Page 25 of When We Fell Again
It took every ounce of my willpower not to go over to him and demand to know what time he left and why he didn’t wake me. Not to mention quell the little streak of jealousy I felt over the receptionist’s interest in him.
Luckily, any thoughts I had were thwarted by Claudia.
“All okay after last night?” She looked over at Jordan. “He still looks like shit.”
“I think he’s fine. He slid out of my bed at who knows what time this morning.”
Her eyes widened. “You slept together? Jesus, that escalated quickly.”
I shook my head. “That’s all we did. Sleep. He was knackered after we got back from the hospital and didn’t want to wake Levi.”
“Really?” Claudia’s mouth twitched. “I’m sure that’s all it was.”
“Seriously, there’s nothing to tell.”
“Do you think you can keep him out of trouble for the rest of the tour?” She nudged me with her elbow. “I’m not with you for the next few dates. I’ll rejoin you for the last London one, but until then, you’re on your own.” Pulling me in for a hug, she murmured in my ear. “But you know where I am if you need me.”
“Thanks, Claudia. Appreciate it.”
She released me and waved as I headed over to the others.
“Finally,” hissed Levi. “Thought we’d never leave.”
“Since when have you been so hot on time-keeping?” I asked.
“Since you and Jor-” he began.
Jordan cut in. “Shut up, Levi. Let’s just get on the road.”
He didn’t acknowledge me and bent down to pick up his stuff with his good hand before stalking off into the car park.
I almost volunteered to go in the Transit van with Angus such was the atmosphere. But my need for a nap won out. Even squished in the back corner of a people carrier, I’d get more shut-eye than with him singing loudly and out of key to whatever was on the radio. Thankfully, Levi decided to take that seat, so it ended up being me, Jordan, Jude, and Robbie in the minivan with Eric driving. Jordan occupied the front seat, the guys in the middle row, and me in the back with all the bags. He certainly wanted to maintain his distance.
My eyelids started to droop almost immediately as we started to travel on the motorway. But I didn’t fall asleep straight away and overheard the conversation going on in front of me.
“So, you and Lex, hey Jordan?” asked Jude. “Levi reckons the two of you are back together after last night.”
“Yeah, what happened?” Robbie pitched in with a question.
Desperate to hear Jordan’s response, I tried to stay awake.
“Nothing to tell. Nothing happened.” His tone stayed casual, givingnothingaway.
“But Levi said…”
“Levi needs to wind his neck in and stay out of my business. He’s worse than a girl when it comes to gossip.”
There was a pause, then the guys started to talk about a new bass Jude wanted to try and how Robbie wanted to upgrade his drum kit. Not interested in contributing to the conversation, the warmth of the heater in the van combined with my extreme tiredness had me nodding off, and I enjoyed the brief respite from the drama.
“Lex, do you want coffee?”
Woken from my slumber what felt like five minutes later, Jordan leaned over the middle row and peered into the back.
Rubbing my eyes, I stretched. “Where are we?”
“At the services just outside of Bristol. Robbie’s craving a pasty and Jude needs a piss. We haven’t made as much progress as Eric would have liked, but you know what Robbie’s like when he’s hungry. The others have already gone in, but I said I’d wait for you.”
Given I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten something, coffee and a pastry sounded good. I tilted my head to look at Jordan.
