Page 92 of The Sounds of Her
Adam glares at Brooke, but he softens when Jenna steps into him, kisses his cheek and runs a hand down his chest. She whispers something, and I exchange another glance with Brooke.
If anyone can calm him, it’s Jenna. She pushes his chest, so he takes a step back, then scurries away, tugging Brooke behind her before Adam can do anything else.
Stone goes straight after them, but not before receiving another long hard stare from Adam. It promises a serious conversation after the show.
“You gotta admit, Brooke handled that,” I say, causing Adam to swing his gaze back at me. “You can hulk out later.”
“Fuck that.”
“Sure, let the fans down because you’re pissed at a situation that has been handled. For now,” I add, because this will not go away easy.
“Pissed doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel,” Adam paces. He can’t keep still when he’s agitated. “What the fuck is he talking about? What does Zos have to do with anything?”
“Even your thick skull can figure that out.” I shake my head. “All these questions will still be there after we do two more songs for the fans who have paid to see us. Don’t be a dick now. Be a dick after.”
“You’re full of shit,” he reluctantly turns and follows me but takes his phone out of his pocket. We don’t have time for this, he’s going to see if there are any reports about the wedding, or Zosia. I snag it from him and hand it to Bruno as we pass, he looks like he’s about to blow a gasket at us holding up his well-timed out show.
“Don’t lose that,” I say.
“Archer, you asshole!”
I push Adam ahead of me. Nick and Jordan are waiting near the entrance to the stage, a roadie handing Nick his guitar strap. I need to grab mine. The crowd is still screaming and chanting our names. They’re gonna get super restless soon. At least Adam is getting his shit into gear.
I laugh.
“What’s so fucking funny?” he scowls at me.
“Did you see how Brooke tore strips of them? The two of them are bad ass. Jenna’s not some damsel in distress who needs you to protect her.”
“Back here, it shouldn’t happen, Archer. This is supposed to be a safe space. The fucking vultures. I’m gonna sue their asses.”
“For doing their job?” I duck so the roadie can put my guitar over my shoulder, as a sound guy steps up to Adam to check his mic pack.
“I’m gonna find out who they are, how they got in and-”
“Stow it,” I slap his shoulder. “Besides, Brooke will have done all the things she threatened before we even get back off this stage.”
“Quit bitching and get on the damn stage!” Someone yells.
The crowd screams louder when Jordan and Nick run out. Leaving Adam no chance to argue further, I shove him out onto the stage. He stumbles and I grab him around the neck pulling him after me, waving at the crowd.
“I’ll kick your ass,” he grumbles.
“And I’ll set Brooke on you.”
That gets a begrudging smile. I shove him away and he storms to the front of the stage and grabs the mic stand.
“Sorry guys, Archer had an accident. He had to change his undies.”
The crowd screams and Jordan does a quick drum roll. I play my part and take a bow, then we jump straight into ‘Restful Destruction,’ the first of our four number one hits from last year.
Chapter Twenty-One
“We can’t stop the story running,” Hannah says, sitting across from us.
Adam checked the news as soon as we got offstage and is furious. There are pictures of him and Zosia together and headlines like ‘Trouble in Paradise,’ or ‘Lead Singer of BreakNeck Steps out on Fiancée’ and ‘Pop Princess and Rockstar Getting Closer.’ And even more bullshit.
The photographs are of the two of them at the studio where they’ve been working on her new album and on the two occasions she came out with BreakNeck to a club.