Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3)



Today was a long-as-fuck day. I went to the doctor first thing and waited there for over an hour. I made them rush the tests; I needed to get inside Bryan, sans condoms, tonight. Then the band and I had a conference call with the label, which consisted of a lot of arguing and threatening, from both sides. In the end they admitted they loved the demo we sent them. We could make the album we wanted to make, but if it didn’t sell, they were dropping us. Either way, we were free to write what we wanted, so we spent hours doing just that. I went upstairs long enough to hop on the Skype call that Bryan had scheduled with my GC. I knew the other guys were content letting the girls take care of all the house shit that needed to be done, but Bryan was already doing so much for me and Landry. I couldn’t put all that on her shoulders as well. I scrubbed my hands down my face, pulling my phone out to see I’d missed a call from the doctor’s office. I clicked the voicemail button and queued up the message. I’d left them very specific instructions to let me know if I was good. Whether I answered or not. I smiled listening to the nurse tell me I was all clear. I wanted to jump around and do a happy dance. I settled with texting my girl.

J: Doctor called

B: And?

J: We’re good to go, doll.

B: Would this be a bad time to tell you I’m not on birth control?

J: That’s not funny.

B: I’m not joking.

J: Fine. I’ll knock you up. I already have one kid, what’s another one?

B: I can’t tell if you’re joking…

J: That makes two of us…

B: I’m on the pill.

J: I know. I saw them in the bathroom the other day.

B: You’re weird. Come upstairs and meet Landry’s new tutor.

J: Be up in five.

“Dude.” I looked up at the sound of Dash’s irritated voice. “Will you get off your phone so we can finish this riff?”

I popped my knuckles. It was a bad habit but I’d been playing the same chords over and over and my fingers were starting to cramp. “I can’t, I have to go meet Landry’s new tutor.”

Luke twirled his sticks in the air, like a boss. “That’s what had you grinning like a madman? Meeting Landry’s tutor?”

I stood, putting my phone back in my pocket. “Nah. I was texting B. She makes me laugh.” She also made my dick hard as fuck, but they didn’t need to hear that. “I’m heading up, y’all staying down here?”

Smith sat his bass on its stand. “I think I’m done for today too. Let’s just pick back up here in the morning.”

Dash rolled his eyes but followed us up the stairs anyway. He really wanted to get as much of this album completed as possible before the baby was born. We all headed into the kitchen, where the girls were gathered around the island. I looked over at Smith; his eyebrows were raised in question. I just shrugged, I had no idea what was going on either. All I knew was that I was supposed to come meet Landry’s tutor. “Hey, ladies. What’s up?” None of them turned to look at me, but Lexi did manage a shushing motion behind her back with her hand. Once we got to the edge of the kitchen, I realized the problem. There was a very cut, very Australian man standing in the middle of the room. I rolled my eyes and headed through the crowd of every female that lived in our house.

The man stopped his story as soon as he saw me. He held his hand out. “Hey, mate, you must be Jacks. Nice to meet you! I’m John.”

I took his hand. “John. Nice to meet you too. I see you’ve met all the girls…” Even the ones you won’t be working with. His smile was nothing but genuine and friendly. Poor guy didn’t even know that he’d walked into a room full of chicks with very possessive boyfriends. We couldn’t help it, we were used to being the sexiest men in the room. But accents mattered. Just ask Smith.

“Yeah, yeah. I met with little Landry here and Bryan. Then everyone else came home. I didn’t interrupt you guys in the studio, did I?”

I shook my head. “No. We were done.” I looked over at Landry; she was wearing the same goofy grin as the rest of them. “Buttercup, you approve?”

She blushed and nodded.

I clapped John on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re hired, man. I’m assuming you and my girlfriend worked out a schedule?” I was very subtly leading him toward the door. And letting him know that Bryan was off-limits.

He nodded. “Yeah, mate, we did.”

I opened the front door. “All right, great! Well, thanks so much for agreeing to help Landry. We’ll see you soon?”

He chuckled. “You’ll see me soon.” He wasn’t stupid; he knew I wanted him out of the house and away from my girlfriend.

When I went back into the kitchen, Bryan was trying to hide a smile by pressing her lips together. I grabbed her by the hips and pulled her toward me. “Well, he seems lovely.”

“He does, doesn’t he? And he’s a genius. Like, literally, a genius. Plus, Landry and he hit it off.”

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