Page 58 of When We Fell Again
He wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, that’s shit. I can’t remember who you’re going out with.”
Jordan didn’t remember because I hadn’t told him. Each time he’d asked, I’d stalled him with excuses of Theo not having finalised the details. As the tour was so close now, I had little option but to be honest.
“It’s The Dicers.” The words came out in a rush, and Jordan’s face creased in confusion, almost as if he hadn’t heard me.
“You mean Arlo Carmichael?” He almost spat the name out.
I swallowed hard, nodding.
For a few moments that felt like an eternity, he didn’t say anything, twisting his napkin around and not looking me straight in the eye. I could almost sense his struggle from the other side of the table. Eventually, he glanced up, a tiny smile playing across his lips.
“That’s going to be interesting.”
The exhale that escaped me was long and hard. “Isn’t it?”
“He’ll be a handful to work with. We did a festival with him about three years ago and it was utter carnage. I can only hope he’s matured since then.”
“Like you have, you mean?”
“Hey, I’m very sensible now.”
I tilted my head. “Sensible how? Like playing in a kids’ playground and messing up your shoulder?”
“Babe, it got you back in my life, so I’m not complaining.”
Our gaze met, unspoken words hanging in the air. Neither of us had saidI love youagain… at least not yet. Jordan slid a hand across the table, covering his with mine.
“I mean it. I can’t believe we’re back together.”
The smile that crept across my face almost cracked my cheekbones. “Me either. If you’d told me at the start of your tour we’d be here now, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Jordan opened his mouth to speak, but anything he was about to say was lost with the arrival of our breakfast. And once the food arrived, I had little focus on anything but that, despite the butterflies in my stomach.
We ate and chatted, drank more coffee, and took our time over a leisurely meal. Unlike being on tour, there was no rushing off with schedules to meet, and it really did feel like a proper, grown-up relationship. After we finally left the cafe, we walked around a nearby park, talking more about the band and how they were excited to be making new music again. I talked about the upcoming tour, expressing my fears about Arlo’s sometimes problematic behaviour. Jordan reassured me I had nothing to worry about, and I’d be able to handle him.
“Besides, if he messes with my woman, he’ll have me to deal with.”
I hoped he was joking.
After a couple of hours, we ended up in Covent Garden, browsing around the market stalls there. I stopped by one selling jewellery, always a sucker for pretty silver things. I picked up some earrings, hoops with a feather dangling from each of them, and held them up for Jordan to look at.
“What do you think?”
“Definitely your style.” He pointed at a stacked necklace adorned with twinkling stars and a crescent moon. “So’s that.”
My fingers trailed over the delicate chain. “It’s pretty.”
“Why don’t I get them for you?” Jordan suggested with a smile. “Something to remind you of me when we’re not able to be together.”
I placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t be silly. You don’t have to do that.” He had rarely bought me anything that personal before. His gifts had mostly been clothes, gig tickets, or practical things for work.
His reaction to the news I was going on tour with Arlo Carmichael had surprised me. I’d expected anger, jealousy, even the cold shoulder. But the ease with which he had accepted it gave me hope that our relationship would be different this time around.
“Lex, I want to,” he almost begged. “Please.”
“Then who am I to argue?”
The vendor wrapped up the earrings, but I didn’t bother with a box or a bag for the necklace, instead letting Jordan fasten it around my neck. He placed a light kiss on the back of my neck, and almost instantly, my nipples tightened in response.
