Page 13 of Silver Sweet

You could never take the reason I woke.

You could never take my anger you provoke.

This voice, these feet, this heart of a thousand beats will go on.

Don’t worry, I don’t need you to see.

Any fucking part of me.

I don’t need you.

You’ll wish you knew.

Any fucking part of me.

The fire you feel is blue.

Don’t you wish you knew?

Any fucking part of me.

Phoenix shifts on his stool, almost forgetting to play. His gaze is latched to mine, and I don’t release him.

My throat burns like my eyes, and I tap my temple and point at him before giving him a middle finger and strumming into a guitar riff.

He animates on the second chorus, spins the sticks and plays with me. My pulse pounds and accelerates into a mind-whirling speed. He adds new drum beats I never thought of when I recorded the demo—ones that sound crisper,harder.

All I really know is when the song ends, my esophagus is torched like my lungs, and each breath hurts. That was too much.

Too raw.

Too real.

Too incensed.

Too good.

I don’t want to sound this great withthisguy. I can’t put my finger on it—but there is something terrifying about this partnership. Like I’m making a deal with the devil to achieve ultimate success. What’s the actual cost?

Phoenix is scrutinizing me in the silence too. His breath heavy. He rubs sweat off his temple with the side of his fist. And the first thing he says is, “Who fucked you up?”

My ribs contract painfully.

He repeats the lyric, “‘You could never take the reason I woke.’”

I feel bare. My tongue is tied for once. Thankfully, I don’t have to respond. Our manager enters the tracking room with a bright grin and an approving nod.

Neither of us return the smile.

“Jere.” Phoenix stands from the drum kit. “What’s wrong with him?”

My eyes widen since I asked the same thing about him earlier. “Nothing’s wrong with me, dude,” I defend myself.

He snaps a hard look at me. “Okay,arrogantgod. You have the presence and the voice of someone who should be selling out stadiums. But you haven’t even released an album.”

At least he knows I’m amazing.

Jeremy comes closer, and our heads swing toward our manager as he finally says, “I’m putting my two problem children together. Your previous bands said you’re not easy to work with, so let’s see if you can work with each other.”