Page 76 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Ben slapped a palm on Jase’s head. “You feeling okay?”

“Funny.” Jase batted his palm away. “Anticipation is cooler than I imagined.”

“Try three fucking weeks of anticipation. I’m dying,” Matt said. “Should have had Iz come out for one weekend.”

“Last night,” said Alex. “Anticipation sucks.”

“This morning. Right before that message came in,” Luke said, proudly. “Didn’t even have to come up with an excuse to get her to leave.”

“When the fuck did you get the chance to find someone this morning?” Ben asked.

“There’s an app for that, Benny-boy. But this happened to be Miley from the check-in desk of the hotel.”

“So, no pillow talk between you and the missus, then?” Alex asked.

Matt laughed. “He doesn’t know what pillow talk is.”

“Fuck off,” Jase said at their teasing. He glanced in Cerys’s office as he walked by, disappointed that she wasn’t there. But he was certain the quote on her board was just for him.

He calmed the storm inside and stilled the waves.

It would have been a bit more helpful if she’d put something simple. Like, there’s nothing to worry about, Jase. Or hey, Jase, you’re fucked.

The last thing he felt like doing was interpreting just how badly he was about to get his arse kicked.

He led them into the studio and found Jimmy leaning on one of the amps. Cerys was sitting on a chair at the production desks, arms folded. The quick wink she gave him caused him to let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s cool,” he muttered to Alex.

“Yeah? ’Cos it looks like a firing squad.”

“Guys. Come on in. Take a seat. I need to chat with you.”

Jase took a seat on the edge of the low stage, Matt and Ben sat down either side of him. Luke pulled the drum stool over; Alex took the piano bench.

“What’s going on, Jimmy?” Matt asked, and Jase was happy to let him lead. Which was strange. Because usually Matt led, and Jase felt pissy about it.

Weird.

“I spent some time with Cerys this morning, and we spoke to your manager just now. He knows what I’m about to say and is waiting to speak with you once I’m done. Someone pointed out to me that I’ve let you down.”

Jase’s eyes flicked immediately to Cerys, who stared at her father, not giving anything away.

“In what way?” Matt asked.

“You don’t like the way the album is shaping up, right? You’ve made no secret about it. It’s been like pulling teeth. We’re three weeks into this. You have eight days left to go. And we don’t have an album. I was going to sit you guys down today and rip you a new one about getting on board with the concept.”

Jase pulled his eyes away from Cerys to look at Jimmy. “So, what changed?”

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Jase. “Oh, I’m still going to ripyoua new one, Palmer. But not about the album and music. So, we’ll save that for later.”

Ben shoulder-checked him. “Busted.”

Yeah. It looked like he was. “Fair enough.”

“‘Until It’s Done’ versus ‘Truth and Anger’. Which song do you prefer to perform?” Jimmy asked.

“‘Truth and Anger’,” Alex said, and the rest of the band nodded.

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