Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Cole · Now
Over My Head (Cable Car) – A Day To Remember
“So Rosy, like your cheeks?” Axel watches the woman sitting beside him, scanning her face for any reaction to the nickname.
Carter scoffs from his perch on the wall. “Rosy like your cheeks? Fucking hell, dude.”
“Do you have anything better, Daddy?” Axel asks.
He might be teasing, but I can see in his eyes he really wants to give her a nickname.
Been there, done that. Bought the fucking T-shirt.
“Not your dad.”
“One day he’s going to accept me as his child,” Axel tells Riley. “Now, what’s your story, Rhubarb?” He shakes his head and hisses. “Nope. Even I know that sounds stupid.”
“I don’t have one,” she says, simply.
“Everyone has a story,” Saint says, head titling curiously.
“Not me. Twenty-eight, book editor, live with Hendrix. That’s my life.”
“How did you and Hendrix meet?” Axel asks.
“At a library.”
“Let me guess." I brush my thumb over my lips, smoothing away my grin as Hendrix toys with the sleeves of her black hoodie. “Rixie was checking out records?”
“Yeah,” Riley says, bobbing her head. “Yours.”
Hendrix drops her gaze to the floor, cheeks reddening as we all look at her.
Riley doesn’t seem to notice, as she continues, “I was looking for Shania Twain. And there she was. She was the first person in my adult life until that point who didn’t look at me funny for the fact I was wearing ear defenders and had a fidget in my hand.
She just handed me the record and went about her day. ”
“Because I’m not a cunt,” Hendrix states.
Riley taps her pinkie to Hendrix’s. “We saw each other again a week later. Then the week after. From then, we just existed in each other's lives.”
“And now you live together?” Saint asks.
Riley nods, eyes trained on the cube in her hand. “Yeah. I needed out of my mum’s, Hendrix had a spare room, the rest is history.”
“You’ve been friends for a long time?” Axel asks.
“Seven years, three months, and four days.”
Carter makes a noise somewhere between a grunt and a scoff behind me.
I pin him with a glare.
I’m pretty sure he’s not reacting to Riley right now, but the connection she and Hendrix have built. The family they’ve clearly become in our absence.
And yeah, it fucking sucks that she walked away and created her own life without us.
Still, he can save the dramatics for when she’s not here trying to help us.
A flicker of guilt crosses his face. “Riley, is it? You said you’re a book editor?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Anything we’d know?” He asks.
Her lips twist. “Do you read romance?”
“Er, no, actually.” He rubs the back of his neck, his blank stare returning as Hendrix looks his way. “But that’s a cool job.”
“Thank you. I like it.”
I smile. I see why Hendrix was drawn to her.
Maybe it’s her bluntness, the way she doesn’t react to us as we’ve grown to expect from others, or maybe it’s just that she’s unapologetically herself in a world that has probably judged her harshly for it.
Hendrix has always been drawn to people who don’t fit the standard. And when she welcomes you into her world and drops those shields for you, she loves fiercely.
Clearly that’s something Riley needs.
And if the way Hendrix leans on her is anything to go by, she needs it too.
“So, Hendrix.” Carter sneers. I’ve never seen him so cold. He’s not exactly the sunniest guy in the world, but he’s never distant. Not like this. “You’re back.”
Hendrix tucks her hands into her sleeves. “Yep. Guess so.”
“For now,” he says. I swallow hard, a lump brewing in my throat at the ease in which he throws out the accusation. Though, I think it’s more that I know he’s not wrong. She’ll leave again soon. “What have you been doing all these years? Writing for other bands?”
She shakes her head, her expression blanking. “I’m a mixing engineer.”
Saint jerks up and shoots me look.
I nod, a muscle jumping in my cheek.
Saint's face narrows.
“You don’t write anymore?” Axel asks, a frown tugging his lips.
“Not recently.” Hendrix taps her foot against the floor. “But enough about me. Let’s talk about Reckless Abandon. What the plan is. What you’re wanting.”
I can see Saint wants to ask her more, Axel too. Even Carter looks thoughtful as he watches from his leaning post.
I understand their need for answers. All I want is to know how the music died for her. When it did. And if she struggles with the silence as much as I do.
Did her dreams really change, or did she change them to suit this new world she’s living in?
“Can’t even remember the last time we were allowed to be creative and consider our own wants,” Axel says.
She frowns. “Your label sucked.”
“That they did, Rix. That they did.” Saint spins his chair, tugging a baggie from his pocket. “But we’re free now. Like birds floating over the sea.”
Riley snorts at his analogy. “You sound like Nicholas Sparks.”
“I have no idea who that is,” Saint says.
Axel is the one who answers. “Dude wrote The Notebook. You cried over it when Rix made us watch it.”
“I don’t cry.” Saint scoffs. “I—”
“Leak?” Hendrix hikes a brow.
“Exactly. I leak.” He grins. “Knew there was a reason I always liked you.”
She brightens in an instant, cheeks rounding, eyes glittering.
I don’t know what they spoke about in the sound booth. Maybe Saint will tell me later. Or he won’t. But whatever it was, it’s clear that they’ll find their way back to each other.
Their friendship will rebuild and they’ll move on.
I only wish she and I could do the same.
“Hey, I actually want to circle back to something Rinky Dink said,” Axel says as he rolls his chair over to Hendrix.
Carter groans, banging his head against the wall. “Fucking. Hell. Fire.”
“Love you too.” Axel blows Carter a kiss, before throwing an arm over Hendrix's shoulders. “Now, Rix. What’s this about scouring libraries for our records?”
She swallows, her throat jumping with the movement. “It was for my friend, Talia. She and her now fiancé are big fans. She was planning to propose then, and she wanted Pretty Face playing. So, I was tasked with finding the B-side it was on.”
Axel pushes his lips out. “Damn, and I thought we might still be your favourite band.”
Riley’s mouth opens, only Hendrix taps a tattooed finger on the back of her hand twice and she snaps it shut.
If I wasn’t watching so damn closely, I’d have missed the entire exchange. I tilt my head, a finger pressed to my lips. I’ve no idea what Riley was gonna say but fuck if I’m not curious.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Hendrix says, popping a shoulder. “Plus, you were always second favourite, anyway.”
“Never could knock Gerard Way off the top spot, could I?” I laugh.
She looks at me with a blindingly beautiful grin. “Never. If it’s any consolation, you came super close.” She pinches her fingers together, peeking through the gap. “Like this close, honestly.”
My stomach tightens. Fire licks beneath my skin, searing through my veins. I shift on the couch, the moment snapping, when I zero in on the water dangling from my fingertips.
Weed stirs in the air.
Axel clears his throat, a cheeky grin flashing over his face. “Well, this is fun. Great chat, gang.”
Carter snorts. He shoves off the wall, grabs a chair, and drops into it.
“Look, shit’s messy. But we’re not here to rehash the past.” He avoids looking at Hendrix as he turns to me.
“We’re here to figure out the music. Fuck everything else.
Business, right? Nothing more, nothing less. The rest is just noise.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” I nod, plastic crinkling beneath my fingertips as I turn to Hendrix. “You see everything you need to see?”
Lip stuck encased between her teeth, she tilts her head, gaze bouncing over the guys. “I’d say so.”
“Alright then.” I clear my throat. “Let’s go make music.”