“How is he?” She asked sincerely.
“Devastated. Still.” I said sadly. “He’s getting better at hiding it, but I don’t think he’ll ever get over Zoey.”
“I need to talk to you about all of that, but not here.” She said quietly.
“We agreed not to—” I started.
“This is important. But not here.”
“Okay, well I’m done, let’s go do something. Wait here and I’ll be right back.” I motioned for her to stay put while I grabbed my things.
Moving like lightning, I ran back to the dressing room for my backpack, took a second to post pics of the VIP party to social, and then I chatted with Bodie, my drum tech. Within ten minutes I was back to retrieve Alex from the party and bring her through the labyrinth of pathways to where the tour buses were parked.
“How long are you in Barcelona?” I asked as we ducked into my waiting car.
“Only until the day after tomorrow. I wasn’t planning to be here but got offered ten thousand euros to post myself attending the festival today.” She shrugged good-naturedly. “I couldn’t say no.”
“Seriously? You’re making more per day than I do!” I laughed. “We’ve gone double platinum but haven’t seen a decent royalty check yet.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. They put me up in a hotel, it’s nice. Wait! Do you want to come back there with me?” She wrinkled her nose as if she didn’t mean to blurt out the offer.
“Do you think I’m going to say no to that?” I put my arm around her, and she showed the driver the address of her hotel.
“Well, I’m not your typical skank groupie.” She gently slugged me in the shoulder.
“Thank God.” I leaned closer and breathed her in, she still smelled like a tropical summer breeze on an ocean.
“Are you smelling me?” She looked at me incredulously.
“You smell amazing.” I pulled her leg up over mine and stroked her muscled calf.
“You smell amazing.” She lay her head down on my shoulder, sniffed my neck, and then her blue eyes blinked up at me.
“You look gorgeous.” I touched my lips to hers.
We looked into each other’s eyes as we softly kissed. With the tip of my tongue, I traced the seam of where her lips met, probing gently until she opened for me. Nestling her closer against me, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, so she was nearly on top of me. Satisfied, I stroked her inner thigh under the skimpy dress she wore. Her nipples were beaded into tight nubs, clearly visible through the thin fabric of her black dress. My dick was hard as a rock against her hip.
“Jace—” She gripped my hand when I inched closer to her pussy.
“Oh, God. Alex.” I immediately stopped what I was doing. “I’m sorry, I just thought . . .”
“Oh, you thought right. It’s happening. I just want to get this thing I need to tell you off my chest first.” She squirmed off my lap into the seat next to me and smoothed her dress back down.
“Fine.” I was so goddamn horny, and now a little annoyed. “What is it?”
“I found out what happened with Zoey.” She clasped her hands together in her lap and looked down. “It’s not good.”
“We agreed it wasn’t our business, Poppy.” I crossed my arms and slumped back into my seat.
“Well, it also wasn’t Carter’s business.” She fixed her stare at me. “Do you know what he did?”
She didn’t have many details, but she explained that Carter had told Zoey to break up with Ty so that he could have a chance at living his rock star dream without being tied down. Apparently, he told her that it was for her own good since Ty would likely cheat on her after being on the road for so long. I couldn’t comprehend how or why he’d do that to our singer, who had been struggling with severe depression since Zoey left.
“Fuck me. I’ve got to tell Ty.” My face was buried in my hands, he was going to feel so betrayed.
“I know.” Alex stroked my forearm.
“This could break up the band,” I mumbled through my fingers. “Fuckity fuck.”
“Zoey moved to Texas, you know. Just to get away from everything. She’s not the same person, she’s buried in schoolwork. I barely talk to her anymore.” Alex looked a bit devastated by this.
“Why would Carter do this?” I looked at her, knowing that she probably didn’t have the answers.
“All she would say is that Carter was convinced that Ty would give up the band to be with her.” Alex nestled back under my arm. “He told her that all of you guys thought so.”
“That’s so manipulative.” I was appalled. “I’ll admit, Zane and I talked to him about it casually. Neither of us could understand why Ty wanted to get so serious at his age, but it’s his life.”
“Well, she was really conflicted until the night they—um.” Alex scrunched her nose.
“Actually did the deed,” I said helpfully.
“Um, yeah. He confessed that he didn’t want to go on tour, that he would rather move with her up to Bellingham. After that, she didn’t feel like she had a choice.” Alex paused as if thinking about whether she wanted to say more. “That’s why she’s disappeared, she wanted Ty and you guys to have this chance without her holding any of you back.”
“This is all so dramatic. And fucked up.” I shook my head in disgust.
“Yeah. I felt the same way, but she loved him.” Alex sighed. “She thought it was the only way.”
“Well, maybe talking to him would have been a better idea.” I opened and closed my fist. “I don’t understand this at all.”
“Me either. All I know is that my best friend is so heartbroken that she’s a shell of her former self. She’s lost twenty pounds, easily. And, in case you were wondering, I’ve never told her about what happened with us.”
“Ah. Well, I’ve never told anyone either.” I gripped
