Page 85 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

He huffed out a laugh. “Both. I’m glad you came to my hotel room, and I’m glad you came, twice so far, in my bed.”

“So far?”

“We doing that thing where you repeat everything I say?”

“Everything you say?” Her eyes glittered with mischief.

“Oh, Jase, I love your hot body and the way you make me come.”

“You honestly thought I was going to repeat that?”

Jase shrugged. “Worth a try, right?”

Their exploration of each other turned silent. A knuckle along a jaw, a finger along a collar bone. Quiet, soft kisses. Long gazes at each other that should have been uncomfortable but weren’t. Soft smiles.

Jase couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent in bed with a woman just ... being. Being himself. Being open. Being vulnerable to someone else’s scrutiny.

Not rushing things was ... perfection.

Cerys closed her eyes. He could feel his own drooping heavy with sleep. He reached behind him and turned off the light, then cuddled her closer.

“Night, babe,” he said, then kissed her head.

“Night,” she mumbled, her breath warm against his chest.

He lay there, in a random bed in a random hotel in Detroit, a really long way from Manchester. But with Cerys in his arms, it was the closest thing he’d felt to home in fucking forever.

14

The following morning, Jase stood at the microphone, one headphone off one ear, as Bexter paced in front of him.

“Because the structure of the album is split into the before and the after of the song going viral, you’ve got this sort of mini-crescendo on the storytelling, right? There’s anger and distrust, so those emotions are simmering and boiling,” Bexter said.

“I get that, but what does that mean for each song’s individual structure?”

“Think of it like waves.”

“Jesus. What is it with you and your fucking daughter and waves?”

Confusion etched Jimmy’s features.

“Sorry,” Jase said. “Continue.”

“When the tide’s coming in, each wave layers on top of the next one. Each wave is a little higher. It recedes down the shore, but not quite as far back as the wave before as the next wave comes in over the top. If you think about that in pure musicality, you wouldn’t put your most explosive song as the first track. So, when you sing these songs, because they tell a story, you have to ebb and flow with them vocally.”

He’d not thought of it that way before. He’d taken each song at face value and just sung it to the best of his ability. But Jimmy was focused on nuance.

“So, because ‘It’s Not About You’ follows the power of ‘Truth and Anger’ and that big finish, it needs to be a bit more of a receding wave to take the energy down a touch, so the rearranged and remastered ‘Until It’s Done’ can crash over the top. Instead of starting the vocals quite so strong, I should take it down a notch, yeah?”

“That’s totally it. Then you’re telling a story rather than just singing a song.”

“Makes sense. Can I just drink this honey and lemon drink and then give it a go again?”

“Sure.” Jimmy casually checked something on his phone then placed it down. “I noticed that you came in with Cerys this morning?”

“I did.” There was no point in lying, and he was a grown man not prone to sneaking around.

“I think you should use the rest of the time here to focus on the album. Long days. You need your rest. Preserve your voice as much as you can.”

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