Page 63 of The Sounds of Her

I glance around at everyone watching the band, at the crowd staring up at BreakNeck, yelling and screaming for these four men.

Part of me wonders how the hell no one else notices.

This song is wrecking him.

Chapter Fifteen

The after party is at a local club and we’re in the VIP area. It’s a lot bigger than any club I’ve been to back home. If I have to guess, I’d say there are well over a thousand people in here. It’s like a warehouse. There are strobe lights flickering from the walls and ceiling, even the floor is lit up with neon lights.

I’ve been out with BreakNeck a lot since Jenna got with Adam, but this is different. This is a tour after party, so everyone is here, the two support bands, the roadies and the management people, and that draws a lot of attention.

As ever, the VIP section is cordoned off, but there are plenty of non-tour related people in here too. Most of them women. I sip my cocktail and watch in amusement as the women try to get closer to the band. Adam couldn’t make it clearer he was off limits if he put a barbed wire electrical fence around him. Jenna is under his arm, even though she is chatting with the woman beside her.

Nick and Elsa are sitting on a love seat in a dark corner. I don’t care to know what is going on over there. I’ve joined a group of women on the tour who work in make-up and catering and the PR woman, Hannah, who showed up late this afternoon. I have to wonder if it has anything to do with Archer telling her he’s ‘met someone.’

She keeps eyeballing me. I’m about to ask her if she has an issue, because I can’t stand it when women are catty or mean to one another when Jordan pops up behind her and puts both hands on her shoulders, like he is about to massage her.

She shrieks, then slaps Jordan’s arm when she realises who it is. The others roll their eyes. I would too if Jordan weren’t still mad at me. He moves around the table and joins us, sitting right next to me, like on my leg. I huff in annoyance, and he grins at me.

“So,” he says. Then nothing.

“What?” I ask.

“How come you’re not with your boy?” he lifts a brow.

Good question. When we left the arena, Archer held my hand until we got into the car. Then he drifted across the seat, accepted a drink from DiMarco and stared out of the window all the way here, barely acknowledging anyone, let alone me.

My mind keeps going back to that song. I tried looking it up online but like Jenna said, it’s not on any of the albums, so it’s impossible to find the lyrics. Short of asking him for them, I’m at a loss.

I keep hearing one part in particular over and over.

Through the lies that cut like a knife, in the heartache’s embrace, where she stole my life.

My first thought was it’s about his mom, but it seems deeper than that. I’ve never seen Archer with a girlfriend. I should have asked him if there was anyone, recent past or otherwise, that I should know.

“Isn’t the point of this to be seen together?” Jordan slams a tequila shot down on the table.

“Could you keep it down?” I hiss.

“Why? Because the wrong person might hear?” he asks. He’s showing nonchalance, but he’s hurt.

I blow out a breath before meeting his eyes again. “There are reasons I need to keep this in a tight circle. One’s I can’t get into.”

Jordan keeps his gaze locked on mine. He’s stripping me bare, and not in a sexy way, in a getting too close to the bone kind of way.

People often think of Jordan as the joker, the one who straight up gets into shit, and will never settle down. If I’ve learnt anything over the last year being around these guys, it’s that they’re all human. They have their faults and flaws, but they have so much more going for them too.

Jordan owns who he is and what he did in the past, but he has a good side too, a soft side. He cares for his family and friends fiercely. He chose Alessa, and she chose him.

Guilt almost cripples me. Alessa is my friend too. If everything he says is true, which I believe, then she is the love of his life. And I’m asking him to lie to her. It’s not even a good enough reason, just my fear.

“Alessa doesn’t run her mouth.”

“I know,” I whisper.

It’s not loud enough for him to hear me, but his eyes change, grow introspective and he cocks his head. The creases on his forehead disappear as his eyes widen.

“What?” I ask.

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