak up. “I don’t have anything planned until next month. Schedule away.”

“Same,” Nash says.

“I’ll make it work,” Travis agrees, still checking in the rearview. “If it’s going to be a charity event, you’re going to need to make sure Adair doesn’t pull any of his backstage antics.”

“Me?” Adair scoffs at the screen. “I’m not the one who let myself get roped into the first act of a horror movie last night.”

“Shut up!” Travis growls. “You’re not supposed to tell them.”

“You literally just escaped with us all on the screen.”

He purses his lips together and sticks out his tongue. “I guess I did, huh?”

I can’t even… “Anyway… if you’re all on board then I’ll set it up and get back to you with the times.”

They all nod their agreement as I tap to end the chat, turning to Adair who’s still sitting beside me. “He’s right.”

“About what?”

“We can’t afford any backstage or on camera drama while we’re fighting The Machine.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. It’s Travis who you need to watch out for.”

I wish I believed that. My phone buzzes beside me. “Oh!” I show him the screen. “We’ve got a taker.”

“Toys for Kids? That’s a great cause.” He smiles. “And I promise, absolutely no drama.”

What have I gotten myself into?