Absorbed (Devoured, #1.5)(15)

Instinctively, I lift my hand to my shock of red and blond hair, even as I jump to my feet and throw myself into Sin’s arms. He’s visibly gained weight since I last saw him, but it’s the most obvious when he hugs me tightly, knocking the wind out of my lungs. “I dyed it just for you,” I say when he loosens his grip.

Grasping me by the shoulders, he leans back to stare down at me, his gray eyes full of emotions that I haven’t seen from him in a long time. He drops his gaze to the tips of my hair and twists a few strands between his fingertips. “Then dye that shit back,” he teases. “I already miss the blue.”

I’m not even aware that Lucas has gotten up to stand beside me until Sin directs his stare over my shoulder. The look that he gives my brother rips at my chest. It’s apologetic and sincere—and I hope like hell that it’s these emotions that will keep him the hell out of places like this. “You let her go out like this, mother f*cker?”

Lucas’s laugh starts out forced, but by the time I glance back at him to offer him a pleading look, it’s genuine. “I can’t tell Kylie shit.”

I turn back to Sinjin. “I’ve got to use the bathroom, but it’ll only take a minute, okay?”

He nods, and as I head toward the restroom on the other side of the waiting room, I hear Sinjin speak to my brother in a hushed voice. “I’ve got to know if she left you because of me. Because of the shit I said.”

I’m all the way to the restroom door by the time Lucas responds, but I hear it loud and clear. “Not because of you. Because of me. But I’m going to get her back.”

And for the second time today, I find myself whispering, "Good for you."





Chapter Eleven


Lucas Wolfe





For the next couple of weeks, things are touch and go as the band readjusts to having Sinjin back around. He bitches and moans about leaving rehab just to go back to work—rehearsing is unavoidable since we our tour launches in a little over four months—but I haven’t seen him this relaxed and happy in years. I don’t realize what’s going on with him until one night during rehearsal at the studio. He gets a call in the middle of one of our songs. Though he quickly silences his phone and mutters an apology, the moment that Cal strums the final note of “Tumble’s Down”, Sinjin is on his way out. I catch the first part of his conversation as he leaves:

“God, where’ve you been? I’ve been thinking—” The door to the soundproof room thuds shut, cancelling out whatever the hell it is Sinjin is saying.

Cal sets his guitar to the side and sits backwards on one of the uncomfortable rolling chairs our label places around these rooms. The look on his face matches the one I’m sure is on my own—worry. “You don’t think he’s trying to get f*cked up do you?”

Wyatt’s digging around in the mini-fridge, but when his head comes up, he’s shaking it from side to side. Cal and I both look over at him, waiting impatiently for clarification. At last Wyatt shrugs. “He made a friend in rehab.”

“A friend?” I ask. Wyatt hurls a bottle of water at me, but I reach up and catch it. His aim is just as shitty as Kylie’s. Staring at him darkly, I unscrew the top from the water. I lean my shoulder against the wall. “I’m assuming a female friend.”

Wyatt nods and takes a swig of the Bud Light he found in the fridge. He makes a face at it, turning the bottle to the side to check the date. “That’s what I heard. Fuck, that’s all I know. Ky’ll be able to tell you her whole life story if you ask.”

Kylie. No shit she’ll be able to tell me about Sinjin’s mystery woman. Cal groans before I have a chance. “Goddamn, Kylie knows everything. She’s been all over my ass for months about Heidi, but I can’t—”

The door cracks open, and all three of us look like we’ve been caught in the act as Sinjin comes back into the studio. Wyatt downs the rest of his beer and Cal gets up from that lousy ass chair as Sin walks a little more aggressively than normal to his drums.

“Everything okay?” I demand, and he shrugs.

“Been a lot better and so much worse, so it’s good.” He sits down behind his drums and shoots an edgy look around the room at the rest of us. “Just wanted to throw this out there, I’d like to get this done so I can go on home for the night.” He drags the drumsticks out of his back pocket and stretches his arms, managing a forced smile. “Shit to do.”

I’m worried about Sinjin long after our rehearsal is finished. I feel like a nag for texting him later that night and like a f*cking * for getting anxious when he doesn’t respond. As soon as Kylie comes into work the next day, I turn her back around to take her to lunch. She’s suspicious, and rightly so because as soon as we’re seated at the restaurant of her choice—the Cheesecake Factory of all places—I start up on the questions.

“So what do you know about her? And don’t give me that confidentiality bullshit because you know how important this is.”

Her dark brown eyes widen, and she runs her fingers nervously through her short hair. She drinks almost half a glass of water before responding. “Look, I’d planned on telling you everything once Sin got settled in and you all got over that hump. Sorry for being secretive, but trust me we haven’t been talking as long as you think. It feels like it took me forever to get back into her life, so I’ve been taking it slowly—”