Chapter 49
Chapter forty-nine
Cole · Now
The Best Of Me – The Starting Line
The door clicks shut when Saint shuffles back inside.
I shoot a glance at him.
His face is hard and he shakes his head.
My gut sinks.
He pulls a joint from his pocket, sparks it, and pulls in a small drag before he looks over the room. “She bolted.”
“Is anyone surprised?” Theo scoffs, slipping out of the spare bedroom.
I see a flash of caramel hair before she drags the door shut.
Back pressed to the wood, she folds her arms over her chest, and hikes a brow as she looks at Saint. “What exactly did you tell her you were all doing in here?”
“Just that we were hanging.” He toes the floor with the cap of his boot.
“You’re an idiot.” She scowls at her husband before turning her fire to me. “And you! What were you thinking? You don’t kiss a woman and then run off the next day without talking about it just because that fucking dickhead calls you.”
Nausea swirls in my stomach.
Pretty sure I wasn’t thinking when we got back.
Carter called, said about the girls, and I went into full fucking panic mode. Because how do you let the woman of your dreams back in when you’re keeping your family from her? A family she was once a central part of?
“Hey.” Carter shouts.
“Don’t even get me started on you.” Theo doesn’t falter as she turns her glare on him. “Why are you still hiding the girls? They are our family, Carter. They shouldn’t be a secret.”
“You think I don’t know that? You really think I haven’t thought about just setting them free on her and seeing how she reacts?
” He leans forward on the armchair, veins popping in his arms as he props his elbows onto his knees.
“But it’s not that simple, Theo. She dipped once.
What’s stopping her from doing it again?
I'm the one that has to deal with the fallout when she hurts them.”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Theo asks. She cocks her head towards me. My spine locks as she gives me a sad smile. “Are you planning on letting her go again?”
Not in this lifetime. Not after she let me peek into everything she held onto for ten years. Pretty sure I’ll never be able to watch Hendrix walk away from me again.
Theo nods at my silence, as if it’s the only answer she needs.
“You?” She glances at Saint when he sits beside me. His shoulder presses to mine, anchoring me to the couch as my knees bounce. “Are you gonna watch your best friend walk away for a second time?”
A clipped shake of his head. “Nope.”
“Ax?” She tips her chin to where Axel leans against the wall.
He shrugs. “I’m all in. Have been from the second she walked through that door.”
“It’s on you big guy,” Theo says to Carter. “But I am telling you now, she’s either all in, or we have got to let her go. Finish the album, get the goodbyes she never gave you, and close the damn door for good.”
Carter scoffs. “Those are our options? Let her all the way in or shove her out?”
“Not ours.” I shake my head. “If she walks again, I’m gone.”
“You’ll give it all up?”
“In a heartbeat.” Air whooshes from my lungs, and something inside me stills with the declaration. “She’s the only reason we’re here today. Without her, we’d have never made anything of ourselves. You honestly think I won’t walk away from it all for her?”
Carter says nothing as he watches me.
I glance over the room, over the people I’ve spent my entire life with.
“You are my family.” I sigh. “You will always be my family. But Rixie is my person.”
Saint taps my thigh with his fist three times.
I flick my gaze to him.
He mouths, Atta boy.
My lip twitches and I shake my head.
“This doesn’t work without her. I don’t work without her. God knows I’ve fucking tried.” I face Carter, a frown tugging my lips. “I’m not asking you to share them with her, Cart. I will never put you in a position that makes you uncomfortable. You’re my brother, and I love you, you gigantic twat.”
The corner of his mouth flickers.
“But I can't lie to her about important parts of my life, either. And the terror twins?” I huff a laugh. “They’re pretty damn important. Too important to hide.”
He says nothing for a long moment.
He drums his fingers on this thighs, green eyes dipping to follow the movement.
Then his head shifts, ever-so-slightly. “I need to talk to Noah first.”
“Understood.” I nod, the knots in my stomach loosening.
Noah and Carter made a deal when they had the girls. Keep them out of the spotlight, and only introduce them to new people if the other agrees.
I get it. They're protective. In our world, you have to be.
“She’ll probably want to be here too,” he says. “She’s been asking about meeting the legend that is Hendrix Moore for years. Pretty sure she’s gonna try and steal her.”
I smirk. Not sure if Hendrix is planning to write again when we’re done here, but she and Noah would be a great fit if she does. “She can try.”
A beat passes, then he blanks his expression. “Now, we done being soppy fucks or what?”
The door swings open before my fist can hit it a second time.
Riley steps into the frame. Her pastel pink romper flutters at her knees as she bounces on her feet, stare training over my shoulder. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Just looking for Rixie. Is she here?”
She shakes her head. “No, she went looking for you a little while ago. Came back, grabbed her backpack, and then just left.”
“Fuck.” A weight settles low in my gut. “Did she say where she was going?”
“No, sorry. Did you try Saint?”
“Yeah, I was just with him.”
“Oh.” Riley nibbles her lip.
“It’s alright, I’ll find her,” I tell her, tugging my phone out of my back pocket. “She can’t have gone far.”
“This is Hendrix we’re talking about.” Riley huffs a laugh.
My shoulders droop. “Fair point.”
Hendrix has always had a way about disappearing in no time. She’ll be there one minute, gone the next as if she’d never really been there at all.
I scrub a hand down my face. “Did she take her keys?”
“Hm. Hold.” Riley zips back into the flat.
I tap my foot along the floor, every second dragging until she pops back into view. A key chain dangles from her fingers.
I exhale a slow breath when I spot the studio keys she hooked on missing. “I know where she is.”
“You do?” Riley asks.
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go have a word with my girl.”
Riley’s mouth twitches. “I’d say that’s probably right, yes.”
“Cheers, Riles.” I wave a hand over my shoulder before jogging out the hall, down the stairs, and into the basement.
A low, gritty growl spears my ears when I push the live room door open.
Hendrix stands in the centre of the live room. Black and white Yamaha Pacifica strapped over her chest, lights flicker around her and the floor vibrates from the sheer force of her song.
She arches her back, a devastatingly beautiful grin curving her lips. She trills the strings, playing along Famous Last Words as it blares through the speakers.
My chest fucking gallops.
She always said she wasn’t meant to be a star.
And she was right.
Star isn’t a worthy enough word for her.
Hendrix Moore shines brighter than the whole damn universe.
The final chord echoes through the air.
A soft, melodic laugh tinkles from her lips as taps her knuckles on the wood, before her gaze flicks up.
Our eyes collide.
Her breath hitches. “Hi.”
“Hey.” I take a step forward. “You didn’t leave.”
She lifts the leather strap over her shoulder, props the guitar against the amp, and moves one step closer. “I didn’t leave.”
“Are you planning to?” Another step.
She swallows, closing the last of the space between us. “Not anytime soon.”
I cup her face in my hands. “I can work with that.”
She pushes up onto her tiptoes.
I duck my head, and she steals my breath with a searing kiss.