One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,1

a care in the world.

We all knew better than to try to slow him down. He was enamored by the rock-star lifestyle and held the opinion that the women of the world deserved a piece of him. And that he deserved them, obviously.

With Jared, my brother and our lead singer, officially off the market, Nick was stepping up his game and leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

I lifted my glass to my bandmates. “I don’t have to admit a thing.”

Both of the other guys laughed, and then our tiny glasses crashed together, and we slammed down our shots. The alcohol didn’t burn as much on its way down as it did the first few shots, which was perfect. Exactly what I was after.

Nick grinned after double tapping his empty glass on the counter. “If it’s not to get me drunk, why are we trying to consume all the tequila in the state in record time?”

“You complaining?” I raised an eyebrow.

He smirked and shook his head. “Never. Just a question, bro. Just seems to me you’re hitting it harder than you did on your birthday the other day, and that was a fucking rager of a party.”

“Maybe that’s the point,” I told him, raising my tumbler of scotch to my lips. “Maybe I want to get even more wasted than I did on my birthday.”

“Should’ve brought the more fun Larsen along for the ride then.” Matt grinned, the light catching on the green flecks in his eyes as he rolled them. “Speaking of which, where is the Emperor tonight?”

I groaned. “Shut the fuck up with that Emperor shit. And where do you think he is?”

In a move that had caught us all more by surprise than if we’d been told that Santa Claus was real after all, Jared had fallen in love and then gotten engaged a little while ago.

En-fucking-gaged. To be married. The thought itself sounded insane, even in my head. And yet somehow, it was also reality. My brother, self-proclaimed playboy and bachelor for life, is getting married. By choice.

I nearly laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the situation, but Matt beat me to it. He laughed good naturedly, giving his suggestion about where my dear brother might be. “Planting flowers around his white picket fence?”

“Choosing a puppy?” Nick added, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

“Conceiving one of his two and a half children?” Matt asked.

Chugging the rest of my scotch in one gulp, I nodded. “Ding. Ding. To all of the above. No doubt he’s engaging in some terrible act of domestic bliss.”

“We lost a good one in him,” Nick lamented, ordering another round. “A toast to our fallen comrade, and all the other pussy-whipped fuckers in the world.”

We raised the shots and slammed them. “Never thought Jared would be one of those,” I said.

“That makes two of us,” Matt agreed thoughtfully. “Dude’s a goner, though. But let’s face it, the man looks fucking ecstatic to be leaving bachelorhood behind.”

“Crazy motherfucker,” Nick mumbled, shaking his head. “Can’t believe he’s hanging up his boots so early in the game.”

I snorted. “Early in the game? Don’t get me wrong. I’m as surprised as anyone, but it’s hardly early in the game for him. The guy’s been playing for a long fucking time.”

“True that,” he conceded with a dip of his chin and a wry smile. “Never thought I’d see the day though.”

“Engaged and with a summer wedding planned,” I replied dryly. “How very suburban of him. Next thing we know, he’ll have that white picket fence, complete with a Labradoodle and Alicia pregnant.”

Matt threw his hands out and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Hey now, Labradoodles are cute. And Alicia will bust your balls, pregnant or not.”

“True that,” Nick repeated. “Besides, so long as Jared doesn’t leave us high and dry without a lead singer, he can stay home and change diapers all he wants. All it means is more pussy for me.”

Matt reached around me to shove Nick’s shoulder. “He’d never do that. The man lives for the music. Falling in love hasn’t made him lose his edge. If anything, he’s better than he’s ever been. Have you seen the numbers for Imperial Inspection? That shit he wrote after he met Alicia was fucking legit.”

“Can’t argue with that,” I grudgingly agreed, holding up my empty glass to the barman to signal for a refill. Beside me, Nick was nodding, his leg starting to bounce to let off some of the electric energy he