4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Toby

" D ude, you gotta do something with that beard."

I slap away Mac's hands and grunt when he reaches across the bucket seat we share, aiming for my face again. "I'll bite 'em, twinkle nuts."

"Oh, you noticed?" Mac's cheesy grin lights up his face as he leans back and arches his hips into the air. "I'll tell J—"

" Seat belt ." The single growl from the passenger seat of our SUV has Mac slamming back into the seat and laughing.

"Seriously, Tyro," Mac calls up to his bodyguard. "Tell Tob his beard is garbage attached to his face."

"Fuck you." I run a hand down the facial hair being harassed and flip a middle finger to Mac. "They're not going to see our faces . It's a damn radio interview."

"Annnnd," Mac draws, his eyebrow quirked high enough to disappear behind his bandana, "a fucking meet and greet after. Duh. Where have you been?"

"Not listening, clearly." The quip comes from the driver this time, the seat filled with none other than Sentry's second-in-command and the absolute pain in my ass—Lugh .

He's no fun.

"I was listening," I rebut, but then lose track of what we were talking about. "What's this meet and greet shit?"

Mac bursts out in a laugh that has him slapping his knee. "Holy fuck , Tob."

It takes more than a few minutes for Mac's hysterics to die off enough for our bodyguards to resume their run down of the events before we park and walk in.

Talking with Nitro from Reaper Radio—live on air.

Answer stupid questions.

Get thrown into a room with a few people who paid a lot of money to see us.

Sign shit.

Go home.

Easy.

We pull up to a back entrance where another SUV is already parked next to a Prius and my top lip curls instinctively.

We're ushered inside the brick building, with our bodyguards behind us. Mac leads the way down the long hall that looks familiar, but I can't place it.

"You've got twenty minutes," a female voice fills the space the moment Mac opens the door and leads us into a green room. "Read the questions, your answers are already prepped. Just say what's on the cards and leave it at that. Oh, good—you two made it in one piece."

I roll my eyes at the snarky comment from the woman I still have yet to see through the group when Mac passes me a card baton-style that has only two answers written neatly in handwriting I definitely recognize.

Shit.

"No one will see you during this interview, so if you get stumped, pass it to a bandmate or deflect." Mac finally steps aside enough for me to stand shoulder to shoulder with him as he does the same with his twin brother on the other side.

In front of us, directing and ordering, could rival that of a drill instructor on his worst day.

If they wore tight skirts and fire-red hair in buns so tight their brains had to hurt.

"Where's Le?"

The question gains me a raised, perfectly sculpted brow—so perfect, I think the woman threatened it to stay in place—and a purse of her pale lips.

There's almost no color to her face. Or her, in general, with the plain wardrobe and the lack of makeup that makes any of her good qualities stand out.

Bland .

And annoying.

"He had to step out ," Anna nearly hisses, her face barely hiding the eye roll as if it's somehow my fault that the manager had manager shit to do and left her in charge of us. "But if you're done interrupting me, we can get this over with."

"Oh, burn," Rex snickers but snaps his lips shut when As Above's PR rep turns her steely green gaze on him.

"Rex, you are responsible for answering the questions. Make sure you only say what you're comfortable with and nothing more."

My bandmate nods and accepts the final card from her pinched fingers.

Even her nails are a similar shade to the woman's tan skirt.

Where most of the women in this industry would be covered in ink, Anna is not. They'd wear massive amounts of paint on their faces in various colors, especially black, but not her.

In fact, I don't think this woman owns a single black item.

And most would be down to fuck any one of us. They'd throw themselves at us like the last PR rep Leo fired or way too many of the groupies that follow us.

Not goodie-two-shoes Anna.

"Any questions?" she calls to the room, making eye contact with each member of As Above.

"Nah," Fin responds.

"Not our first rodeo," Mac quips, the last word coming out as ro-day-o .

"All good," Rex answers and reaches around his by-blood-brother to slap my shoulder. "Right, Tob?"

I nod to my lead singer and follow the rest of my band out into a viewing area where we get to watch the DJ of this radio show headbanging to a song he's playing for the listeners in prep for our interview.

"All right, all right, metalheads. For those of you listening at home, you've got Nitro with Reaper Radio and we have a very special guest for you tonight." The man claps his heavily tatted hands, and winks through the glass at us. "As Above is in the house, ready to answer some burning questions and talk music for us. They're on after this! So stick around."

