Page 11 of Perfect Storm

Nick called after we got ourselves ready to let us know BreakNeck all got the same invite, so this is something JordanandAlessa are up to. It won’t be the first time he’s thrown an impromptu party. Or invited us to go away for the weekend. Gambling in Vegas, or partying on a yacht in Monaco. All things Nash and I felt completely out-of-place doing. We thoroughly enjoyed them all the same.

Ocean climbs out of the car, her tiny frame wrapped in one of my hoodies. It isn’t cold, but she’s tired and feeling it more than me. We are at the private terminal at JFK and enter the lounge.

There are a few people already here. Ocean greets Tia with a hug. Archer and Brooke are sitting at a table, him on his phone, her on her laptop. From what little I know of Brooke, she’s a workaholic lawyer. Archer tips his chin at me as I make my way to Nash.

My brother is standing by the window watching planes taking off. I drop my bag with an attendant who is waiting to take it. Ocean sits with Tia, and they get themselves a coffee.

“What the hell?” I ask my brother.

“Hey,” he greets me with a one-armed hug and back slap. He looks troubled and tired.

“Any idea what this is about?” I ask, looking around.

A car pulls up and Nick and Elsa get out. She is almost skipping around to him, talking animatedly. Nick smiles at her as he passes off his bags and wraps his arm around her. For a private guy, he sure doesn’t mind the PDA his girlfriend lays on him.

“No clue,” he says.

His body language tells me he is tense as fuck. There isn’t much of an age difference between me and my brother. He more or less raised me when our parents got divorced and dad moved out of state. Our parents love us, and are always there for us, but Nash was my day to-day go to.

“I guess you haven’t seen the news this morning,” he says.

“What now?” My back straightens. The last few months have been difficult. Although everyone is happy the in-band drama is over, things haven’t been the same since Riley walked away.

“She’s doing an interview.”

“The fuck?” I turn to face him.

“She wants to tell everyone her side of the story.”

“What? That she’s a lying snake. Someone who cares more about money and attention than the people she is supposed to care about?”

Nash gives me a look. He doesn’t like me talking about her like that. I understand why. We grew up together, Riley and Nash were joined at the hip since they were about seven.

It didn’t excuse what she did, cheating on him, almost destroying the band. Then crawling back when it blew up in herface, trying to destroy Nash’s new relationship. And the cherry on top, walking out on the band.

“Can Declan stop it?”

Nash shrugs. “Probably not. We can try to get out ahead of it. I think it’s best to just let her get it off her chest.”

“Get it off her chest?” I say incredulously. “She’s gonna rag your reputation, you know that, right? Try to make you look like the bad guy.”

He shrugs again, but it’s bothering him. He glances across at Tia, she’s smiling at Elsa, who has joined their group. Nick makes his way over to Archer, who says something that has him bursting into laughter.

Sometimes, I got jealous of the way those guys are together. Yeah, Jordan can be a pain in the ass, he’s caused some shit over the years, but they’re as close as brothers. Nothing phases them. They’ve been in the business a lot longer than us and are rockstar royalty. It’s easier for them to brush shit off.

Not us though, we’re still tenuous. We’ve done one headlining tour and our next is already in the works. The first without her as a part of the band.

Riley fucking it up for us any further is not an option for me. Fucking with my brother, is even worse.

“We can sort it out after this,” Nash says, brushing his hair back off his forehead.

“When is this supposed side of her story happening?”

“Next week, it’s gonna air live on GtG.”

“That tells you everything. The bitch,” I grumble.Get the Gossis a trashy news site that everyone knows posts and airs bullshit stories. “Well, that gives us time to deal with it.”

“Leave it, Dyl.”

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