Gone Forever (Adam Gontier #2)

Chapter 8

TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT SCENE. PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU BELIEVE THIS MAY TRIGGER YOU OR INSULT YOU. IF YOU READ AND ARE TRIGGERED, PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME HATE MESSAGES, HOWEVER I AM HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT IF YOU NEED IT. MANY APOLOGIES FOR ANY TRIGGERINGS.

Jason's POV

As soon as Lara steps off stage, her sprog on her arm and her ex watching her back - or rather her arse - from walking on her heels, I step to the back of the stage and start talking to Greg as the next guys step on stage and start playing pop songs. I can pretty much listen to any music; I like all music. I have my favourites but I'll listen to anything. That's seriously unlike Lara, though. She'll go bat-shit crazy listening to bad pop music, but I'll always be there to calm her down and make sure she doesn't beat the shit out of someone or their guitar.

"Greg, dude, how'd you find that?" I ask, grinning at him as he stares in confusion at the instruments that Lara had left behind. She'll be back in five, maybe ten minutes - she always is when she forgets to take the shit with her, she knows we can't look after it. She'll get halfway down the road in her car and then she'll pull over and cuss under her breath in that sexy accent of hers, muttering about forgetting. Then she'll twist a U-turn and roll her eyes as she heads off back-tracking. I grin at the thought of it - it's always fun to spend time with her, I wish I could do it more. But now that fucking ex of hers is back and I can tell from the way they were looking at each other, and from that kiss, that she's gonna be spending a lot more time with him and a lot less time with me. I might be able to get in on it and keep an eye on her, I could use Barry as an excuse. She needs someone to keep an eye on her. She doesn't need help to hold her own, she's a strong lady and that's something I love about her. But she needs someone to keep an eye out, to stop her going too far.

"It was sick, man," Greg answers me, cutting off my thoughts. I grin, nodding. "I mean, she brought fucking Three Days Grace in here? Holy fuck, she really wasn't lying."

"Yeah, she really wasn't," I mutter, looking down before staring at the equipment and shaking the thought from my head. What the fuck am I thinking? Of course they're not getting back together. Why would they? She's responsible, she always has been. She wouldn't do something stupid like that, especially not with Rhia looking up to her.

I drop down on my knees and start wrapping up cables and cords in neat coils around my hands. As expected, Lara comes back within a few minutes, looking flustered as she usually does when she forgets things. I grin at her, standing up and picking up my guitar. "You forget again?"

"What?" she says, confused before she looks down. "Oh, right. Yeah, technically, I did. But, Jason, I need to talk to you and it's important."

I glance over her shoulder and see her ex staring at her with Rhia holding on tightly to his side. What the fuck? I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to control my temper. Opening them, I see a worried look on her face. I smile to reassure her. "Yeah, sure, babe," I say. "But lets take it outside, these guys are starting to give us bitchy looks over being here so long. Let me just grab Greg's soul and our shit and then we'll talk." She smiles, nodding and taking the cables from me as I grab my guitar and Greg grabs his cajon, lifting it awkwardly. I guess it is pretty heavy, being a solid wooden box. I've never understood those stupid fucking things.

We drag all our non-stored equipment out the back entrance, walking past Lara's ex and meeting up with the rest of his band. Damn, they've all got the same fucked-up expressions as Lara does.

"First things first," Barry says, and I grin as he does. He's the one member in that band that I feel like I could really connect with. "We're going on tour tomorrow evening." Shit.