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Chapter One

Gabe sat outside the local news station waiting for his so-called best friend to exit the building Gabe didn’t have a plan He had no idea what he would say to the jerk when he got the opportunity to confront hi around with his thuret’s problems Every action had an equal and opposite reaction, and Jacob’s action of breaking up their band—a band in its fucking priivable Thus, Gabe’s reaction to Jacob’s selfish actions could only be explosive in nature

Gabe had purposefully positioned his truck in the s lot in the front of the news station so that he had a good view of both the front entrance and the lane that led to the larger parking lot behind the building If Jacob was still inside, Gabe would either see hih the front door or see his car pull out of that drive There was no other way out Gabe assuer—he still couldn’t think of Jacob any other way even though the rash bastard had effectively destroyed Sole Regret—was parked behind the building Gabe would have definitely noticed the sporty little car out front Like the man, Jacob’s vehicle was impossible to overlook

But then ether Perhaps the selfish prick had left so soon after his interviehatever that bullshit he’d spouted on the evening neas called—that he’d been long gone before Gabe had arrived Gabe decided to wait a while longer before trying to track him down at home Had Jacob really ?

An enormous white SUV pulled to the end of the drive, and Gabe alnored it—Jacob drove a Tesla Roadster—until he remembered that Jacob’s ex-wife drove an SUV just like that one, and Tina had been at Jacob’s side throughout that ridiculous news segment Admittedly Gabe didn’t think too clearly when he was uy he considered his best friend—or had considered as such until he’d betrayed thelasses just before the SUV turned into traffic Definitely Jacob

“Crap,” Gabe said, starting his ignition The blast of hot air out of the air conditionerwas stiflingly hot even by late-June-in-Texas standards

He turned onto the road, gunning the truck’s big engine to cut into traffic with a loud roar He supposed he didn’t need to run Jacob off the road to talk to hiot out of his vehicle, Gabe would confront him

His cellphone rang, and he considered ignoring it until he saw that Ada Adam The other jerk in his band The one who had sent Jacob over the edge in the first place He was currently in a tie with Jacob at the top of Gabe’s shit list

“What?” Gabe answered as he accepted the call over the truck’s Bluetooth connection, zoo past several slow-assed drivers until he could see the white SUV ahead

“Did you see Jacob’s interview?”

“Oh yeah, I saw it”

“What did he say?”

Gabe figured that Adament Gabe had watched with Owen and Kellen not even an hour before But there was this thing called the internet Adaave a damn or bothered to put forth any effort

“A bunch of ridiculous nonsense,” Gabe said “Apparently he’s back with Tina and wants to live in doht with us”

Ada”

“I wish I was I’ hi on then I’llI’ll” What would he do exactly? Gabe admittedly had a temper, and he’d been known to use his fists when the occasion called for violence, but never against a friend “I’ll get to the bottom of this”

“I should be the one there straightening this shit out,” Adam said

A fact Gabe would not refute, but“Do you really think he’d listen to you?”

“No, but I need to try He probably thinks I’ain”

“Aren’t you?” Gabe snapped

He knew Adaht before their show in New Orleans because his girlfriend had been hurt pretty badly, but it would be a lot simpler to understand how so anyone if he were using drugs again Especially strong, s like the heroin Adam had once preferred

Adahed “You’ll have to take me at my word that I’m not, but you know, it wouldn’t be any of your business if I were”

“Adam, you do realize that this fiasco you started and Jacob decided to finish affects more than you, don’t you? You aren’t the only one out of a job What am I supposed to do? And what about Kellen and Owen? Did you ever once stop to think about how this affects anyone but yourself?”