Read Online Razing Ryker (Dissonance Book 1) by Jordanna James - Free Book Online Page A

Cameron’s number.
    “Come on, you—“
    “On the phone!”
    Grant watched Ryker’s back as he waited impatiently for the call to go through. His shoulders were high and tight, anxious. This was important to him. It was important to everyone involved and the success of this concert could change the tide for Ryker’s entire career, but Grant had a sinking, awful feeling that it wouldn’t be enough. He knew his friend. He knew he needed more, but what that ‘more’ was, he didn’t know. Even worse, he understood that Ryker didn’t know either.
    Ryker made the calls to all of the members of Rendezvous .
    All but one.
    He listened as Grant laughed and joked with the other dancers and he knew he’d get them. Every last one of them because that’s the kind of charisma Grant had. The same kind that Ryker used to have. He recognized it and envied it. Especially now as he looked down at the final headshot, the final phone number, and he wondered if he wanted to call her after all. He wanted her in the show but he didn’t know if he could handle the joyful exuberance that would most likely follow his offer. The joy and the screams and the appreciation that Mia had just given him. He didn’t think he could stomach it. Maybe he didn’t have to call. Maybe a text would be enough.
    “Shit,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair. She didn’t have a cell. This number was a landline. He had to call. Annoyed that he was afraid of a phone call, he whipped his cell phone off the bar and dialed the number quickly. He’d tell her she got it, congratulate her, and hang the fuck up.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, can I speak to Greer, please?” he asked.
    “This is Greer. Jace?”
    He paused, thrown by the sound of her saying his name. He realized then that he hadn’t heard her say it in their brief conversations. Most people tried it out at least once while talking to him as though to cement the moment in their minds. “Yeah, it’s Jace Ryker.”
    “How are you?”
    “I’m good. I’m calling to tell—how are you?”
    She chuckled lightly. “I’m great. Just sitting around brushing up on my Old McDonald.”
    “Have you reached the duck yet? The duck was always my favorite as a kid.”
    “Not yet. I’m stuck on goat.”
    He frowned. “Do goats make a sound?”
    “Exactly my problem. I think I’ve sung myself into a corner here.”
    “You could always skip them.”
    “I’m no quitter.”
    “I think they say ‘bah’, like sheep.”
    “But then what do I do when I get to sheep?”
    “Fall asleep?”
    “Now we’re rhyming,” she laughed. “I think we just wrote a song together.”
    “My first in months,” he chuckled dryly.
    “That’s not true. I heard one of your new ones just the other day.”
    “You weren’t supposed to. No one was.”
    “Oh. You mean it was leaked?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Why?”
    “Because that’s your work,” she replied as though it were obvious. “It’s a piece of you and you aren’t in control of it. That sucks.”
    He swallowed in surprise at her reaction, at how close it hit to home. “Yeah, it does.”
    “Do you know how it got out?”
    He hesitated, not sure he wanted to continue this conversation. Greer was deceptively easy to talk to and he probably shouldn’t have told her as much as he just had. He definitely shouldn’t tell her who he suspected of leaking his material because if it found its way to the press it’d be another scandal he had to deal with. He wasn’t ready to face that. He was already cleaning up from the last mess. “Not a clue,” he said, his voice clipped. “Anyway, I was calling to let you know we want you in the show if you’re available.”
    “Seriously?” she asked, sounding breathless.
    Ryker winced, prepping himself for the screams. “Yeah. Definitely. We need you in the show.”
    Want, he thought angrily, scolding himself. We want you in the show.
    “Thank you,” she said quietly.
    He paused, unsure of