Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret #8)(79)

"Still not seeing the problem," Owen said, shaking his head.

When they reached the backstage area, Adam and Owen settled their guitars in place. Adam immediately began fingering a new rift that made Shade's heart thud with excitement. The man's talent was astounding. He seemed to pull amazing music out of nowhere. Or maybe it was housed in his soul.

Kellen rushed backstage and reached for his guitar, but paused when he noticed the band gazing worshipfully at the lead guitarist.

"Nice," Owen said, mimicking Adam's string of notes on his bass guitar.

"Yeah, I like that," Kellen said as he listened to them play. "I assume your writer's block is gone." He grinned at his fellow guitarist.

"Yep."

"Well, keep it up." Kellen whacked Adam on the back. "Sounds great."

Kellen then greeted Owen, who began talking a mile a minute. Adam had quit playing his new riff to answer his phone, so Shade turned to Gabe.

"You're not really worried that Melanie is going to dump you for Nikki, are you?" Shade asked.

"Not much I can do about it if she does. So how did Tina take the news about you and Amanda?"

Shade hadn't told Gabe anything about the situation with Tina or Amanda, so how had he known to even ask? Now was not the time to discuss this. They had to be onstage in a few minutes and focusing on Tina or Amanda was sure to put him in a foul mood again.

"Not sure what you're talking about," Shade said with a shrug.

"So Tina just hit you in the head for fun? She still doesn't know?"

"She knows," Shade admitted, "but I broke it off with Amanda." He lied to save his ego further bruising. "I got what I wanted from her. Didn't seem smart to piss off Tina for a mediocre piece of ass."

Even referring to Amanda that way ate at him, but Gabe wouldn't harass him about it if he thought the breakup was Shade's idea.

"You don't mope like a teenage girl when you dump a mediocre piece of ass," Gabe observed before heading up the steps to find his place behind the drum kit.

Perceptive jerk, Shade thought darkly.

He turned to see if the rest of the band was ready to take the stage. Owen and Kellen were still chatting as if they hadn't seen each other in years, but Adam had disappeared.





Chapter Eighteen


"Where's Adam?" Shade asked the other two guitarists.

Owen shrugged. "No idea."

Shade's gaze fell on a familiar guitar sitting on its stand next to the stage. "He left his guitar."

"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," Kellen suggested. "Ever try to take a piss with a guitar strapped on?"

"Can't say that I have," Shade said, watching the wide double doors behind the stage for Adam's reappearance.



       
         
       
        

Several minutes ticked by with no sign of the lead guitarist. Shade grabbed the arm of a nearby roadie who was standing there with his arms crossed waiting for the performance to begin. "Will you run to the dressing room and tell Adam we're waiting for him? He's probably in the bathroom." He sent a second roadie to the bus, just in case he'd gone there instead.

A few minutes later, Gabe came down from the stage with drumsticks in hand. "What's the hold up?"

"Adam's missing," Shade said.

"Missing?"

"Yeah, he was just here." Shade turned to see if the incredible vanishing guitarist had returned in the few seconds he'd been distracted. Still no sign of him.

Shade didn't truly begin to worry until the two roadies returned without Adam in tow.

"He wasn't in the bathroom or the dressing room."

"Not on the bus either," the other roadie reported. "I found his earpiece on the ground behind the bus. At least I think it's his."

The guy dropped the earpiece into Shade's palm. It was probably Adam's, but he couldn't be sure. "Was his motorcycle still there?"

"I didn't see one."

"Fuck!" Shade yelled. "Did he say anything to any of you?" As Shade's glare landed on the members of his band, each shook his head in turn. "Fuck! What in the hell is he thinking?" The problem was Adam never thought things through. He was impulsive. Reactionary. An inconsiderate, self-absorbed jackass. Why had Shade let himself hope that Adam had changed?

"Maybe there's an emergency," Owen said.

"Even if there is, he could have taken a few seconds to tell someone. Fuck! I'm going after him."

"Do you know where he went?" Gabe asked.

Shade pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and pressed the icon for Adam's tracking app. He was already miles away heading west, but within seconds he moved out of range and the little orange dot that indicated his position blipped out of existence.