Chapter 12 #2
I cut her off. “Are you kidding me? What now?”
She laughed and the angelic sound warmed my chest. “No, nothing else bad happened.”
“Thank fuck. Please continue.”
“So, I got a call from my friend Liam, the one who lives in California and, actually, is more famous than you are.”
“Yippie for him. Point?”
“He told me about a charity fashion show he is throwing and asked me to come because my best friend’s boyfriend is about to propose to her, and in all honesty, I’m still reeling from the fact that they are together right now since last I knew, we pretended like Jamie didn’t exist because he is the scum of the earth and left her like five years ago and I can’t believe they are about to get engaged again and—”
I blinked rapidly, as if that would help me make sense of the nonstop sentence coming out of her mouth. “Deep breath. You’re rambling, and I am so lost right now.”
“Sorry. Liam—”
“The friend from California. More famous than me. Got it.”
“Yeah, he told me to come to the fashion show because Jamie is going to propose to Blake, and he figured I’d want to be there.”
She was throwing names at me like a major league baseball pitcher, and I was some junior league catcher, afraid I would get a ball to the nuts. Even with the proper protection, getting hit in the junk still hurt like hell.
“Do you want to be there?” It seemed like a silly question to me, but she apparently didn’t think so.
“Of course. Blakely is my best friend.”
“Then I’m missing something here. Go.” If I closed my eyes, I could see her chewing on her bottom lip as she mulled over my words and formulated a response. “There is a ‘but’ in there, or you wouldn’t have called me. What is it?”
“Elijah.” Her words came out in a whisper.
The boyfriend… again.
I was beginning to really, really dislike him. Not because he had the total package with Cadence and didn’t seem to understand the first-place prize he’d won, but because he didn’t seem like a decent human at this point. “Are you afraid he will tell you not to go?”
“He didn’t want me to go to a funeral. There is no way he’ll be okay with me attending an engagement party.”
“What exactly do you want me to tell you, Cadence?”
“What do you mean?”
“You already know what you want to do, or you wouldn’t be calling me. You’re just afraid to do it.”
She scoffed, “Gee, thanks. Sorry to bother you.”
“No. Listen. You chose to call me, out of everyone, to talk to about this. You know what I’m going to say, and you want to hear me say it, right? No one else would shoot you straight."
She didn’t answer immediately, and when she did, her voice came out low and breathy, like she was talking straight to my dick. “Yeah, you’re right. I want to hear you say it.”
“Go. Don’t let anyone stop you from nurturing your relationships with those you’re close to. Go home and see your friends.”
“And my mom.”
“Shit. You should have mentioned that part. Hell yeah! Go see your mom.”
She sighed again. “What do I do when Elijah freaks out?”
I snorted. “Call me, and I’ll come deal with him.”
“I’m serious, Damien.”
I forced out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know, Cadence. You have to figure that one out on your own. You have to decide if what he’s putting you through and the way he’s making you treat others is who you want to be.”
“You’re right. I am afraid. I don’t want to do it alone.”
“You’ll be with your friends and family. You won’t be alone. And I’ll be close by. We’re about to leave for an East Coast tour.”
“Any in North Carolina?”
“Uh.” I pulled my phone away from my ear and tapped the calendar. “Yeah, actually. A place in Charlotte called Sid’s Place and then The Stadium Club in Fayetteville.”
Cadence burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“You’re playing at The Stadium Club.”
“Okay… and…”
“That’s where my friends and I always hang out. It’s, like, our place. Fayetteville is where I’m from.”
“Oh, shit. You never mentioned that.”
“You never asked.”
“Maybe I’ll see you there. And maybe I’ll get to meet all your friends.
“I’m throwing it into the universe. May the stars align for us.”
“Hmph. Yeah.”
Our conversation lulled, leading into a shared silence. Oddly enough, the quiet comforted me. Phone silence was typically awkward. Others, and usually Cadence, were compelled to fill it. But absorbing our own thoughts together felt right.
“Well…” Cadence said, breaking the trance. “I should get back to work.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, thanks for the pep talk. It truly helped.”
“Anytime. And, hey. See you soon.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I hope so.”
As we hung up, I ran my hand through my hair again, still thinking about the rhythmic tones of her voice. I pulled up my photos and found the one I was looking for.
It was a photo Jade had sent me from a show this summer.
The band and I had gathered around the two of them, showing off for the picture.
Hudson leaned on Jade’s shoulder, Colton made a ridiculous face, Shane flashed his panty-dropping smile, and Jeremiah looked awkward as usual standing next to everyone.
I stood behind them, with my arms above my head, not even looking at whoever had taken the photo.
The girls looked naturally gorgeous, as expected, and smiled like that was the best night of their lives.
I didn’t know what had driven me to save the photo when Jade sent it all those weeks ago, but I had.
Zooming in on Cadence, I studied her face.
Her amber eyes lit up as she laughed, her perfect mouth was open, showing off her white teeth.
One of us had most likely cracked some stupid joke at the expense of ourselves in the name of comedy.
There was a good chance it was me, because even then, I’d do anything to make her laugh.
She was real. Genuine.
As my gaze traveled down her slim neck, my dick twitched with the thought of gripping her there while I pushed my lips against hers and ran my tongue along them.
She had on a tank top, but the v-cut did nothing to hide the modest curves underneath. Just enough to make any man drool. Her waist curved in and led to one of the most scrumptious asses I’d ever seen and I was hard just thinking about her.
I stood, rearranging my dick so it was at least somewhat comfortable in my pants. As pleasant as it could be with a raging hard-on.
Going back into the house, I found Grant sitting on the couch, playing with his cell phone while Maylee watched Moana for the hundredth time.
It was tempting to go into the bathroom and relieve the painful need that had settled into my pulsing dick.
The kids wouldn’t miss me, and I was so wired with sexual tension I’d only need a few minutes.
But something about jacking off in the bathroom of your sister’s house while watching your niece and nephew just seemed wrong.
So wrong.
Instead, I closed my eyes and thought of baby penguins, puppies, and anything else that would calm my desire as I walked to the couch and ignored the friction in my jeans.
“Scoot over,” I told Grant.
He grunted a reply, and I plopped beside him with a groan.
This wasn’t good.
I kept telling myself I didn’t want her.
Didn’t want to want her.
But for some unexplainable reason, telling myself I didn’t want her wasn’t enough anymore.
And if I was being honest, I was beginning to need her.
How was it possible to need someone who is so fucking unavailable to you? How can you desire someone so much when you don’t even know what they taste like?
It beat the hell out of me.
But it was happening.