“I knew this would happen! Why do you think I didn’t introduce you to Maddie for three years? Girls throw themselves at you every day, but no, you had to go after the one girl I said was off-limits! And it’s my fault, too, because I knew Maddie was into you from day one, and I still let her join the band!”

I hadn’t realized Kyle had kept me away from his brother for so long. I assumed we’d just been school-only friends who didn’t really move in the same crowd. When we did hang out, it was always on campus or in a coffee shop or something. Once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. It must be tough having Jared as your brother sometimes. And I’d done the one thing I’d promised Kyle I would never do: fall for his brother.

“I said from the very beginning this was a bad idea,” Hector said. “Not because of Maddie, but because of your inability to keep your dick in your pants. And the worst part is, you went behind our backs and lied to us for weeks!”

Jared finally spoke up again. “Only because we knew you guys would be pissed, and with Dan’s talk about the producers and—”

“Don’t give us that shit!” Hector shouted. “We’re supposed to be a team! This isn’t the Jared Cross band, despite what the show thinks, and you don’t get to make decisions for all of us!”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Jared replied, his voice strained. “The whole thing was a mistake, and if I could go back and redo it, I would.”

Was that how he really felt? It was all clear now. I was nothing more than a mistake, another notch in his bedpost he’d like to erase, another girl whose heart he’d broken. I squeezed my eyes shut, but a tear trickled down my face anyway and I swiped it away.

“I can’t even look at you right now,” Kyle said. “I’m going inside.”

“Great, now we’ll have to find another guitarist or bassist,” Hector muttered.

“I know,” Kyle said, as they went through the door.

I covered my mouth to hold back a cry. They were already talking about replacing me. I was going to be kicked out of the band, and the life I’d come to love would be gone forever. Jared was right—this had all been a mistake.

I waited a few more minutes in the hope I could escape to the hotel without running into any of them. But when I rounded the corner, Jared was still there, holding onto the chain-link fence and staring at the street.

He heard my footsteps and turned, face falling when he saw me. “Maddie…did you hear all that?”