When Kellen reached the front door, he hesitated for just a second before he tried the knob and found it unlocked. Owen’s home had always been like his own, just as Kellen’s door was always open for Owen. Even though he had guests, Owen would expect him to come inside. And based on the enormous black pickup parked out front, not every guest was a woman.
“Is Gabe here too?” Kellen called to announce his arrival. “Isn’t that his truck taking up half the street?”
“Hey.” Gabe nodded at Kellen when he entered the living room. His green eyes were troubled, and he looked about as well-rested as Kellen felt, which wasn’t well at all considering he hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.
Caitlyn was sitting beside Owen, holding his hand, offering the support that Kellen usually gave him. Kellen didn’t feel jealous, not exactly. He felt lost. Where was his place if it wasn’t beside Owen? Maybe if Dawn was there to hold his hand, he’d feel a bit more grounded, but she was en route to Prague. As much as he missed her, he was proud that she was so worldly. He’d sort all the crap out somehow, but doing so would have to wait until he was alone and he could reflect. At the moment, there was too much turmoil in the band for him to reflect on anything but their pile of rubble.
He doubted any of them would be able to sort themselves out if the band didn’t get back together. Jacob was obviously even more lost than Kellen—his actions were a cry for help. And as Jacob was the one who understood Adam best, without Jacob, Adam would be lost as well. The two needed each other, just as he and Owen needed one another. He wondered what it felt like to be Gabe, who didn’t need any of them to feel grounded and who never felt lost. Or did he? Based on his expression, perhaps Gabe was feeling lost as well.
Kellen played it cool as he flopped down on the sofa next to Owen. He knew they expected him to be the even-tempered one and was committed to doing his best to be the guy they needed. Kellen glanced at the television, surprised they were watching a baseball game instead of Jacob’s news segment. He’d called Owen ahead of time with a heads-up.
“Turn the channel,” Kellen said, extending a hand toward the television. “It should be starting.”
“Already?” Owen scrambled for the remote. “I thought you said tonight.”
“At five.”
Owen cringed and flipped through the channels until Jacob’s face filled the screen. And then the camera panned out to show a woman sitting beside him.
Tina? Kellen exchanged a flabbergasted look with Owen before searching the television screen for clues to the reason their obviously insane lead singer was holding hands with his ex-wife on live television. Last Kellen had heard, Jacob despised Tina and was getting pretty serious about her sister, Amanda.
Owen couldn’t even get a full sentence out of his gaping mouth. “What the . . . ?”
“That settles it,” Gabe said. “He’s completely lost his shit. We’re having him committed.”
Owen cranked up the volume so they could hear better. Jacob’s words scarcely registered with Kellen—something about family being more important than success. Kellen was more interested in body language. Jacob sat as rigid as the oak tree Kellen often likened him to, while Tina leaned into him with a satisfied smile on her pretty face. She was holding Jacob’s hand, not the other way around, and there was something in her eyes. Something triumphant. There was something in Jacob’s too. His expression was closer to defeat. Despair? It was hard to read him clearly on television.
“So the rest of Sole Regret’s summer tour is canceled,” Jacob announced in a flat tone. “I’ll personally repay the fans for any nonrefundable tickets.”
“What?” Tina’s triumph faltered just a bit as she turned her astonished gaze on Jacob before fixing her stare back on the camera.
“What?” Gabe shouted at the television.
“Are you back together with your ex-wife?” a reporter asked. “If I recall correctly, your divorce was rather messy.”
“And final!” Gabe leaned closer to the TV as if he wanted to climb inside and strangle Jacob.
“We’re going to live together as a family,” Jacob said. For a second, a small smile turned up the corner of his mouth.
Kellen recognized the smile Jacob reserved for his little girl. He could very easily see Jacob giving up everything for Julie. But not for Tina. Never for Tina. Kellen searched his memory for some clue as to why Jacob’s world had apparently tilted on its side, but came up lacking. He’d been so concerned with his own drama that he hadn’t been paying attention to anyone else’s.
“I won’t be able to afford two homes once all the lawsuits start being filed,” Jacob continued, “so I’ve moved back in with my w—wife and daughter.”
And there would be lawsuits. Lots and lots of lawsuits. Kellen wasn’t even sure how many contracts they were breaking here.
“Lawsuits?” Tina asked. Her confident smile was gone now. She gawked at Jacob, but it was the way she suddenly released his hand that made Kellen wonder if the band breakup was a front for something that had nothing to do with Sole Regret. But Jacob wouldn’t use them for selfish gain, would he?
“I’m breaking all sorts of contracts to be with you,” Jacob said, his gaze turning soft, almost loving, as he looked at her. Kellen shook his head at the TV. Jacob’s mixed signals were impossible to read, but Tina seemed to be as stunned by his claims as the rest of them. “But none of that’s important. My career is over. I’ll be utterly broke, but none of that matters. All that matters is that you get what you want, Tina. You want me, right?”
Tina blinked at him. Her gaze shifted to her lap where her hands were now folded. “Of course I do.”
But there was an unspoken stipulation there, Kellen mused. He could practically see it on her forehead. She wanted Shade Silverton, the rock star, not Jacob Silverton, the regular guy, and Jacob seemed to realize that that was the only card he had left to play in their troubling game.
“Does he really not care that he’s going to lose everything?” Gabe fumed, barely staying in his chair. “He doesn’t even like her!”
“All we need is love,” Jacob said, his gaze solidly locked with Tina’s.
Maybe she would settle for Jacob the gifted actor, because wow, Kellen could almost buy his sincerity. If he hadn’t known Jacob better, hadn’t lived with him through the hell of his divorce, hadn’t witnessed how hard it had been for Jacob to straighten out his life after Tina had insisted they split, Kellen would have though Jacob was in love with the gold-digger.
“Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” Jacob kissed Tina’s hand. Her lips were pursed too rigidly to actually smile.
“That’s right,” she managed to say.
A vicious game was being played out right before them. Tina held all the aces, or made Jacob think she did, but Jacob wasn’t as stupid as she thought he was. He knew what she was really after and knew how to take it away. Kellen didn’t like that he’d tangled Sole Regret up in his scheme, but they couldn’t accept the situation at face value. Deeper issues were churning beneath the surface.
“We’re missing something,” Owen said. “Something monumental.”