Rock music fills the space as Nitro hits a few buttons, then tips his headphones off and waves us in. The audio tech smiles as we pass, closing the door behind us.

"Hey hey, guys." Nitro stands and reaches out to shake hands with a grin. "So glad you guys could make it out."

"Thanks for having us." Rex is the first to shake and take a seat, headphones situated on his head.

"It's been, what, three years?" Nitro asks the group as we each return his offered hand in greeting. "Too long, I know that. How's the families?"

Finland snickers, and Rex smiles proudly. "Well, that's what we're here to talk about."

"Perfect." Nitro slips back into his seat, headphones on. "We got about thirty seconds before we're live."

I sit and lean into the table, my headgear securely in place, letting the end of the song calm my sweating palms.

I'm not nervous. I just hate talking in front of people, especially when I can't see them.

Helps that it's a song I like from Hardy called JACK.

Where is the Jack?

"Welcome back," Nitro emphasizes into the giant mic that covers most of his face. "In case you missed it, we are here with As Above!" The man makes his own crowd noise in a quieted yell, then turns to us. "So this hangout sesh is a little different where we are not accepting callers, but I have a set of questions that you all asked online. I am just the voice for you. The voice of the people ."

The interview goes along just like every other damn interview As Above has ever done. Nitro asks all the same questions, all the same comments prying in search of new songs or albums. Rex handles most of the answers with a grin I don't understand, Fin filling in the gaps when it seems like Rex is answering too much. Even Mac quips stupid nicknames and snickers. I, on the other hand, zone out.

Is there any whiskey back here?

The only difference this time is Nitro asking about Rex's twin kids and searching for if Fin and Cedar are planning any spawns any time soon.

Can we get this over with already?

"Now, Toby." His voice pulls me back to the land of the living and has me gripping the card cupped in my hand, preparing to answer the stupid questions. "I've heard some things …"

My brothers and bandmates go deadly silent as Nitro's gaze lands on me, and I feel the atmosphere change.

Something's off.

The hair on the back of my neck stands and my mustache tingles enough that I reach up and scrub a finger across it. "What's that?"

Nitro's grin ratchets up and my stomach gives a wicked twist. "This was a last-minute addition, and I know that rumors are rumors, but I wanna know. The people wanna know."

I spare a glance at my band who's all pinched brows and confused. This is not how this is supposed to go. "Know what, man?"

"The grapevine claims you've also started settling down, yeah?" Sweat builds on my back even though I've had this question before. They always want me to be like Rex. Settle down. Find a woman and make little rocker spawn like he did.

So why does this feel different?

"Oh, nah, man." I glance at my cue card for help when I feel Nitro's gaze burning a hole in my head. "Not me."

"Serious?" Nitro pushes with a grin. One that seems like I'm full of shit and he's just waiting for the gotcha moment. "No one expecting?"

I can't help but glance at my brothers, wearing a clear what the hell expression, only to find each of them staring back at me intently. Their gazes are too focused, too scrutinizing.

"Nah." I force a smile. "Might wanna ask Rex, though. He won't stay off his girl."

Deflect with humor. Should work.

"Man," Nitro says on a shake of his head and raps his knuckles on the table with a chuckle. "I thought I had a good source."

" Interview is over. " I frown as Anna's declaration fills my ears and spin to find the woman standing opposite the window, hands to her hips and face tightened with fury.

Nitro speaks into the mic as if the end of this hangout sesh was planned for right now. "All right, folks. That's all we got for tonight. Drop your comments and questions on the socials and let's get these guys back in here!"

Music fills the room when I pop off the headphones, but it's not a reprieve for long.

Because the door slams open, and Anna rushes in.

"What was that, Nitro?" Anna corners the disc jockey with a dangerous pointer finger. "What the h—"

The two are closed in together, and even though we can't hear what's being said, it's clear that Anna is giving the radio DJ a piece of her mind, judging by his raised hands and the flush to her face.

Huh. There is color to her.

"What the shit is going on?" I ask the room even though I don't take my eyes off Anna as she spins from Nitro, her shoulders raising and lowering with a deep breath. She smooths her hair and her skirt, squares her shoulders, and reaches for the door.

The smile that meets us is manufactured. Forced. Bland.

And completely cut off from any further questions.

"Ready to meet some fans?"