A snort came from a stall. “Sounds like someone is jealous after he didn’t call you back that time after you blew him in the bathroom.”

“If I want him tonight, I could have him again.” One of the blondes exited the stall. When she met my gaze, her eyes momentarily widened at the sight of me. Then she threw her shoulders back. “What are you looking at?” she snapped.

Even though the strong Sicilian in me wanted to grab the twiggy bitch by the shoulders and ram her head into the mirror until it cracked, I shook my head. “Nothing.”

The blonde smirked at me before heading to the sink. I quickly shoved my lipstick back into my purse and blew out of the bathroom door. When I staggered back to the table, I downed my margarita in two long gulps. “Um, are you okay?” Abby asked.

“Peachy.” After Abby gave me a ‘who are you shitting?’ look, I groaned and ran my hand through my hair. “The truth is I’m a neurotic mess.”

“What happened?”

I then noticed the two blonde bitches were out of the bathroom and now were edging closer to the stage. Trying to be covert, I pointed at them. “Do you know them?”

A noise like a growl came from the back of Abby’s throat, while Lily gazed at them with disgust. “They’re Sugar Magnolia sluts,” Lily replied.

“Excuse me?”

“They work at Sugar Magnolia—a strip club a few blocks from here. Unfortunately, they like to spend their off nights strumming up business for the club. Then I guess you could call them bar groupies for whatever house band is performing.” Lily downed the rest of her Mojito. “They also have a history with Runaway Train when the band first started here three years ago.”

“Yeah, it seems the tallest one has a specific history with AJ.” I twirled my finger over the salted rim of my glass. “Look, I know I just met you two, but I have to ask. How do you guys deal with it—the women?”

Abby let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “It isn’t easy,” she admitted. “I mean, I don’t have a past, so I can’t help but focus too much on Jake’s and if he’s going to repeat any former mistakes. At the end of the day, I just have to believe that he truly loves me enough to be faithful because he sure as hell knows it’s a deal breaker between us.”

When I turned to Lily, she shrugged. “You want to believe your man is committed, and he wouldn’t stray. But then when you’ve been up all night with a teething baby, you’re carrying around ten extra pounds of baby weight, and you have absolutely no desire to screw him senseless like he wants, you can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t just take up some slut’s offer to bang him. But like Abby, Bray knows that cheating is a deal breaker, regardless of Jude and Melody. And no matter what, I know that he loves me and our kids.”

“I’ve been through a cheating fiancé not to mention…” I quickly pinched my lips shut before I went any further. Finally, I added, “I don’t know if I have it in me to deal with all this.”

“That’s totally understandable. But if anyone is worth trying to wade through all the bullshit for, it’s AJ. He’s a total sweetheart. I don’t know what Jake would have done without him after his mother died,” Abby said.

Lily nodded. “After knowing him for five years, I can vouch for that. He’s got a heart of gold.”

Deep down, I knew what they were saying was true. “Somewhere deep down beneath that cocky exterior?”

Abby laughed. “Yep, once you chip that all away, he’s a keeper for sure.”

I tore my gaze from them to look at AJ pounding his heart out on the drums. He glanced over at me and winked. Maybe the girls were right…maybe he really was worth fighting for.

12

After I did a sizzling finale on the cymbals, Jake eased his guitar down and took up the mic. “Thanks again for coming out. We love y’all. Keep it rockin’ always!” I hauled ass out of the drum kit to join him and the others to take our usual band bow. I was more ready than ever to get off the stage and get over to Mia. More importantly I was ready to get her the hell out of Eastman’s and back to my place.