Unexpected

Chapter 4

Gabriel

Walking down the shore, I let Dave's call go to voice mail. I can't believe how easily Jo got under my skin or how much I wanted to prove her wrong. Everything in me wanted to let her know I'm the opposite of her father and her ex. But am I?

The ebb and flow of the waves serve as a reminder that I am here to take a break, to forget about all my worries for a moment. But it's hard to put things behind me for a second when the string of texts from Dave keeps bringing me back to all the issues I'm trying to ignore.

The urge to throw my phone away when it rings again is almost unbearable, but some shitty sense of responsibility always kicks in when these guys are involved.

As I look at the screen of my phone for a few seconds, I know I won't be able to ignore him forever. So, pressing the phone to my ear, I let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah?"

"Where the fuck are you?" Dave barks on the other side of the line, and I have to take a deep breath before answering.

"I'm home." I rub my face. "My parents' beach house."

"Did you talk to Josh?" he asks, and something in the way he lowers his voice gets to me. "He said he's serious about leaving, man."

"Fuck. I haven't talked to him since our last day in London." My heart sinks and I have to rub the spot in my chest that is suddenly burning. I thought a break would calm things down, but I should know better.

"Yeah..." Dave sighs, his tone worried too. "He seemed really sure about it."

"Damn it!" I kick the pile of sand in front of me, a mix of anger and hurt kicking in.

"You need to talk to him, man," Dave says after a moment.

"Where is he?"

"Not sure."

"God, I'm so tired of this shit..." I shake my head, a ball of resentment settling in the middle of my chest. These guys are my brothers, but I'm tired of always having to be the one to fix things. Especially when it's about things I have no part in. I have my own problems to deal with. The last thing I needed right now is to deal with everyone else's shit.

"You and me both, man." Dave lets out a humorless chuckle. "But I'm afraid if we don't sit down and talk, he might fuck up with the contracts we still have going on. He can't just disappear."

"You're right. I'll try to call him and get back to you guys."

"Sounds good."

Fuck! I look around, thinking about what to do. These guys are my best friends. We've been in each other's life for so long, I can't even imagine a situation where Josh is not with us anymore.

We were just a bunch of kids when we got together, but over the years, the bond we created made us family. And like every good family out there, we also have our problems.

Problems I'm tired of dealing with.

The most logical thing to do would be to gather them for a meeting. We've been at odds before and getting together and away from the public eye always seemed to do the trick. We would argue, fight, piss each other off, and naturally throw a punch or two. But after a while, we'd settle down and go on with our lives.

So, it's clear that's what Dave and the others are expecting me to do with this call.

Only, I don't want to leave. As fucked up as it seems, I was looking for this time away from them. Especially knowing I'd have Jo's company. But now...

Fuck!

Dialing Josh's number, I feel my heartbeat increase. He knows we enjoy our breaks as much as we enjoy being on stage. So, him pulling this shit now pisses me off more than I can explain.