All Chapters of In Wounded Rhymes: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

•The clock read 1:34. Kyle stared at his laptop screen. It was the first time he got to read the interview—well, interviews—although the articles said they were posted about two years ago. Even after he'd spent almost twelve hours in the studio today, sleep wouldn't slip into his system. Hopefully his currently nocturnal sleeping schedule would be back to normal after recording.  It had become the norm ever since the band's first nationwide tour.Some familiar knocks on the door made him exit the browser and get out of bed. He jerked the door open and wasn't surprised to find his favorite singer standing in the hallway, carrying their smallest keyboard. Sheets of paper were sticky-taped on the right corner of the instrument."Eureka moment!" Veronica beamed at him. She stepped right inside before he c

•

•Unbearably awkward moments stretched into minutes while he got dressed. Théo hung his clothes and ignored her, his movements quite rushed.He wasn't talking to her―as expected. Stiff on the hotel bed, Veronica stayed hunched over and kept her mouth shut. She focused her distracted mind and gaze somewhere away from his face.His very handsome face. And beautiful eyes and mouth...Ugh! What the frick was going on with her? Such desperation.It was pathetic. It was driving her mad, annoyingly helpless that her chest ached at the mere sight of him. Théo staying here with her all night, alone with her in a small room...it felt too much to handle.She shouldn't even be in New York right now. She should be back home, working with her bandmates, finishing the recordi

•

•⋮ 3 years earlier

✖ WARNING! ✖ Content below not intended for young readers. Read at your discretion. ✖• Present day •It shouldn't take her another hour to finally convince him that she had to leave now. He knew she had to work in the morning, record another song in the studio with Kyle and Dan, and he'd always respected the fact that she prioritized her job and her career more than ever.Being a musician was basically all she knew and did since graduating college. However, considering the current circumstances, he might try to stop her from leaving him again, only because he didn't want to be left alone, it seemed.  Veronica sighed to herself.Her failed attempts to not cry her eyes out left her flat on the covers, lying face-down, marinating in utter shame and disgust with herself.  Instead of giving him proper closure and kissing him goodbye for the last time, they ended up having sex again.  

•  3 years earlier • Good grief. Not today. No. No. No. This was not what she'd expected when she half-heartedly replied 'k..see u later' to his text. At least not this soon. When she'd agreed to meet up

• 3 years earlier •

•  Present day  • Kyle hurled his beer can into the trash.  His skull felt like breaking open.  He kicked the door to slam it shut, not caring if he'd wake the people in the next room.  Another draining headache had been hammering his head since ten in the morning. His usual painkillers didn't work.  They only numbed the pain for a few hours, in fact. He didn't feel like eating, either. Even after two pills, his stupid migraine only resumed a longer round two. With their roadies, he drove back to the hotel near the recording studio before midnight with Dan and Via. Their band had been invited to play their new single at a radio guesting earlier.  Kyle eyed the door to Veronica's hotel room, their rooms just opposite each other. He didn't bother knocking and just jerked the door open.  Clutching her phone, Veronica sat on the edge of the bed.

•  Arcueil, Paris • "Merde. Salaud. Pute.""Well, well, well...  Someone partied a little too much last night."Théo froze on the couch and stopped mumbling complaints. The familiar voice instantly caught his full attention.Female. New York accent. Loud and rich with sarcasm.Jamie.He lifted his aching head. It felt like someone was jackhammering his skull from the inside. Damn that Polish vodka.Last night, Tomek had dared him to swig another shot of that acid-tasting drink.  No—wait. Five more shots, actually. The thought alone made his temples throb harder.Théo flinched. Despite his boozed up brain, he could still remember how every drop of that lethal drink had scorched his throat."Ran into Adri and Vinc