Outsider by Olivia Cunning

someone.”
    “I
don’t under—”
    “Find
Butch,” Ethan said. He wrapped an arm around Reagan’s back and tugged her to
his side. Logan scowled at Ethan’s harshness, but turned and asked someone if
they’d seen Butch.
    Reagan
tried to concentrate on Max singing Sinners’ well-loved ballad “Goodbye is Not
Forever”—though his voice wasn’t as deep as Sed’s sultry baritone, Max sounded
amazing—but her gaze seemed determined to affix itself to Trey. He was playing
his guitar as he was supposed to, but his attention was focused inward and his
expression was tight and grim. He wasn’t playing from his heart the way he
usually did. Not even Brian could draw a smile from him. Reagan couldn’t stand
to see him like that.
    “Are
you going to get ready for the show?” Ethan asked.
    She’d
forgotten she still had to perform as soon as Sinners’ impromptu karaoke set
was over. “I don’t think I can do it.” She cringed when she realized she’d voiced
her fear.
    Ethan’s
arm slid up her back and pressed her more securely to his side. “I know you can
do it. I’m sorry I got us into this mess.”
    “You?”
Reagan caught his troubled gaze and shook her head at him.
    “If
I hadn’t suggested I could fulfill Trey . . .” He was speaking
quietly, but still he checked to see if anyone was listening.
    “If
anyone is at fault, it’s me,” she said. “I allowed it so I wouldn’t lose him.”
She pressed her hands into her eyes so she wouldn’t cry. She was glad things
had turned out as they had and that they’d forged a committed relationship
between the three of them. Using Ethan for sex, which had been their original
plan, wouldn’t have been fair to him and her heart wouldn’t have allowed it. He
meant too much to her. He always had. The time they’d spent as only friends and
roommates hadn’t changed how she’d felt about him. She’d never stopped loving
him. She understood that now.
    By
the time Sinners’ set was over, Ethan had lent her enough strength to perform.
She wasn’t strong enough to change into her usual sexed-up stage costume and
have her hair and makeup done. Tonight the fans would be seeing the rawest
version of Reagan, the version she preferred. She didn’t think she was capable
of being fake both onstage and in the public version of her romantic
relationship, so if she had to be seen as a slut to protect Ethan and Trey from
being outed, she sure as hell wasn’t going to pretend she was a rock diva
tonight. Worn blue jeans, combat boots, a black T-shirt that read Fuck
Authority, no makeup and bed hair. Yep, that was the look she was embracing this
evening.
    “You’re
going on like that?” Butch asked when she showed up near the entrance that led
to their start positions under the stage.
    “You
got a problem with that?” she asked.
    Butch
stepped back and raised both hands in surrender. “Nope.”
    “I
can’t believe she’d do something like that,” Logan said to Steve as they hooked
up Logan’s bass guitar.
    “She
had us all fooled,” Steve said, patting him on the back. “Don’t beat yourself
up for being a tool.”
    “It
doesn’t make any sense, though,” Logan said. “She loved this job. She wanted to
make a career of it. Even if she didn’t like any of you . . .”
    Reagan
noticed that he’d left himself out of his rationalization.
    “. . . she
still wouldn’t jeopardize her future career for a few lousy bucks.”
    “Give
it a rest, will you?” Steve said. “She played you for a sucker. She’s not the
first woman to fuck you over. She won’t be the last.”
    Logan
shook his head. “But—”
    “Will
you stop fucking talking about her?” Reagan shouted.
    Both
men stepped back and raised their hands in surrender. Jeez, was she really that scary?
    Dare
squeezed her shoulder. “Where did Trey wander off to? Is he okay with all of
this?”
    “I
sent him to Sinners’ bus with Ethan.” Because she couldn’t stand to look at