When the Music Stops (Mason Brothers Book #2)

Chapter 1

JOLIE

I peel my eyes open and take in my surroundings. I don’t know why I’m the slightest bit surprised that I don’t recognize my surroundings. I do recognize the pain that is coming from behind my eyeballs though. I’m going to need water and Tylenol, neither of which I think I’ll find here. Before pulling off the blanket that is covering me, I take a peek beneath the blanket and pray that I’m wearing my clothes. Much to my delight I still have on the denim shorts and crop top that I changed into after work last night. Glancing over my shoulder, I see that I’m alone in the bed, that’s an even better sign.

It takes all my remaining energy to sit up without vomiting. I can’t remember the last time I ate and the dizziness induced by the hangover is doing a number on my stomach. I glance around for anything that might hint at my current whereabouts, but nothing seems familiar. My pink phone case is resting next to me on the bed, I take a moment to look through my text messages, but nothing needs to be taken care of right now. Slowly, I move out of the bed and tuck my phone into my back pocket. I need to figure out where I am and how to get back to somewhere familiar.

“Dammit Jolie, what kind of shit did you get into last night?” I chastise myself.

The smell of cheap alcohol and weed hits me the second I open the bedroom door. It does nothing to help the state that my stomach is already in, but I put one foot in front of the other and make my way into the living room where bodies are passed out everywhere. Finally, I find my on-again, off-again boyfriend/hook up/friend with benefits, Trevor, and push at his shoulder with my foot. “Trev...Trev… wake up.”

He groans but does end up opening his eyes. They’re still bloodshot and a little glassy, clearly still high. It’s only about 9 am which means he probably hasn’t slept long enough to sleep the drunken high off. “Hey baby girl, what’s going on?”

“Where are we?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Shit of course I don’t remember. I just woke up. Did I come here with you?”

“Nah Jo,” he shakes his head. “You were here when I got here. This is Victor’s place.”

I try to think in my head if I know anybody named Victor, but nobody is coming to mind. “Victor? Who the fuck is Victor?”

“Sasha’s cousin. Come on, don’t tell me you fucked a guy that you didn’t even know again.”

“Eww, for your information I didn’t fuck anybody last night. I was alone when I woke up and I certainly would remember screwing some guy named Victor.” That may not have been a complete truth. I assume I didn’t sleep with anybody because I was alone and clothed when I woke up. That doesn’t mean much. I also have slept with people I didn’t know or remember before, not exactly something I’m proud of.

“Whatever, Jo. You wanna get out of here? My truck is down the road.”

“I’m just going to call an Uber. You good?”

“Yeah, imma sleep a bit more.” He wastes no time, closing his eyes once again.

I left Trevor where he was and headed outside. The sun hit me like a bad dream and it made my stomach do flips. I sat on the front porch with my hands shading my eyes until my Uber showed up and took me back to the couch I was crashing on this week. The driver was quiet, I liked the quiet ones. I’m pretty sure he knew I was dealing with a hangover. All the way back home I was trying to figure out who the hell Victor was. I knew Sasha. We worked together and partied a lot together, but I didn’t know a Victor, at least I don’t think I did.

I leave the Uber driver a cash tip, even though I know I’m not supposed to, but anybody that can get me home safe from that mess deserves a bit more than just a tip that will get taxed to death. I managed to drag my ass to the couch and pulled the blanket over on top of me. It was way too early to actually start my day.

The aroma of coffee hit my nose and I forced my eyes open. The second time waking up today was a much better experience. Holding a large mug of coffee was my friend Dakota. I sat up and moved my blankets so she could sit down next to me. When the first sip of coffee hit my tongue I moaned in pleasure.

“You’re a lifesaver, Koda.”

“I take it you ended up having a late night?”

“Or early morning? I’m not too sure.”

“I was worried when you didn’t come back after your shift was over,” she said quietly into her mug. “I thought we made a deal.”

“I know, but I didn’t plan on going out, I guess it just happened.”

“How does it just happen, Jo? I thought we talked about this last time you disappeared for a few days.”

“This wasn’t a few days though. I came back to you mama bird!” I tried to brush it off as a joke, but she wasn’t having it.

Dakota placates me with a smile and then goes back to drinking her coffee. She hates when I call her a mama bird, but that is what she’s almost always been to me. We’ve been friends since we were in utero. Our moms were best friends and we were born only two weeks apart. Through all the trauma over the last twenty-one years, my one constant has always been Dakota. 

She’s the friend that I could go a few months without talking to, but when we got back together we picked up right where we had left off. She helped me when I needed help and didn’t turn her back on me when I messed up (which was often). Six months ago she allowed me to come crash on her couch when Trevor and I broke up for the hundredth time. I felt like I overstayed my welcome and so I left to couch surf in different places. It wasn’t long before I found myself right back on her front porch asking for a place to sleep. She could have said no, I deserved her saying no, but Koda always said yes.

Dakota was everything that my parents wished I was. She was involved in multiple clubs in high school and was the president of most of them. She graduated with honors and scholarships up the woohoo but decided to stay local to be near her family. I didn’t have much to bring to this friendship, but for some reason she still liked me. Any time I messed things up with her I promised myself I’d do better next time, but it was just a nasty cycle I was living in.

“What classes do you have today?” I tried to change the subject to something less controversial.

“Just my Art Education class. I’m going to the elementary school for my internship though. Do you work tonight?”

I shake my head, “Not unless Chanel calls me in.”

“Maybe we should get dinner. I’ll be done with my class by 6:30, we can go to Pete’s.”

“I’d love that. Just call me when you’re done and I’ll hitch a ride over.”

“Are you going to go back to sleep?”

“No, I’m going to shower and make a few phone calls.”

“For a new job?” She smiled hopefully.

“Nobody is going to hire me, Koda, you know that.”

She leaned into my shoulder, “They would if you cleaned yourself up and you saw yourself as I do.”

“You always have seen the best in me, Koda.”

“That’s because I love you, Jo.”

“I love you too.”

After Dakota left for her internship I peeled myself off the couch and hopped in the shower. I had written Sasha a text, hoping she could give me insight on last night and when I got dressed and looked at my phone I saw that she had replied with about fifteen messages. “Fuck, this can’t be good,” I groaned.

I scrolled through the messages and the pictures shaking my head all the way through them. Turns out Victor happens to be almost forty years old making the idea of hooking up with him even worse. When he stopped by our work last night to pick Sasha up, he invited us back to his place to party. I don’t remember saying yes, but I’m usually too drunk or high once my shift is over to realize what is going on.

The only positive of the messages was that he left with another chick and Sasha swears that we didn’t do anything. I’ve spent too many nights out of my mine and making bad choices and too many mornings trying to figure out what the hell happened.

“Dammit Jolie, get your shit together.”