Page 79 of Fame & Chaos

I shake my head with a smile just as the front door swings open.

Colt stands there staring directly at Aston, and the second Aston notices the look on Colt’s face, his whole body visibly stiffens.

I nearly laugh again.

This is fucking gold.

The two of them stand there in awkward silence, staring each other down while I look between them, trying not to lose my shit.

“So,” I say casually. “I heard you walked in on Aston and Annie last night, hey, Colt?”

Aston shoots me a death glare while Colt physically recoils like he’s trying to erase the image from his brain forever.

This is way too entertaining.

“Under absolutely no circumstances…” Colt says coldly to Aston, “… are you to have any contact with Annie today. You are not to be alone with her, near her, beside her, or breathing in her general direction. If I catch you anywhere near my daughter, I will personally castrate you and make sure you never see her again. Are. We. Clear?”

I glance sideways at Aston.

The poor bastard looks genuinely terrified.

“Aston?” Colt prompts sharply.

“Yes, sir,” Aston blurts out, nodding hard enough to nearly snap his neck.

I shake my head.

Jesus Christ, Colt. The kid already looks traumatized.

Then Colt smirks and slaps Aston lightly on the arm. Aston flinches like he’s expecting a beating.

“Good lad,” Colt says casually. “Now get inside. We’ve got work to do.”

Aston practically sprints past him into the house while I stay behind, shaking my head at Colt.

“You could go a little easier on him,” I mutter quietly.

Colt snorts. “Fuck no. If you saw what I saw last night, you’d understand. Keep those two apart for me today, will you?”

I laugh under my breath. “I’ll try, mate. I’ll try.”

We head inside together and make our way toward the music room with Colt following behind me. When we walk in, Annie immediately looks over at Aston and lights up with a huge smile. Aston drops his gaze straight to the floor and avoids looking at her entirely.

Nice one, Colt. Way to make things awkward as fuck.

Aston completely ignores Annie, clearly shit-scared after Colt’s warning, and Annie looks so hurt it almost makes me feel bad for her.

Almost.

This whole situation is a fucking mess.

Chad arrives not long afterward, and Colt announces we’ll be rehearsing all day before heading to our first live gig tonight alongside two other bands.

The second the words leave his mouth, excitement tears through me so hard I feel like I could jump out of my own skin.

A real stage.

A real crowd.