Prologue
Rory
“I’m gonna marry that girl some day,” Bennett says from across the fire. Tipping his beer, he points toward Lexi who is currently pushing my son and Camryn on the swings.
“Then get off your ass and make it happen,” I tell him and he shifts his attention back to me.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“When are you ever going to stop being such an ass, and realize there is more to life than random hookups? Those women from the bars, they have some weird fucked up fantasy they are living out because you are in a band. That shit won’t last.”
“I don’t want it to last. Had my head in the clouds once before and all I got out of that was a crazy baby momma that drives me fucking nuts. Jayden is the best thing I got out of that horror show.”
“That wasn’t a forever, that was a fucking hookup.”
“Whatever it was it taught me women are insane. All of them, batshit crazy!”
“Oh we’re crazy?” I turn around to find Adley standing behind me with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
“Did you ever think maybe you are the problem? Walking around like you’re some gift and you’ve got your head so far up your own ass you wouldn’t know a good thing if it slapped you in the face.
If you hang out looking for women in bars, you are gonna get drunk barflies.
You can’t blame them for giving up exactly what they offered. ”
“Do you always have to be so fucking high-strung?” The minute the words fly out of my mouth I regret them. Adley comes at me and in the process of trying to avoid her I tip backwards in my chair, dumping my beer down the front of my shirt.
Bennett laughs, the rest of the guys sitting around watching, offering me no help.
“Serves you right, you asshole,” Adley offers, turning around as she starts to walk away.
Standing up, I brush myself off and I know I should keep my mouth shut but I can’t. Instead I take off after her ignoring everyone that is telling me to let it go.
Adley
“What the hell did I do to you?” Rory yells at me from behind and I turn around quickly. He scowls at me. “You are always on my fucking ass. Telling me what I’m doing wrong. Correcting me when I speak, hounding me when I’ve somehow screwed up again.”
He holds my stare.
“But not fucking once do I ever remember asking you what your damn opinion was. So tell me Adley, what in the hell is your problem with me?”
“I don’t have a problem with you,” I declare. “In fact I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think, feel, or who you screw.”
“I call bullshit,” he challenges me taking another step in my direction. “I think you’re lying.”
“And I think you’re an asshole.”
“Maybe I am, but that still doesn’t explain why it bothers you so much. If I’m such an asshole, if everything I do annoys you so much, tell me Adley why do you even listen. Why are you the first person to tell me how wrong I am?”
“Someone needs to,” I say, hearing the crack in my voice.
“But why does that someone have to be you, Adley? Tell me that, you give me an answer for that and I’ll walk away now.”
I say nothing. My chest heaves, his too as we continue to stare at each other.
“Why do I get to you so badly?” he asks, taking another step.
“You pretend to be so mean and angry. You act like you’re this hard ass but I think there’s more to you than that.
Maybe you should stop focusing on why you hate me so much and accept that maybe that hate is something more. Maybe that hate, isn’t hate at all.”
MORE TO COME FOR ADLEY AND RORY in Book #3
KEEPING HIM CLOSE