Reid rubbed the back of his neck and shoved one hand in his pocket. “Yeah. ‘City Nights’ and maybe ‘Ropes.’ Are you ready?”
Chloe nodded. “I’ve spent a lot of free time working on my parts.”
“Shit, Chloe. I’m sorry. I should have been working with you.” Only a week had passed since he blew up at Greer on the way to Belfast, but it was a week he should have spent working with Chloe and not wallowing in weakness.
Chloe waved him off. “It’s no big deal. Greer took one for the team and volunteered.”
Indignation crept up Reid’s spine. The thought of Greer working with Chloe on his music bothered him in ways he wasn’t prepared to contemplate. “I doubt Greer can be very helpful since it’s not his music. I’m the only one who can decide if you’re ready or not.” He sounded like an angry, petulant child.
“Okay.” Chloe spoke in a soft tone, but Reid could hear her discomfort. He was being an idiot. And a little bit of a jerk.
“I’m sorry. It’s just, considering my current writing issues, I’m really protective over the songs I do have.”
“Understood. We’ll run through them, and if it’s not quite right, you and I can work on them later. Deal?”
Reid felt the need to apologize again, but instead, he just nodded. “Go grab some lunch. I’ll see you back here in a couple of hours.”
“You got it, boss.” Chloe flashed a wide smile and did a quick salute before disappearing the way she came.
“Jesus Christ,” Reid muttered, still staring in the direction Chloe had left. It was the first time they’d been alone since Jess had casually mentioned the review she read about their show in Dublin. She’d tried to act like she wasn’t bothered, but Reid knew better. It made him paranoid. He didn’t want to give Jess any reason to doubt him. It was a complication he couldn’t afford. Not when there were so many other things trying to pull him down. Not when Jess was one of the things holding him up.
Still, he couldn’t hide from his problems the entire tour. His music and his reputation—what was left of it—were on the line. He needed to be stronger. He would be stronger. He just needed to figure out how.
Chloe stood in front of Greer and Drew with her hands planted on her hips. She gave them a stern look, but she knew from their expressions she wasn’t threatening. Bullying wasn’t really her thing. Bargaining, however, was something she excelled at.
“Listen,” she sighed. “I swear he’s not going to be pissed.”
Greer’s eyes widened with disbelief. “I’m sorry, are we talking about the same person? The one who has acted like he’s been on his period for a week?”
Drew wrinkled his nose. “Dude. Gross.” Chloe cleared her throat, and Drew grimaced when he saw her annoyed expression. “Sorry, Chloe. It is gross, though,” he added in a mumble.
“How about we make a deal? You guys do this for me, and if it pisses him off, I’ll hand-wash your clothes for two weeks.”
“I don’t know, Chloe.” Greer scratched his chin, a mischievous smile on his face. “That doesn’t seem like a fair trade. If he gets pissed, then we’ll have to deal with the fallout.”
“Greer, I know for a fact you didn’t pack enough clothes to last between laundering. I know all about your theory that inside-out boxers are the same as clean boxers. Let me just say, it is not the same. I promise. They still smell like sweat and funk. Honestly, I have way more to lose than you if he gets mad.”
Drew laughed. “She has a point.”
Greer sighed in defeat. “Fine.”
“Sweet.” Chloe smiled, her eyes bright. Greer and Drew never stood a chance. She handed each of them a slightly modified version of the original sheet music she’d worked on the past few days. Ever since she’d left Reid on the bus. She would have liked to have spent more time tweaking a few things, but what she’d done would have to do for now. If Reid liked it, they could work on it more later. “I didn’t change a lot, but you might want to look these over before we play, or at the very least, keep them handy.”
“Damn, this is pretty cool,” Drew commented, banging out a few notes on the drums.
“When did you do this?” Greer asked, doing the same as Drew.
Chloe shrugged and fiddled with her violin. “It’s nothing. Just something I’ve been playing with the last couple of days.”
“Impressive,” Drew praised.
“Thanks. I’ll cue you when to start. Cool?”
“Everyone ready to get started?” Reid asked, interrupting their powwow. Chloe spun around, her smile a little too wide.
“Absolutely.” Her overenthusiastic response garnered a side-eye from Reid before he addressed the others.