Page 18 of Fractured Rhythm

No matter how many stints in rehab he’d tried.

My chest clenched. I should’ve been able to get him free. What the fuck kind of best friend can’t do that? The guilt ate at me. Hell, seeing his name as part of our band name, would always bring on the guilt. He should be here now.

“Bash. Man. You okay?” Tristan asked.

“Yeah. Fine. Just thinking about the songs I’ve been working on,” I lied.

“Let’s hear them,” Jax said.

I set my beer down on the coffee table and grabbed my guitar. I strummed a few chords, moving my fingers down the frets. I knew it was in tune. I’d already tinkered with it this morning, but this routine helped me center.

I played through the song. It was rough, but not terrible. My voice was gravelly as I hit one of the notes in the chorus. It was a song about love and loss, about moving on, but never forgetting.

“Wow, man. You are so fucking back. The groupies will eat this shit up,” Jax crowed, raising his glass in salute.

“You don’t think it’s too emo?” I asked, still lightly strumming my guitar.

“Nah. It’s perfect,” Tristan said, picking up his bass.

We played through the song a few times, the guys interjecting with suggestions and easy changes. It was a good fucking song and the first one I’d written in ages. A part of me felt like I was baring my soul, but wasn’t that the point of music?

We jammed for another hour, working on some old songs and the partial I had. I jotted down notes from them and worked on a riff. There was an ease between us, an ease that had vanished two years ago when we’d said goodbye to Jamie. I was so fucking happy that it was coming back. We needed each other, and not just because of a damn contract.

“Have you seen Cassie yet?” Jax asked, and I almost dropped my guitar.

“What?” Did they know? They couldn’t know.

“She’s in the city. Works for an online food site. A few blocks from here, actually,” Jax said.

“What? How do you know that? How do you know where she lives?” I heard a bit of anger in my voice, which was ridiculous.

“Because she’s Cassie and we’ve known her forever. She’s part of this band’s family. I’ve kept in touch with her. Bailing on her because I was wrecked about Jamie didn’t seem right,” Jax said.

I wanted to crawl in a fucking hole because that’s exactly what I’d done to her. I’d bailed, and I was an idiot to think that she could forget that. Or that she could ever forgive me.

But I was determined. I owed it to Jamie. But more than that, I owed it to her.

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