Page 112 of The Rogues

“She’s…” I pause and glance over at Cleo’s door before lowering my voice. “She’s not taking it well, huh?”

Lark shakes her head. “She was never going to take it well, Jo, but it’s not her choice. She can’t boss everyone around all the time and not expect any consequences.”

Nicola suddenly looks uncomfortable, her hands fiddling in her lap. “Lark told me that you two had a fight at the dress shop. I think I must have blacked out, because I don’t remember it. I’m sorry I wasn’t more helpful.”

“Aw, Nic. I’m sorry that I ruined your fake bridesmaid fitting.”

She chokes on a laugh. “Gosh, we shouldn’t have done that.”

“It was nice at first,” I try to defend, but it falls flat.

“No, it wasn’t.” Nicola grins wide. “I think I just liked the idea that this could be in my immediate future, that Alek might propose sooner rather than later…”

Lark cuts in. “Hey, it’s possible.”

“Maybe.” She lets that ominous word hang in the air just as her phone starts to ring. She picks it up and rolls her eyes. “Speaking of the devil.”

“Is everything okay with you two?”

She waves me off. “Yeah, he’s just… being Alek. A little bit controlling, a little bit insecure. You know how things are sometimes.”

My brow arches, because I don’t. I have nothing but warm fuzzy feelings for my guys, and they do everything in the world to make me feel special even when things are stressful. The last thing I would ever describe them as is “insecure” or “controlling.”

“I better answer so he doesn’t have a tantrum. I’ll be back.”

The statement stuns me as she answers the phone and closes herself up in her room. I look over at Lark, who looks completely impassive at Nicola’s words. “It hasn’t gotten any better?”

“My guess is that it’s gotten worse. I mean, they’ve been together for four years and over a year of that she has spent on the road. I’m sure his attitude about it doesn’t help.”

“But he travels, too. He has his own shows and obligations, he can’t be that insensitive to it.”

She shrugs. “I don’t think you can rationalize your feelings when you’re too high to feel them.”

My head whips to her. “He’s still using? Even when she isn’t there?”

Lark’s close-lipped expression speaks volumes. “She’s mentioned that he…” She pauses to think. “Partakes more than she does. I think she’s tried to open up about him having a possible addiction, but I don’t think she wants Cleo to defend him or mention the things she does. Or maybe…”

“Maybe she thinks if she doesn’t say it out loud, it won’t become real,” I finish for her.

She nods, her eyes looking at me way more intently than they ever have. “But I think it’s time to talk about it, huh?”

I don’t think we’re talking about Alek anymore. My skin prickles as she continues to look at me, expectation shining in her green eyes that are a shade darker than mine.

My throat suddenly feels dry, the room caving in on us quickly. “Is she using again?” I ask tentatively.

Lark looks sheepish as she nods her head, and my world falls apart.

I think somewhere deep down, I knew. Just like I knew what Nicola and her boyfriend get up to whenever we’re home in L.A., I think I knew that Cleo was doing the same, but I didn’t want it to be true. I wanted it to be a one-time thing, something that helped her get through our last tour. A self-medicating experience, if you will, but deep down, I always knew the truth.

“I’m worried about both of them,” Lark says candidly, her armor cracking in front of me. “They’re just so unaware of what’s happening. I think they’ve settled into the rock star fantasy completely: playing every night, feeling unstoppable. But they are stoppable, and they’re going to crash and burn, and I don’t know what to do.”

I scoot closer to her. I’ve always known Lark had deeper feelings than she let show, but she’s always shown them in her own discreet way. Now she is being fully open, and I don’t want to miss a second of it.

I take her hand and squeeze.

“Nicola is starting to wake up a bit, I think, because of the way Alek is acting, but Cleo—” Lark shakes her head, her gaze shooting to our friend’s door over my shoulder before she whispers, “I don’t think she’s just on coke anymore. I’ve seen her use it, out in the open, but I’ve seen her disappear before and come back completely sluggish. She is a completely different person, even compared to the last tour.”

I nod, feeling reaffirmed by her words. I knew I wasn’t going crazy. I knew things felt like they were getting worse for wear, but to hear my same concerns coming straight from Lark’s mouth makes it so much better—and way worse—than I could ever imagine.