Page 113 of Fractured Frets

“Flint?” Sutton swallowed hard as she placed her hand on his arm. “Do we have to do this now?”

“Yep.” He gave her a curt nod.

“What’s going on?” I glanced back and forth between them. Unease crawled beneath my skin, quickening my pulse. “Is everything okay?”

“No. It’s not.” Flint tilted his head toward the patio. “This won’t take long.”

Shit. Sutton and I drained our drinks and placed our empty flutes on top of the bar. I followed her and Flint out of the house to the far end of the pool, away from the gathering of friends. My chest constricted, making every breath more difficult to draw as Cole and Lewis joined us.

Why did this feel like an ambush?

Flint slid his hand around Sutton’s waist, but deep grooves furrowed his brow as he spoke to me. “Mads, we’re worried about Slip. And you. This whole bullshit ‘holding out to be together’ is fucking with both of you.”

An arrow speared my heart. My insides twisted into a ball. I never wanted to upset Slip—not ever. That hadn’t been part of the plan.

“No, it’s not bullshit.” Sutton fired a stern warning at him, then took my trembling hand in hers. “But being apart has played a role in this. We love and support the two of you one thousand percent and want you to have a happy life together. But this is about him taking too many pills.”

Confusion tapped my brain. “His meds?”

“And the coke. And E. And fuck knows what else.” Flint’s anguish stabbed a knife through my heart.

“Oh. Shit.” My hands quaked in Sutton’s hold. “I...I didn’t know he’d been taking those things.”

“It’s gone on for too long and gone too far. And we’re intervening.” Flint slammed his eyes shut. “Dealing with his injury is one thing, but it’s the turmoil going on behind the scenes that is messing with him more.” The distress in Flint’s tone jarred my lungs. “Mads, we’ve got five weeks left of the tour. I don’t need to see him broken over another girl, especially one who doesn’t know what she wants.”

“What?” I stepped back, dropping Sutton’s hands. Fire charged through my veins. “You...you don’t know shit. This has been hard on both of us. We’re not perfect. It’s not a case of not wanting him, Flint. I do want to be with him. But we can’t sort out what that looks like or will be until he’s home.”

“Hey?” Cole hooked his arms around my shoulders and gave me a half-hug. “It’s okay. We know that. But this is affecting all of us, Mads. Look at you.” He rubbed my bony arm. “You’ve lost so much weight in the past few months. Slip is pushing himself too hard, regardless of how much we tell him to slow down. He’s whacked out on pain-killers and shit every day. Drinking too much. He’s worried about you and your future. I’ve never seen him like this.”

Lewis tucked his hands in the back pocket of his jeans and lowered his chin. “He’s not good, Mads. We will do whatever we can to help him. But we’re worried about you too.”

I placed my hands on my nauseous stomach to ease the ache. A light fogginess swept through my head. I inhaled, long and slow, to fight back the sting in my eyes. “It’s just stress.”

“Mads, I love you.” Sutton stepped forward and took hold of my hands once again. Tears welled in her eyes and jolted my heart. Her voice came out as a wisp of soul-wrenching softness. “But I think it’s more serious than that. I don’t want you to get sick. As your friend, and if you need me to, I want to take you to a doctor, a therapist. We need you to be healthy, and we need to help Slip. He’s not listening to anyone, but we think he will listen to you.”

A tear escaped and zigzagged down my cheek. I wiped it from my face and stole a sideways glance toward the gathering of guests hovering by the house. Shit. My throat ran dry. They were looking in our direction. My breath quickened, dragging in and out of my lungs in jagged rips. I swayed on my feet. My mind raced. “Can we not do this now? You’re embarrassing me in front of everyone.”

“Mads. It’s okay.” Sutton squeezed my hands, her voice calm and reassuring. “We’re not here to upset you. You both mean the world to us. We want to work together to help you and Slip get better.”

My whole body trembled as my gaze darted across the partygoers. More heads turned. My heart galloped against my ribs. My head spun. I couldn’t breathe. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Were people taking photos? Over there? Maybe. Yes. Oh, shit. Shit. Shit.

“Maddy?” Sutton’s soothing voice drifted through my ears as she cupped my cheek. “Maddy, you’re okay. You’re safe. You’re surrounded by people who love you. I’m here. We’re not leaving you. Not ever.”

My gaze shot from her, to Flint, to Cole, to Lewis. They stood, circled around me. Their bodies shielded me from the onlookers. Oh...oh, wow! They were protecting me. Taking care of me. They had my back.

I closed my eyes and nodded. How lucky was I to have such amazing people in my life? Who loved me for all my flaws and faults—and all my total fucked-upness. Somehow, I found my breath. I inhaled...then exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled.

“We’re here for you. Always.” Sutton rubbed my arms in comforting strokes. “We wanted you to know what was going on before Slip gets here.” She eased back beside Flint, still holding onto my hand. “We want the two of you to be happy. So after the party tonight, we’re going to sit the two of you down, talk, and come up with a plan.”

“Okay.” I sniffled, nodded, and wiped tears from my eyes.

“Mads, I’m sorry too.” Flint dipped his chin. I loved his fierce protectiveness of the guys. They were his family, and he would do anything for any of them. “I’m not gonna lose him. Not like Phil. I can’t stand by and do nothing.”

The light disappeared from Cole’s eyes. “The way he’s going, he won’t make it until the end of the tour.”

Ice shot through my heart. “What?”

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