Page 3 of Swan River

A loud cough interrupted their fiery embrace, followed by her bodyguard saying, “Perhaps we should take this inside, away from any potential cameras.”

Paisley’s eyes opened to find Jonas’s filled with more regret. If their heated kiss ended up on some website?or worse, in another scary note?it would be just one more thing for him to feel sorry about.

But this hadn’t been his fault. This had been all her. She gave Jonas a soft smile and said, “Sorry I attacked you in broad daylight on the street.”

He didn’t return the smile. Instead, his eyes darted around, as if searching for the asshole photographer, or the stalker, or both. She grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction of his apartment. She needed to be alone with him. She needed to fill herself with the sense of belonging, of being seen, of being adored that only Jonas had ever given her. And this time, she didn’t want it to end until they’d lost every single article of clothing and twined themselves together from head to toe in the closest way possible.

She wanted this. She wanted him. No…she needed him. Like the dark needed the sun to push away the shadows. It was time they gave in and found the crescendo that had been waiting for them for years.

Chapter Two

Leya

ALMOST HOME

Performed by Mariah Carey

Just like everyone else in the room, Leya was trying not to watch the little showdown going on by the door. It wasn’t Landry holding herself tightly back with anger that surprised her. After all, Landry was always the first into every battle, defending them personally or the band as a whole. Instead, it was the fury on Paisley’s face that had the entire band holding their breath.

They’d never seen Paisley stand up to Landry like this. Just the night before, Leya had told Landry she was trying too hard to protect Paisley from heartache, even if it was heartache coming from a boy with an iffy past and a violent streak. But she’d gone all Landry, refusing to give in. Refusing to let any of them be hurt on her watch.

Nikki joined her, adjusting the sloppy bun she’d wrapped her long strands in that morning. Every day, Nikki threatened to cut it all off, and every day, each of them talked her out of it. It wasn’t just because it bonded them in some strange way for all of them but Fee to have black hair. It was because everyone knew Nikki would regret it if she did. The long hair suited her almost more than any of them, and when she left it in her natural, onyx curls, it was even more stunning.

Their first album cover had played up their similarities. They’d all worn white leather jackets with their backs to the camera. Only Paisley, who was over half a foot shorter than the rest of them, and Fiadh, with her deep-red hair, had stood out. The rest could only be told apart by the daisies emblazoned on their jackets. It had been their manager’s idea to emphasize the band’s name by having them choose a favorite daisy to be etched and painted onto their instruments, mic stands, and clothes until the flowers had become almost synonymous with their names.

“Wow, I didn’t think Little Bit actually had it in her,” Nikki said quietly.

Leya nodded as Adria joined them, twirling her sticks unconsciously. Concern filled the air around them as they watched the sisters argue like they never had before. The tension growing between them was why the album had been struggling.

Paisley slammed her way out of the studio with Jonas hot on her trail, and Landry’s shoulders slumped. She rubbed her fingers into her forehead and then turned to face them.

“Don’t,” Landry hissed before any of them could even breathe a word.

“I warned you.” It was Adria who dared to voice Leya’s thoughts aloud.

“I said don’t,” Landry growled. The emotions in her voice made it husky, dropping until it sounded like a wounded animal.

Fiadh bounced over to Landry and slung an arm around her. “Lan, it’s going to be okay. She’s just the first one of us to fall head over heels in love—so much so that she can’t live without him. It’s going to happen to all of us at some point.”

“Lust isn’t love.” The words slipped out of Leya before she could take them back, and she instantly regretted them when her friends’ faces spun to hers.

Nikki chuckled. “Better not let the documentary crew hear you say that tonight. We make our bread and butter on passion and sin.”

Leya rolled her eyes. They knew how she felt about people’s misconceptions that lust was love.

“I don’t trust him. You didn’t see how he went off yesterday on that photographer,” Landry said.

“We’re all on edge,” Adria said quietly, and Leya’s stomach turned, thinking of the gruesome notes with their faces scratched out that had caused their security team to double overnight and the FBI to show up in force.

“Hell, I almost lost it the other day, remember?” Fiadh said.

“You didn’t, though,” Landry grunted out. Silence surrounded them except for Landry’s rings tapping together with her hands held prayer style. “It isn’t just his anger that worries me. What happens when we leave?”

Leya knew exactly what Landry meant. If Paisley had convinced herself that what she felt was love, and then it all fell apart, she’d have a broken heart. One her sister wanted to protect her from.

“Trying to protect her before it happens isn’t going to help. And who knows, maybe it will last,” Nikki said.

Landry scoffed. “They’re not even twenty. What the hell do they know about forever?”

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