Page 55 of Fractured Rhythm

“The past is the past and I know they understand. But we’re moving forward, right?” he asked.

“Yes. This is a good start. And, yeah, I’d love to see your mom again,” I said.

“We’ll plan a trip up there soon,” he said before he tugged me into his lap, nuzzling the overly sensitive spot behind my ear. “I promise.”

“I’m holding you to it,” I whispered.

BASH

“Josh has startedcalling now,” Tristan said one week later. “Texting is apparently not enough anymore.”

We were in the studio working on recording a couple of the songs I had written for the new album. Rusty, the session drummer, was warming up on the drum kit behind us. We’d worked with him before on another album while Jamie had been in rehab five years ago. The man was good but had no desire to go out on the road.

“Tell him to relax. We’ll get a few songs recorded this week to appease the label.”

“We still have to decide on a drummer,” Tristan said.

“Yeah. I know.” I’d been waffling since the auditions. Charlie was a great fit, but it was still hard to think of anyone that wasn’t Jamie sitting behind that kit permanently.

“Yeah, and we need to pick someone. Audition more people or give the gig to Charlie,” Jax said.

“Rusty, you sure you don’t want to come on tour with us?” I asked, knowing full well what his answer would be. The man had played for more bands than I could count over the years, filling in for decades whenever a drummer was in rehab or otherwise unavailable.

Rusty laughed. “Nah, man. I’m too old for that shit.”

Jax grinned. “Old? You’re like what, sixty? That’s the new thirty, right?”

“Fifty-eight, jackass, and I don’t have it in me to party like I’m a punk kid anymore. Plus, Rosemary likes me at home, and I like making her happy. A good woman is better than a bunch of groupies on the road any day.”

“You bite your delusional tongue, old man,” Jax fired back in outrage.

Rusty shook his head. He was used to Jax’s antics. Hell, he’d probably seen more than his fair share of dramatic musicians over the years. The man was lucky he still had his sanity left.

“Love of a good woman, or a man, whatever floats your boat, is the way to go,” he said, and all I could think about was Cassie.

We’d spent the last week in her bed or mine, making up for lost time with laughter, music, and heart-stopping sex. Fuck. How could I have given this up years ago? I was a goddamn moron, that’s why.

I’d promised to make it up to her, and I was doing my very best to honor that promise, with no complaints from either of us on that front.

“I think Bash is finally there,” Jax said, and I pushed aside thoughts about what I was going to do to Cassie the next time I saw her, which was hopefully tonight.

“Really? Anyone I know?” Rusty asked.

“Shut up, Jax,” I said, not in the mood for the guys teasing. They’d been poking me for days about what was going on with Cassie.

“Man, we’re happy for you, as long as you don’t fuck it up or break her heart. Because then we’ll have to fuck you up, and we kind of need you in the band, since I can’t write songs for shit,” Jax said, flashing a grin.

“What he said. Although I’m not nearly as awful at song writing as Jax is,” Tristan said.

“Bash has been in love with Jamie’s little sister for as long as we’ve known him. Seems like he’s finally wised up and stopped fighting his stupidity,” Jax explained to Rusty.

“Cassie, right? Met her a few times years ago. Great woman. They’re right, don’t fuck it up,” Rusty said.

“I’m not fucking anything up. Stay out of it. We’re still figuring everything out,” I said. “Now can we get back to this song? We only have the studio for a few hours.”

“Nice subject change, man. We’ll leave it alone. For now,” Tristan said.

“Great. Now I changed the pacing on ‘Fight Me.’ I think we need to play faster in the chorus,” I said, playing a few lines. Tristan joined in on bass and Rusty pounded out the beat on his drums, setting the faster pace that I was looking for. We ran through it a few times, tweaking it here and there as Jax sang the lyrics I’d penned a few weeks ago.

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