Page 82 of Finding Emotion
Damon stared at the person he hadn’t known at all. “I still don’t understand why.” He watched Jimmy’s face twist.
“Fucking Damon Lynch, the last person who should have made it in the music business, rocking the charts. I’ve got so much more talent than you, but I’m stuck here, trying to make you look good.”
“You never mentioned wanting to be on the other side of things.” Damon shook his head. “Why didn’t you try? I would have supported you, Jimmy.”
“Oh, but I did! That bitch of an ex of yours said she could see me replacing you in the band after I played for her. Damn it, I even fucked her first. But along comes Damon Lynch, the sweetheart that makes all women’s panties wet. She called you pathetic but still fucked you. We used to laugh about you, but then that damn bassist came out of nowhere, and it was me she was laughing at.”
“You and Karyn?” Damon hadn’t known, but he wasn’t really surprised. The level of detail in the way she had degraded him made a lot more sense now. “If you were done with me all the way back then, why bother coming with me when I left the band?”
“Because you had something, Dame. I didn’t want to see it, but I did. Even fucking Skylar sees it.” He laughed and threw the bottle at Damon.
The bottle skimmed his head with an explosion of pain before smashing on the wall behind him. Liquid and glass sprayed over him as he reached for his head. Then Jimmy was on him, and they crashed to the floor together. Jimmy punched him in the same spot that the bottle hit him, and Damon’s vision became blurry.
“That was fucked up. You knew I was into her!” Spittle flew from Jimmy’s mouth as he grabbed Damon’s hair, dragging his face closer. “You always gave me the girls. Fucking pansy, scared of sucking at sex. But you even cockblocked the three-way, saying some shit like you love her.” He let Damon’s head flop back, punching him in the stomach next. “Look at you. What would someone like Skylar ever see in you?”
“A whole hell of a lot,” a new voice, up and to Jimmy’s left, said. Skylar brought one of the lamps down hard on Jimmy’s head.
Jimmy fell to the side, but he wasn’t out for the count. He shook his head, as though to clear it. “What the hell, Skylar!” Jimmy cried.
Damon blinked, trying to bring Skylar into focus as he sat up. She wore his undershirt and nothing else, the material barely covering her thighs. The white color made her skin look even more pale, fragile. But the way she held the lamp made it clear she was willing to bash Jimmy again.
“You’re everything I ever wanted. And you chose fucking him!” Jimmy screamed.
“Oh, fuck off!” Skylar lifted the lamp higher. Jimmy lunged for her, ducking under her swing before pinning her to the couch.
Damon went for him. His arm wrapped around Jimmy’s neck and pulled. They fell backward, Jimmy’s head hitting the corner edge of the coffee table with a sickening thump. He went limp where he landed on top of Damon.
“Oh, shit,” Damon gasped and shifted out from underneath. The world spun around him, and he tried to focus.
Skylar slid off the couch to the ground, checking Jimmy’s pulse. “He’s not dead. Hell, he’s not even bleeding much. Don’t worry, I already called for help.” She moved past Jimmy, crouching beside Damon. “Hey, try to focus. How many fingers am I holding up?”
Damon closed his eyes as his stomach lurched. “Stop with the tough questions.”
She pulled his head against her chest, her hands soothing the uninjured back of his head with small, circular strokes. “I’m not as good at this as you are. You might have a concussion.” Just past them, Jimmy moaned in pain. “See, you didn’t kill him.” Skylar sighed. “Want me to fix that?”
He pictured the way Jimmy had pinned her to the couch. “Are you okay?”
Skylar’s hands paused. “Fuck, you’re so sweet. I should be asking you that. How can you worry about me right now?” She began massaging him again.
He relaxed into her. “Because I love you,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s the concussion talking.” Behind them, the elevator dinged. “Oh, good, the calvary’s arrived. Over here!”
Damon opened his eyes, finding Jimmy’s on him. Jimmy looked away as the suite filled with people in uniform.
Chapter 30
Skylar felt Damon squeeze her hand as they sat in Trenton’s office.
“I wish I had better news,” his friend was saying. “Your manager is still being held on battery charges, but the prosecutor wasn’t willing to even increase it to aggravated battery. The criminal harassment, unfortunately, is difficult to prosecute, as you have to prove the threats are clear, and the supposed gifts…” Trenton sighed. “A protective order was issued, which is enforceable across state lines if your manager comes after you again.”
“Former manager. At least I was able to fire his ass.” Damon’s eyes looked a little squinty. His head was still tender. He’d ended up diagnosed with a moderate concussion.
“I should have fucking killed him when I had the chance,” Skylar muttered.
Trenton raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“She’s joking.” Damon winced again, his hand moving to his head. “The Jimmy thing…” He trailed off. He’d told her while they’d waited in the hospital that he’d just felt sorry all around. The person he’d thought of as his friend had been even more insecure than he was, he’d said, and he hadn’t seen the signs at all. It was just like Mr. Sweetface to feel like it was all his fault for being what he saw as a bad friend. Sure, he’d been hurt, too, but all of it seemed unimportant to him. The way he acted did weird somersaults to her insides. “We’re actually here to see what you’ve come up with for Skylar.”